CNN – Asia/Pacific

By Jessie Yeung, CNN An elderly Shanghai resident was mistakenly declared dead and taken to a morgue in a body bag, in the latest sign of dysfunction in the Covid-stricken city where millions of people remain under government-enforced lockdown. Video footage, shot by a bystander, shows the moment several workers dressed head-to-toe in protective gear

Story by Reuters The leaders of Japan and Thailand announced a new defense agreement on Monday as well as plans to upgrade their economic relations, as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wrapped up the last leg of a three-nation tour of Southeast Asia. The agreement would facilitate the transfer of defense hardware and technology from

By Simone McCarthy Hazmat suit-clad workers spraying clouds of disinfectant over city streets, building fronts, park benches and even parcels have become a common sight in pandemic-era China. In Shanghai, the epicenter of the country’s largest outbreak, state media report that thousands of workers have been organized into teams to disinfect areas, with a focus

By Rhea Mogul, Esha Mitra, Manveena Suri and Sophia Saifi, CNN Temperatures in parts of India and Pakistan have reached record levels, putting the lives of millions at risk as the effects of the climate crisis are felt across the subcontinent. The average maximum temperature for northwest and central India in April was the highest

By Nectar Gan and CNN’s Beijing Bureau Beijing has banned all restaurant dining, shut down Universal Studios and ordered residents to provide proof of a negative Covid test to enter public venues in a major escalation of restrictions as a five-day holiday gets underway. The Labor Day holiday, which started on Saturday this year, has

By Ehsan Popalzai and Jonny Hallam, CNN At least 10 people were killed and 30 wounded after an explosion at a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul after Friday prayers, Taliban spokesperson for the chief of police Khalid Zadran said — but eyewitnesses said they feared many more had died. The blast occurred in the

By Nectar Gan, CNN “Thank you China,” complete with a Chinese flag and a heart emoji, might seem like an innocuous enough farewell message from China’s Winter Olympics superstar Eileen Gu. After winning two gold medals, countless hearts and substantial fame and fortune, the American-born freeski prodigy is wrapping up her months-long stay in China,

By Jessie Yeung, CNN China has introduced lockdown measures in its two biggest cities, Beijing and Shanghai — the twin engines that power much of the nation’s economy — in an uncompromising bid to stamp out Covid-19 outbreaks. Shanghai is at the center of the latest outbreak, reporting upwards of 15,000 new cases a day.

By Brad Lendon and Emiko Jozuka, CNN Russia has warned Japan of “retaliatory measures” if it expands joint naval exercises with the United States near Russia’s eastern borders. The threat is just the latest salvo from Moscow, which has been angered by Japan’s support for Ukraine and its growing ties with NATO countries, and is

By Rhea Mogul and Helen Regan, CNN A man with intellectual disabilities was executed in Singapore on Wednesday, his family’s lawyer said, after a long campaign for clemency failed, putting the city-state’s zero-tolerance drug laws back under scrutiny. Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, a 34-year-old Malaysian citizen, was arrested in 2009 for bringing 42.7 grams (1.5 ounces)

By Sophia Saifi, Saleem Mehsud and Azaz Syed Three teachers from China and a driver have been killed in a suspected suicide bombing near a Chinese language learning center in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi. The four were in a van near the University of Karachi’s Confucius Institute when the blast ripped through the vehicle on

By Megan Marples, CNN When one tiny species of spider mates, one partner needs a special move to survive the encounter. Philoponella prominens are social spiders, meaning they live in groups, but soon after they mate, the male arachnid has to rapidly leap away to avoid being eaten by its female partner, new research has

By Yoonjung Seo and Brad Lendon, CNN North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed on Monday to ramp up his development of nuclear arms, as a military parade in Pyongyang showcased the country’s most advanced weaponry yet — including an intercontinental ballistic missile experts say puts the entire US mainland in range. The country would

By Nectar Gan and CNN’s Beijing Bureau The shouts of locked-down residents demanding basic necessities, the cries of babies separated from their parents in quarantine, the pleas of a son repeatedly rejected by hospitals to treat his critically ill father, and the sobs of an exhausted local official who admits there is “no good policy”

