CNN – Asia/Pacific

By Masoud Popalzai, Jessie Yeung, Ehsan Popalzai and Tara John, CNN Afghanistan was rocked by its deadliest earthquake in decades on Wednesday when a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the country’s east, killing more than 1,000 people and wounding many more, according to a regional official. The humanitarian disaster comes at a difficult time for the

By Heather Chen, CNN Singapore has reported the first confirmed case of monkeypox in Southeast Asia during this year’s outbreak — while another confirmed case has been found in South Korea. The case in Singapore involves a British man who was in the city-state between June 15 and 17. He tested positive for monkeypox on

By Brad Lendon and Wayne Chang, CNN A total of 29 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan’s self-declared air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday, according to the island’s Defense Ministry. The Defense Ministry said the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force planes were a mix of fighter jets, early warning and control aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft,

By Jessie Yeung, Yoonjung Seo and Gawon Bae, CNN South Korea successfully launched satellites into orbit with its homegrown Nuri rocket on Tuesday, a significant step for the country’s burgeoning space program after a failed attempt last year. The three-stage rocket, more than 47 meters (154 feet) long and weighing 200 tons, was launched from

By Kathleen Magramo, Jorge Engels and Junko Ogura, CNN Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is not unconstitutional, a court has ruled, dealing a blow to gay couples and activists seeking greater rights for the LGBTQ community. The Osaka district court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit in which three same-sex couples were seeking compensation from the

By Peter Bergen, Zahid Mahmood, Masoud Popalzai and Aliza Kassim, CNN Businessman and former cameraman Peter Jouvenal is among five British nationals to be released in Afghanistan, his wife Hassina Syed told CNN. “We are thrilled Peter is coming home. Thanks to the Afghan administration for releasing him,” Syed said on Monday. Jouvenal was detained

By Swati Gupta and Esha Mitra, CNN At least 84 people have died in landslides, lightning strikes and flash floods across India and Bangladesh in the past week, according to officials in both countries. In the state of Assam, at least 41 people have died and seven people were missing as of Tuesday, according to

By Jessie Yeung, CNN China successfully conducted an anti-ballistic missile test on Sunday night, according to the country’s Defense Ministry, part of ongoing military efforts to enhance the country’s defensive capabilities. It was a land-based mid-course missile tested within China’s borders, the ministry said in a brief statement, adding the test was defensive in nature

From CNN’s Maija Ehlinger, Kunal Sehgal, and Sahar Akbarzai Four million people have been impacted by flooding in northeastern Bangladesh, according to Dr. Enamur Rahman, the country’s State Minister for the Ministry of Disaster Management. The situation could soon worsen, with heavy rain forecast in the next 24 hours. Rahman told CNN on Sunday that

by Heather Chen, CNN In a sea of thousands decked out in rainbow and pink, Dawn Lim, a full-time officer doing mandatory military service in the Singapore army, was not as flamboyantly dressed as many of her fellow attendees at the city state’s Pink Dot pride parade — but she was just as happy and

by Sahar Akbarzai, Saleem Mehsud and Heather Chen, CNN An Islamic State affiliate has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Sikh temple in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul that killed at least two people and injured seven. The attack on Saturday was “an act of revenge” following insults made by members of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata

By Yoonjung Seo and Gawon Bae, CNN, and Reuters North Korea has dispatched medical crews and epidemiological investigators to a province battling the outbreak of an intestinal disease, state media reported on Sunday. At least 800 families suffering from what North Korea has only called an “acute enteric epidemic” have received aid so far in

By Serenitie Wang, CNN When I left a Covid-ravaged Hong Kong, I was in search of a sanctuary. It was early March and the city was in the throes of the biggest coronavirus outbreak per capita in the world. Little could I have known as I boarded the plane that my cunning escape plan would

By Nectar Gan, Brad Lendon, and CNN’s Beijing bureau China on Friday launched its third and most advanced aircraft carrier from Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard, with new combat systems that experts say are fast catching up with the United States. Named “Fujian,” the ship is China’s first domestically designed and built catapult aircraft carrier, state-run news