Asia

Sri Lanka's statistics office said Friday that inflation had slowed to 0.9 percent in March, the lowest year-on-year price increase since an unprecedented economic crisis.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has asked her defence minister to stay on the job after he offered to resign, her office said Friday, following local media reports that his son hired sex workers. Chiu Kuo-cheng verbally tendered his resignation to Tsai on Thursday night over "matters involving his family," presidential spokeswoman Olivia Lin said in…

Thailand ordered a close watch on livestock on Thursday after an outbreak of anthrax in neighbouring Laos, where more than 50 suspected human cases have been reported.

Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi will launch its first-ever EV at a press conference in Beijing Thursday, injecting itself into a fiercely competitive sector in the world's largest car market.

Israel's military on Wednesday said an Israeli woman's first-hand account of sexual assault in Gaza captivity requires international "pressure" on Palestinian militant group Hamas to free the remaining hostages. A UN report in early March found "reasonable grounds to believe" rapes were committed by militants who stormed southern Israel on October 7, in a deadly…

Two deaths and more than 100 hospitalisations have been linked to a growing health scare in Japan around dietary supplements meant to lower cholesterol, the government said Wednesday. Authorities are investigating after the over-the-counter tablets were recalled by Japanese drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical following kidney complaints from customers. The company has recalled three supplement brands --…

Thailand's parliament passed a same-sex marriage bill on Wednesday, paving the way for the kingdom to become the first Southeast Asian nation to recognise LGBTQ marriage equality. The bill sailed through on 399 to 10 votes in the lower house, although it must still be approved by the Senate before it is endorsed by the…

Planting trees in the wrong places can actually contribute to global warming, scientists said on Tuesday, but a new map identifies the best locations to regrow forests and cool the planet. Trees soak up carbon dioxide and restoring areas of degraded woodlands or planting saplings to boost forest cover is one tool in the fight…

A major rescue effort is underway in the US city of Baltimore after a container ship struck a key bridge, sending several vehicles plummeting into the Patapsco River. Here is a recap of some of the worst bridge collapses around the world in the past 10 years. - 2022: Nearly 140 dead in India -…

Five Chinese nationals working on a major dam construction site were killed along with their driver on Tuesday when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle in northwest Pakistan, police said. Islamabad is Beijing's closest regional ally, but the security of Chinese workers has long been a concern in Pakistan. "Five Chinese and their local driver…

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said Tuesday Pyongyang would reject "any contact or negotiations" with Japan, just a day after she said Tokyo's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had requested a summit with her brother. Relations between the two countries are historically strained, including by a long-running kidnapping dispute and North Korea's banned…

The National Health Service (NHS) is facing a deepening staffing crisis as a growing number of foreign-born nurses leave the United Kingdom for better-paying jobs and working conditions in other countries. The number of nurses leaving the UK has quadrupled since before the pandemic and doubled in just a single year, according to a recent…