CNN – Asia/Pacific

By Helen Regan, CNN Little is known about the potential dangers posed by the Omicron coronavirus variant but concern over its spread is already threatening to wreck reopening plans in Asia-Pacific. After more than 20 months of strict border controls and restrictions on daily life, many countries in the region had tentatively started to loosen

By Pierre Meilhan and Cape Diamond, CNN At least five people were killed in Myanmar when a vehicle plowed into anti-junta protesters this weekend, according to local media. The attack took place in a Yangon township, news outlet Myanmar Now reported Sunday, citing protesters and eyewitnesses. One reporter who witnessed the incident told CNN that

By Greg Clary, CNN More than 20 countries, including the United States, issued a joint statement Saturday expressing deep concern over allegations of extra-judicial killings and disappearances of former member of former security forces in Afghanistan. The statement comes after a report was released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday alleging more than a hundred

By Emiko Jozuka, CNN As a child, Wishma Rathnayake was fascinated with “Oshin,” a popular 1980s’ television drama about a young girl who rises from poverty to head a Japanese supermarket chain. Urged by her father to emulate her hero, Rathnayake started learning Japanese with a dream of one day moving to Japan from the

By Masrur Jamaluddin and Radina Gigova, CNN At least 14 people are dead and hundreds are displaced after Mount Semeru, a volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province, erupted on Saturday, authorities said. Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) said in a statement Sunday the eruption had wounded 56 others, with 35 people in serious

By Esha Mitra and Lianne Kolirin, CNN A boy snatched by a leopard is lucky to be alive after the animal let go of him when his mother gave chase. The unnamed child, believed to be around 5 years old, was sitting in his hut with his mother and siblings when the big cat approached,

CNN Editorial Research Here is a look at the life of Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan. Personal Birth date: December 24, 1957 Birth place: Kandahar, Afghanistan Father: Abdul Ahad Karzai, politician Mother: Mother’s name unavailable publicly Marriage: Zinat Quraishi Karzai (1999-present) Children: daughter’s name unavailable publicly, 2016; Howsi, 2014; Malalai, 2012; Mirwais, 2007

By Anna Coren, Rebecca Wright and Abdul Basir Bina, CNN Driving through a snow-capped mountain pass, the young mother huddles together with her six children in the backseat of a car after leaving their makeshift camp in northwestern Afghanistan. Carrying only a blanket for warmth, 9-year-old Parwana Malik balances on her mother’s lap beside her

By Radina Gigova and Rob Picheta, CNN The Taliban executed dozens of members of the Afghan security forces after they surrendered following the militants’ seizure of Afghanistan in late summer, new research released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday alleges. The HRW report detailed “the summary execution or enforced disappearance” of 47 former members

By Cheryl Ho, CNN A North Korean defector who escaped from prison in northeast China has been recaptured by authorities, after more than 40 days on the run in the biting winter cold. The 39-year-old, identified by Chinese authorities as Zhu Xianjian, was just two years short of completing his sentence, when he staged an

By Kara Fox, CNN Tropical cyclones in Asia could have double the destructive power by the end of the century, according to new research, as scientists say the human-made climate crisis is already making them stronger. Using data from nearly four decades from 1979 to 2016, researchers found that the destructive power of tropical cyclones

By Wayne Chang and Jonny Hallam, CNN Three charred bodies have been found in a burned out building in the Chinatown district of the Solomon Islands’ capital, Honiara — the first reported fatalities after three days of violent protests that saw more than 100 people arrested. Police are investigating the cause of their death and

By Elizabeth Osifelo, Helen Regan, Lizzy Yee and Teele Rebane, CNN The Solomon Islands government has declared a nightly curfew and advised all public servants to stay at home as violent protests continued for a third day on Friday, with crowds gathering at the Prime Minister’s residence. Honiara, the Solomon Islands capital, has been hit

By Nectar Gan and Steve George, CNN Before retiring as vice premier, Zhang Gaoli was the face of China’s organizing efforts ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics. As the head of a government working group on the Beijing Games, Zhang inspected venue construction sites, visited athletes, unveiled official emblems, and held meeting after meeting to

By Helen Regan, CNN China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday the government hoped “malicious speculation” about tennis star Peng Shuai’s well-being and whereabouts would stop, and that her case should not be politicized. Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, declined to comment on whether the Chinese government will launch an investigation into

By Esha Mitra, CNN Photographs by Saumya Khandelwal for CNN The Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA) of 1929 set out to “eradicate the evil of child marriage” in India. Almost a century later, the south Asian nation remains home to a third of the world’s child brides. As of 2017, 223 million girls and women

CNN By Esha Mitra, CNN Photographs by Saumya Khandelwal for CNN The Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA) of 1929 set out to “eradicate the evil of child marriage” in India. Almost a century later, the south Asian nation remains home to a third of the world’s child brides. As of 2017, 223 million girls and