Muslim and Christian residents of Mosul told Pope Francis of their lives under the brutal rule of Islamic State on Sunday as the pontiff blessed their vow to rise up from ashes, telling them that “fraternity is more durable than fratricide.”Franc...

A Chinese biotechnology company is working on a new Covid-19 vaccine using advanced genetic techniques that can be stored in a regular fridge.The mRNA vaccine, which is being developed by Guangzhou RiboBio and has already been tested on animals, has ...

This story is part of a series on women’s issues in China and Asia to coincide with International Women’s Day.Throughout the trials and tribulations brought by a year living amid the coronavirus pandemic, Asia’s women have proved time and again...

You reap what you sow. This must have been on Beijing’s mind when it forged ahead with a drastic overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system.The central government is now taking steps to ensure that only “patriots” can rule Hong Kong, blocking t...

A global hackathon aimed at inspiring girls and young people from underrepresented communities to enter the world of artificial intelligence is set to take place in Hong Kong for the first time later this month.The city is among 25 locales around the...

Neil Shen, a billionaire venture capital investor in China’s tech sector who plays a key role bridging Silicon Valley funds and China’s tech start-ups, said he saw a “strong consensus” in the global investment community for “buying China”...

A top South Korean short track speed skater, who was banned from competitions for a year after allegedly sexually harassing a male teammate in 2019, has applied for Chinese citizenship to compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.South Korea’s Yo...

In northern China, there is a type of pancake three times the size of your face. Guobing is a wheat product made with fermented dough. It’s a speciality of Shandong Province, where people have been eating it as a snack for more than 100 years. Th...

I have been thinking a lot recently about our two themed attractions, Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland. Both have been badly pummelled by the pandemic. For weeks at a time they have been ordered to close, ensuring zero revenue while many costs –...

Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng has described Beijing’s plan to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system as a “battle” to defend the city’s rule of law against subversion, saying it is necessary to avoid a repeat of 2019’s social unrest.Han a...

India produces more films each year than any other country on Earth – over 2,400 in 2019, according to the Central Board of Film Certification – and just as with the latest Hollywood blockbusters, big-budget Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films are now...

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has given its backing to Beijing’s plan to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure “patriots” govern the city.Xu Qiliang, a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, said at a meeting on th...

Beijing is ready to face the short-term pain and possible backlash from the West to reform Hong Kong’s political system, which it sees as a chink in China’s national security armour, mainland observers say.From prosecuting 47 Hong Kong opposition...

A fatal fire, the second in as many days, broke out early Sunday morning at a flat in a densely populated district of Hong Kong, leaving one dead and another injured.A 56-year-old woman, who lived in the flat where the fire started, was found dead in...

A new screening committee proposed by Beijing as part of Hong Kong’s electoral overhaul would be given new investigative powers to scrutinise the actions of candidates for office throughout their tenure in public life to ensure they are sufficientl...

Hong Kong received its second shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines on Sunday, while the city was expecting to log about 15 new coronavirus cases.The arrival of the new batch of jabs came as a top official sought to assure the public that the...

Hanoi resident Hoang Cam Hang, 25, is looking forward to her Covid-19 vaccination. Vietnam, which has among the lowest total reported coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia, will launch its immunisation drive on Monday with over 117,000 doses of th...

China’s imports and exports were stronger than expected in January and February, combined data released by the nation’s customs agency on Sunday showed, indicating China trade economy remained robust early in 2021 despite the continued impact of ...

China is preparing to overhaul its decades-old household registration system to allow people from rural areas to become permanent residents in cities, as the country ramps up urbanisation to spur growth.To speed up “full integration” of rural res...

Of the numerous parties disputing portions of the South China Sea, the claimants that have occupied the most of its features are China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Each has built military facilities on its occupied islands and reefs, and reclaimed l...

South Korea and the United States will conduct its springtime military exercise this week, but the joint drills will be smaller than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic, Seoul said on Sunday.The allies will begin a nine-day “computer-simulate...

Saris are stereotyped as staid and restrictive, but these women are wearing them for everything from hula-hooping to skydiving. This story is part of a series on women’s issues in China and Asia to coincide with International Women’s Day. Eshna ...

Tucked away in the hills overlooking Hong Kong’s Happy Valley Racecourse is a small cemetery, its most eye-catching feature being a white granite obelisk rising out of the tall grass. Eight names are etched into the stone, honouring Indian and Sikh...

China has advanced plans to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, bringing national targets in line with global climate commitments made last year.In the draft of the 14th five-year plan released on Friday, Beijing said the share of non-fossil fuels in ...

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong have called on the government to do more to preserve World War II relics after finding a cluster of Japanese fortifications neglected and exposed to damage in the New Territories.The trench system with 14 ...