By Junko Ogura, CNN and Reuters Nine people from a Japanese tour boat that went missing with 26 people on board have been found, the country’s coast guard said Sunday, as search and rescue efforts continue. They were found near the tip of Cape Shiretoko on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, according to the coast

By Eric Cheung, CNN The Taiwanese government is investigating a local TV news station after it aired alarming false reports of a Chinese invasion against the self-ruled island. During a Wednesday morning newscast on the government-affiliated Chinese Television System (CTS), part of the public Taiwan Broadcasting System, the network ran several fictional news tickers about

By Nectar Gan and CNN’s Beijing Bureau The men came after 2 a.m. on Tuesday in the dead of the night, banging on an apartment door in a rundown housing complex in Shanghai. When nobody answered, they pried open the lock and barged in, rousing a 92-year-old woman from her bed. The visitors demanded to

By Ehsan Popalzai, Nicola Careem and Hannah Ritchie, CNN At least six people have been killed and 11 others injured after multiple explosions rocked a high school and educational center in western Kabul on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how many of the dead were students, but seven injured children were taken to a

By Nectar Gan, CNN Shanghai reported three Covid-19 deaths Monday, the first officially announced fatalities from a raging Omicron outbreak that has infected hundreds of thousands of people despite a government-enforced city-wide lockdown. Three elderly people aged between 89 and 91 died from Covid on Sunday, after their condition deteriorated in hospital, the Shanghai Municipal

By Blake Essig, Junko Ogura, Daniel Campisi and Emiko Jozuka, CNN On most days, fisherman Kazushi Kinjo leaves port on the Japanese island of Yonaguni to catch deep sea red snapper in waters to the north. There, fish are plentiful — and increasingly, so are Chinese Coast Guard ships. Chinese ships patrol the sea around

By Yoonjung Seo and Jessie Yeung, CNN North Korea fired two projectiles into waters off the east of the Korean Peninsula Saturday evening, according to the South Korean military, the country’s 12th such test this year. Images published Sunday by North Korea state-owned newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, smiling and

By Jessie Yeung and Brad Lendon, CNN China has begun sending its most advanced fighter aircraft, the J-20, to patrol the East and South China Seas, Chinese state media has reported. Early versions of the J-20 stealth jet used Russian engines — but those have since been replaced with domestically-produced twin engines. The jets were

By Jessie Yeung, CNN New Zealand’s top court ruled Wednesday that a murder suspect can be extradited to China to face trial in a landmark decision following a more than decade-long legal battle. Chinese authorities accuse Kyung Yup Kim, a South Korean citizen who has permanent residency in New Zealand, of killing a woman in

By Akanksha Sharma, CNN The death toll in the Philippines from tropical storm Megi has risen to 76 while hundreds of thousands of others remain displaced, authorities in the country said Wednesday. Many of the deaths came in landslides and floods caused when the storm made landfall on Sunday, battering the eastern and southern coasts

By Rhea Mogul and Sophia Saifi, CNN Pakistan’s new leader Shehbaz Sharif called for “unity” and vowed to repair the country’s damaged economy after he was sworn in as Prime Minister Monday following the ouster of Imran Khan. Former opposition leader Sharif, 70, is set to serve as Prime Minister until the next general election,

By Simone McCarthy Anonymous Twitter users are exposing the extreme nationalism and pro-Russian sentiment circulating online in China — and Beijing is not happy about it. Scores of screen-grabbed posts from China’s most popular social media platforms have been translated and shared on Twitter in recent weeks, offering Western audiences a rare glimpse into the

By Jessie Yeung and CNN’s Beijing bureau China has lashed out at the United States for ordering its consulate staff to leave the locked-down city of Shanghai, accusing officials of “weaponizing” the financial hub’s failing attempt to contain the spread of Covid-19. On Monday, the US State Department “ordered” the departure of non-emergency employees and

By David Culver, CNN The distant echo of a megaphone blares most mornings from the narrow laneway where I live in Shanghai, summoning me and my neighbors from our homes for our mandatory Covid test. Mask on and cell phone in hand, I step outside before the volunteers in hazmat suits have time to knock.

