CNN – Asia/Pacific

By Jessie Yeung and Chermaine Lee, CNN The first person to be tried under Hong Kong’s sweeping national security law faces life in prison after being found guilty on Tuesday of inciting secession and terrorism, in a landmark court ruling that is likely to have profound implications for the city’s legal system. Tong Ying-kit, 24,

By Jeevan Ravindran, CNN Civilian casualties in Afghanistan reached record levels in the first half of 2021, the United Nations warned Monday, noting that deaths and injuries spiked markedly from May when the United States and its allies began withdrawing troops from the country. Some 5,183 casualties were recorded in the first six months of

By Nectar Gan and Steve George, CNN The Olympics has long been an occasion for celebrating national pride. And for an increasingly confident China, the Tokyo Games is seen as the latest opportunity to showcase its national strength, as it looks to challenge the United States for top spot on the medal table. So far,

By Helen Regan, CNN Two men have been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly striking a police horse during anti-lockdown protests in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, police said, as daily Covid-19 cases in New South Wales state continue to rise. Thousands of people breached coronavirus measures and marched through the center of Australia’s biggest city

By Steven Jiang and Steve George, CNN The breakdown in US-China relations is due to some people in the United States treating China as an “imaginary enemy,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng was quoted as saying during a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Monday, according to a statement provided

By Jake Kwon, Kara Fox and Will Ripley, CNN The Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony is a gratuitously enjoyable affair, with bulging muscles and beaming athletes proudly walking the Parade of Nations — and into our hearts. The made-for-TV spectacle is an entry way for some viewers to learn more about countries and athletes that they

By Helen Regan and Chandler Thornton, CNN For almost two weeks, a thick, black smudge stained the sky off Sri Lanka’s western coast — smoke from a burning container ship nine nautical miles out to sea. The Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl caught fire on May 20 en route to Colombo carrying 350 metric tons of oil

By Jack Guy, CNN Scientists have discovered previously unknown viruses dating from 15,000 years ago in ice samples taken from a glacier in the Tibetan plateau. The viruses are unlike any that have been cataloged by scientists before, according to a study published earlier this week in the journal Microbiome. A team including climate scientists

By Nectar Gan and Jessie Yeung, CNN As record heat waves hit western North America and deadly floods swept Germany, the growing risks associated with climate change have grabbed headlines, and prompted widespread discussions in the West. Scientists have been warning for years that the climate crisis would amplify extreme weather, making it deadlier and

By Barbara Wojazer, Zachary Cohen, Michael Callahan and Jessie Yeung, CNN The French power company that co-owns a nuclear plant in China would shut it down if it could, due to damage to the fuel rods, a spokesperson said — but the decision is ultimately up to the plant’s Chinese operator. The spokesperson for Electricite

By Sandi Sidhu, Anna Coren, Helen Regan and Abdul Basir Bina, CNN Sohail Pardis was driving from his home in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul to nearby Khost province to pick up his sister for the upcoming Eid holiday celebrations to mark the end of Ramadan. It was supposed to be a happy occasion enjoyed with family.

By Nectar Gan and Zixu Wang, CNN At least 33 people have died and eight remain missing in central China, as authorities ramp up rescue and recovery efforts following devastating floods that submerged entire neighborhoods, trapped passengers in subway cars, caused landslides and overwhelmed dams and rivers. Torrential rains have battered Henan province since last

By Ben Westcott, Isaac Yee and Yong Xiong, CNN The Chinese government will not participate in a second phase of the World Health Organization’s investigation into the origins of Covid-19, a top health official announced Thursday, after the possibility of the virus leaking from a Wuhan lab was included on the proposal. Zeng Yixin, deputy

By Helen Regan, CNN A severe Covid-19 wave is devastating Myanmar — a country already on its knees following February’s military coup — with people queuing for hours for oxygen in major cities and the seriously ill dying at home because they are too scared to visit understaffed, ill-equipped hospitals. Images from the biggest city,

By Nectar Gan and Jessie Yeung, CNN Last week, the Biden administration warned American companies about the risk of doing business in Hong Kong, citing Beijing’s increasing crackdown on the city. “The bottom line is that businesses should be aware that the risks faced in mainland China are now increasingly present in Hong Kong,” White

By Rhea Mogul, CNN For much of last year, it seemed like Indonesia had managed to keep its Covid-19 outbreak largely under control. Now, the island nation — home to about 270 million people — has become Asia’s new epicenter of the pandemic, reporting more daily cases and deaths than hard-hit India as a devastating

By Jessie Yeung, Nectar Gan and Zixu Wang, CNN Terrified subway passengers in central China were left clinging to ceiling handles inside flooded cars on Tuesday, trapped up to their necks in rising water, as record-breaking rains devastated parts of Henan province. At least 12 people have been confirmed dead in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital,

By Amy Sood, CNN A 16-year-old boy was due to be charged with murder by Singapore police on Tuesday after a 13-year-old boy was found dead with multiple wounds in a school bathroom along with an ax. According to a police statement, officers found the victim on Monday with multiple wounds and he was pronounced

By Sophia Saifi and Ehsan Popalzai, CNN Afghanistan is withdrawing its diplomats from Pakistan following the alleged abduction of the ambassador’s daughter in the capital Islamabad, according to the Afghan foreign ministry. Silsila Alikhil, the daughter of Najib Alikhil, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan, was “abducted for several hours and severely tortured by unknown individuals on

By Nectar Gan, CNN The death of nine Chinese workers in a bus explosion in Pakistan has underscored the security risks attached to China’s overseas projects, as anti-China sentiment simmers in countries where official ties with Beijing are strong. The bus was carrying a convoy of Chinese engineers to the construction site of the Dasu

By Masrur Jamaluddin, Atika Shubert and Julia Hollingsworth, CNN The last time Aris Suharyanto saw his wife was through a hospital window. He never got to meet their newborn baby. When Suharyanto’s pregnant wife Rina Ismawati and two of their three children fell ill last month, he initially thought it was a common cold. But

By Jessie Yeung, CNN Cannabis’ earliest roots may have stemmed from northwestern China — not South Asia as commonly believed, according to a study published on Friday. Researchers found the Cannabis sativa species — the “much beloved and maligned plant” widely used as a recreational drug — likely emerged from the region by Neolithic times

By Nectar Gan, CNN Days after entering its second century, the Chinese Communist Party has set out its priority for the new era — tightening ideological control over 1.4 billion Chinese people. This week, the party released a new guideline on ideological and political work, which targets not only its members but also “all of

By Brad Lendon, CNN The United States Air Force is sending more than two dozen F-22 stealth fighters to an exercise in the western Pacific this month, an unusually large deployment of the powerful jets that analysts say sends a strong message to a possible adversary in China. Pacific Air Forces in Hawaii this week

By Ben Westcott and CNN staff Unvaccinated residents in parts of China will be banned from accessing public services including hospitals, schools and nursing homes, as the country targets an inoculation rate of at least 80% against Covid-19. Over the past week, dozens of county-level governments in at least eight provinces have published notices warning