CNN – Asia/Pacific

By Alex Stambaugh and Heather Chen, CNN A former British ambassador, an Australian economist and a Japanese journalist are reportedly set to be released by Myanmar’s ruling military junta under an amnesty — along with more than 6,000 other prisoners. Vicky Bowman, Sean Turnell and Toru Kubota are among 5,774 male and 676 female prisoners

By Yoonjung Seo, Gawon Bae and Kathleen Magramo, CNN North Korea tested a ballistic missile on Thursday as it warned the United States of a “fiercer military counteraction” to Washington’s bolstered defense ties with South Korea and Japan amid rising regional tensions. In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North

By Xiaofei Xu and Tara John, CNN Chinese leader Xi Jinping was captured by Canadian broadcasters in a rare candid moment on Wednesday, where he was filmed chiding his Canadian counterpart, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, over what he described as “leaked” discussions. On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, Xi chatted with Trudeau

By Nectar Gan and Rhea Mogul, CNN Russia’s international isolation grew Wednesday, as world leaders issued a joint declaration condemning its war in Ukraine that has killed thousands of people and roiled the global economy. The Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, concluded Wednesday with a leaders’ statement that “deplores in the strongest terms

CNN By CNN’s Beijing Bureau and Kathleen Magramo China on Thursday reported a record number of daily Covid infections, as a nationwide surge in cases heaps pressure on the country’s increasingly unpopular zero-tolerance approach to the virus. The National Health Commission (NHC) recorded 31,444 locally transmitted cases on Wednesday — surpassing the previous peak of

By Simone McCarthy and Kathleen Magramo, CNN Residents under Covid lockdown in China’s southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou have torn down barriers meant to confine them to their homes, taking to the streets in defiance of strictly enforced local orders, according to video and images circulating on social media. Some of the images show large

By Sahar Akbarzai, Shafi Kakar and Rhea Mogul, CNN The Taliban has ordered judges in Afghanistan to fully impose their interpretation of Sharia Law, including potential public executions, amputations and flogging, a move experts fear will lead to a further deterioration of human rights in the impoverished country. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan’s Supreme

CNN By Nectar Gan, CNN After a near three-year absence from the world stage, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has embarked on a whirlwind of face-to-face meetings with Western leaders at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, as he looks to reassert China’s global influence. Following a three-hour meeting on Monday with US President Joe

By Nectar Gan, CNN After a near three-year absence from the world stage, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has embarked on a whirlwind of face-to-face meetings with Western leaders at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, as he looks to reassert China’s global influence. Following a three-hour meeting on Monday with US President Joe Biden

By Jessie Yeung, CNN In many countries, cursing online about the government is so commonplace nobody bats an eye. But it’s not such an easy task on China’s heavily censored internet. That doesn’t appear to have stopped residents of Guangzhou from venting their frustration after their city — a global manufacturing powerhouse home to 19

By Yoonjung Seo, CNN A court in South Korea has approved the extradition of a woman facing murder charges in New Zealand in connection with a case in which the remains of two dead children were found in abandoned suitcases. The Seoul High Court told CNN Friday it had ruled that the woman could be

By Simone McCarthy World leaders are converging in Phnom Penh this weekend for the first in a series of international summits in Southeast Asia over the coming week, where divisions between major powers and conflict threaten to overshadow talks. The first stop is the Cambodian capital where leaders from across the Indo-Pacific will meet alongside

By Yoonjung Seo, Rhea Mogul and Jessie Yeung, CNN A senior South Korean police inspector who was being investigated in connection with the deadly Halloween crowd crush in Seoul has been found dead in his home. The inspector was found lifeless by his family at around 12:45pm on Friday, according to South Korean police. The

By Kathleen Magramo, CNN A woman who waved a British colonial-era flag to celebrate Hong Kong claiming Olympic gold has become the first person in the city to be jailed on a charge of insulting the Chinese national anthem. Paula Leung, a 42-year-old online journalist, admitted the charge and was given a three-month jail sentence

By Kathleen Magramo An Australian man already sentenced to life in prison in the Philippines for human trafficking and rape has been given an extra 129-year sentence for sexually abusing children as young as 18 months, according to prosecutors. Peter Gerard Scully, his Filipina girlfriend Lezyl Margallo, and two accomplices were charged with 60 offenses