By Sophia Saifi, Rhea Mogul and Aliza Kassim CNN Pakistan’s lawmakers voted in opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif as the country’s new prime minister on Monday, after Imran Khan was ousted at the weekend in a no-confidence vote over allegations of poor governance. Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party and younger brother of

By Masrur Jamaluddin and Brad Lendon, CNN The Indonesian and United States militaries are expanding their annual bilateral exercises to 14 participating countries, the Indonesian Army said in a news release Thursday. Troops from the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada will be among those joining the Garuda Shield 2022 exercises from August

By Jessie Yeung and CNN’s Beijing bureau A pet dog was beaten to death by a health worker in Shanghai in an incident that sparked fury online, offering a glimpse into the growing frustrations of locked-down residents in China’s Covid-19 hotspot. A video of the beating at a residential compound in the Pudong district of

By Annie Grayer, Kevin Liptak, Clare Foran and Kristin Wilson, CNN A US Congressional delegation to Asia has been postponed after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tested positive for Covid-19. The announcement followed a warning by China that it would take strong measures if the trip included a visit to Taiwan, as media reports in the

By Sophia Saifi and Rhea Mogul, CNN, and journalist Azaz Syed Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that a decision to block a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan was unconstitutional, with legislators now set to vote on Saturday. The Supreme Court reached the unanimous decision after special proceedings that stretched to four days

By Simone McCarthy and Yong Xiong, CNN Shocking images showing the bodies of civilians scattered across the streets of Bucha, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, have sparked global horror in recent days and raised the urgency of ongoing investigations into alleged Russian war crimes. But a starkly different narrative is playing out

By Jessie Yeung, CNN Sri Lanka, an island nation of 22 million, is facing an economic and political crisis, with protesters taking to the streets in defiance of curfews and government ministers stepping down en masse. Driving the discontent is the worst economic downturn since the South Asian country gained independence in 1948, with crippling

By Rhea Mogul and Sophia Saifi, CNN Pakistan is in political turmoil as the South Asian country awaits a key court ruling that will decide whether embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan’s plan for an early election can go ahead. Khan called the election in a dramatic attempt to cling to power after the deputy speaker

By Jessie Yeung, CNN A string of cabinet ministers and the central bank governor have resigned in Sri Lanka, as protesters in the capital defy curfew orders amid the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Youth and Sports, who is also the President’s nephew, are among those

By Jessie Yeung, CNN Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who has faced a tumultuous five-year term defined by political upheaval and Covid-19, will not seek to extend her time in office, she confirmed Monday. The decision was her “personal wish and aspiration” and was entirely driven by “family considerations,” said Lam in a news

By Sophia Saifi and Rhea Mogul, CNN Imran Khan survived an attempt to oust him as Pakistan’s prime minister on Sunday, after a no-confidence vote was blocked in Parliament by the deputy speaker. Khan, who is facing the toughest challenge of his political career, requested the country’s president dissolve Parliament and called on the nation

By Rukshana Rizwie, Iqbal Athas and Julia Hollingsworth, CNN For three straight nights last week, Upul took to the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital city holding a candle or a placard as he protested the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. Like his neighbors, he was frustrated by the more than 10-hour power cuts that

By Rukshana Rizwie, Sophie Jeong and Alex Stambaugh, CNN Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a nationwide public emergency following violent protests outside his home over the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. The state of emergency came into effect on April 1, according to an official gazette issued Friday, and allows authorities to

By Brad Lendon and Gawon Bae, CNN North Korea’s launch last week of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), reported to be its most formidable yet, may have been a less advanced weapon than previously believed, according to a South Korean military official. The official, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said South Korean and

By Julia Hollingsworth, CNN Australia’s ambassador to China says he has been denied entry to the Beijing trial of an Australian TV host accused of sharing state secrets, the latest development in an opaque case analysts worry may be politically motivated. Cheng Lei, a former business anchor of China’s state broadcaster CGTN, is accused of

By Helen Regan, CNN An extremely rare Sumatran rhino has been born in captivity at a sanctuary in Indonesia, according to the government, a triumph for conservation efforts to save the critically endangered animal from extinction. The female rhino was born at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra’s Lampung Province

CNN Editorial Research Here’s a look at Kashmir, a region in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges. India, Pakistan and China all claim partial or complete ownership of Kashmir. Facts Kashmir is an 86,000-square mile region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. India and Pakistan have been fighting over Kashmir since both countries