When Moon Jae-in gave his first speech marking the 1919 Korean uprising against Japanese colonial rule, the South Korean leader berated the former occupier for refusing to face up to its past.During a 2018 ceremony to mark the 99th anniversary of the...

China’s increased defence spending, outsize ambition and growing coordination of civilian and military technologies and capabilities represent a potential threat to American interests and operations in the Pacific, according to US analysts.“The U...

Tens of thousands of people came out on the streets in Myanmar on Sunday to demonstrate against last month’s coup despite overnight raids by security forces in the main city Yangon to crack down on protest leaders.The biggest protest was in Myanmar...

The US special envoy to Afghanistan proposed a shake-up of the stalled peace process this week, including an interim government and a conference of key players, according to diplomatic and political sources, but his plan faced immediate objections by...

About 1,200 migrants and local supporters demonstrated on the Canary island of Tenerife, which belongs to Spain, for permission to travel to the Spanish mainland.Migrants from Africa living in camps chanted “Freedom!” in the town of San Cristobal...

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of the Tunisian capital Saturday to demand the release of a gay rights and democracy activist sentenced to jail for insulting police officers.Rania Amdouni, a 26-year-old LGBT rights campaigner often seen at...

A suicide car bombing killed the Afghan intelligence directorate’s chief prosecutor on Saturday, an official said, amid an increase in violence in the war-ravaged country.Sayed Mahmood Agha was on his way to his office in the southern city of Lashk...

The Senate on Saturday passed President Joe Biden’s US$1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan in a party-line vote after an all-night session that saw Democrats battling among themselves over jobless aid and the Republican minority failing in attempts t...

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister warned Saturday that the country was quickly headed toward chaos and appealed to politicians to put aside differences in order form a new government that can attract desperately needed foreign help.Hassan Diab thr...

Senior members of Britain’s royal family are to show a united front on Sunday praising the efforts of global health workers before the broadcast of a tell-all interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.Just hours ahead of the screening of the in...

The widespread economic and social damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has both revealed and worsened gender inequality. However, the past year has also opened many minds to new ideas and opportunities like never before. One of these is the way we...

Cyprus’ entry for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) has drawn the wrath of Christians, who demonstrated in front of state broadcaster RIK's headquarters in the capital, Nicosia, on Saturday.The song “El Diablo,” Spanish for “The Devil,” by ...

China on Friday conducted a successful trial run of a super heavy-lift rocket engine that quadruples its current power and would place it among the world’s most powerful liquid fuel engines, making future grand space missions possible.The 500-tonne...

China’s political elite will face a number of political challenges when they gather in Beijing for the year’s biggest legislative set piece – the meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Con...

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the Thai capital on Saturday evening to demand that authorities release some protest leaders from jail, defying an order on late Friday banning public gatherings in the city.A youth-led protest movement sprang up...

A deadly blaze at a Yau Ma Tei tenement on Saturday morning killed one man and injured more than 10, including a firefighter, prompting an investigation into its cause.Police believed the cause of fire was suspicious and have listed the case as an ar...

Hong Kong’s weekend property sales saw mixed reception at two different projects, as homebuyers picked and chose their way through two projects that had been on the market for at least nine months.At Lohas Park in Tseung Kwan O, CK Asset Holdings s...

China’s public health system and vaccine research institutes have battled repeated cyberattacks during the coronavirus pandemic, a national political adviser said, calling for an overhaul of the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure.On the sidel...

Amanda Gorman is detailing her recent experience with racial profiling after capturing America’s heart and making history as the youngest inaugural poet in US history.The poet took to Twitter on Friday, just days ahead of her 23rd birthday on March...

An overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system could create the right conditions to open up the system later and even pave the way for universal suffrage, contrary to detractors’ fears that the revamp is regressive, the city’s former leader Leung ...

The virus swept through a nursery school and an adjacent junior school in the Milan suburb of Bollate with amazing speed. In a matter of just days, 45 children and 14 staff members had tested positive.Genetic analysis confirmed what officials already...

Not long after pro-establishment lawmaker Holden Chow Ho-ding took to Twitter in January, he noticed foreign journalists picking up his comments to quote in their articles.Keeping to the social media platform’s 280-character limit, he has fired off...

Excessive restrictions on Chinese academics on overseas exchanges have seriously hampered their ability to provide policy suggestions to the government, a political adviser has told the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference during its ...

Every day, millions of plastic bottles, drink cartons and other beverage packaging end up in our landfills. To put an end to this, the government is consulting the public about a “producer responsibility scheme”. As the cost of the scheme will ul...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed authorities in Inner Mongolia to popularise the use of Mandarin in schools and resolve ethnic tensions, months after the regional government quashed rare protests by people fighting to preserve Mongolian as...