By Helen Regan, CNN A Singapore court on Tuesday rejected a final appeal by a man sentenced to death for drug trafficking, following a campaign by his lawyers who said the trial violated international laws as the man has intellectual disabilities. The ruling ends all legal avenues to stop his execution and supporters say he

By Hilary Whiteman, Caitlin McGee and Jessie Yeung, CNN The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands on Tuesday defended the country’s possible security deal with China, hitting back at critics and calling their protests “very insulting.” The Pacific Island nation confirmed last week it would expand its security relationship with China — prompting alarm from

By Simone McCarthy, CNN Scuffles in the produce section, aisles packed with panicked shoppers and shelves stripped bare of food. Videos posted to social media Sunday show chaotic scenes erupting in Shanghai after authorities announced part of the city would enter a large-scale lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19. The two-phase lockdown — which

By Simone McCarthy and Lizzy Yee, CNN The Solomon Islands is seeking to expand its security relationship with China, its government confirmed on Friday, after reports that such an agreement was in the works fueled concern from Australian officials. A Solomon Islands government statement said Friday that Honiara was in the process of “diversifying the

By Brad Lendon, CNN North Korea has confirmed it tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its first long-range test in more than four years and marking a potential new era of regional confrontation. North Korean state media said on Friday that leader Kim Jong Un had directly guided the launch of the

By Yoonjung Seo, Gawon Bae, Emiko Jozuka and Brad Lendon, CNN North Korea has fired what is believed to be its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in more than four years as Western leaders gather in Brussels for a security summit. The suspected ICBM flew to an altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) and to

By Jessie Yeung and CNN’s Beijing bureau One passenger was a mother, flying to visit the daughter she hadn’t seen for several years. Another was a woman on her way to reunite with her fiancé after months apart. Awaiting their arrival, those loved ones were instead met with horror after China Eastern Airlines flight 5735,

By Jessie Yeung, Yong Xiong, Hannah Ritchie and CNN’s Beijing bureau No survivors of a China Eastern Airlines plane crash have been found after a second day of search efforts, Chinese investigators said late Tuesday. In China’s worst air disaster in more than a decade, the Boeing 737-800 — carrying 132 people — crashed Monday

By CNN’s Beijing bureau, Yong Xiong, Lizzy Yee and Wayne Chang, CNN A China Eastern Airlines jetliner carrying 132 people crashed in the mountains in southern China’s Guangxi region on Monday afternoon, according to the country’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC). The Boeing 737 was en route from the southwestern city of Kunming to Guangzhou when

By Jessie Yeung and Emiko Jozuka, CNN A deadly 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan’s Fukushima prefecture on Wednesday, injuring dozens of people. For some, the incident brought back painful memories of 2011, when an earthquake triggered a tsunami causing a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant, a disaster that’s still being

By Eric Cheung and Wayne Chang, CNN On a regular day, they’re lawyers, software engineers and blacksmiths. But this week, they donned military fatigues, fired assault rifles at numbered targets, and marched long distances in full military gear — all to prepare for a possible attack by China’s military. The 400-odd men were some of

By Brad Lendon and Gawon Bae, CNN A North Korean projectile is presumed to have exploded soon after launch Wednesday, the South Korean military said, a failure in what would have been the Kim Jong Un regime’s 10th such launch this year. The explosion is believed to have come around an altitude of 20 kilometers

By Jessie Yeung and CNN’s Beijing bureau Tens of millions of people are living under lockdown in China, as the country battles its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the early days of the pandemic. This outbreak has spread far faster than previous waves of less infectious variants, with daily cases skyrocketing from a few dozen in

By Hilary Whiteman, CNN The Australian government has successfully appealed a court ruling that ordered the federal environment minister to consider the impact of carbon emissions on children when approving new coal mining projects. The full bench of the Federal Court handed down its unanimous ruling Tuesday, saying the duty of care should not be

By Brad Lendon, CNN It was once the biggest symbol of American military power in the Indo-Pacific, battle tested from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf and a survivor of a collision with a Soviet submarine. But the glory days of the former USS Kitty Hawk are over, and the retired supercarrier is on its final,

By Simone McCarthy and Jeremy Herb, CNN US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Monday with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome, Chinese state broadcaster CGTN reported. The Chinese state media report provided no further details on Monday’s meeting, including the exact timing, what was discussed and whether the meeting had concluded. Experts say