Asia

North Korea has ordered a five-day confinement in its capital Pyongyang due to a “respiratory illness”, reported a South Korean specialized site. The move appears to be the first citywide measure taken since the country declared victory over Covid-19 in August 2022. Residents of Pyongyang have been ordered to stay …

A 61-year-old butcher was killed by a pig while attempting to slaughter it at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse in Hong Kong, according to reports. “The butcher was about to kill the pig which he had already shot with an electric stun gun when it regained consciousness and knocked him over,” …

Seiji Kihara, a close friend of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has apologized after being filmed with his hands in his trouser pockets on January 13 during a trip to the United States, reports the Guardian. The attitude of the deputy had triggered strong criticism on Japanese social networks but …

Devanshi Sanghvi, heiress of the jewelry business Sanghvi and Sons in the Indian city of Surat (Gujarat, west) has decided to give up her fortune to become a nun in a strict religious order of the Jain faith. Renouncing a fortune of millions of dollars in diamonds, the eight-year-old Indian …

Chinese population, the world’s most populous country, fell in 2022 for the first time in six decades, an official body said on Tuesday. In total, 9.56 million births were registered last year, and did not compensate for the 10.41 million deaths, announced the National Bureau of Statistics (BNS) in a …

An explosion at a chemical plant in northeast China has left at least two people dead, 34 injured and 12 missing, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday. “The fire is currently under control, the last flames having stabilized”, according to CCTV. Videos and photos released by television show a thick …

The United States and Japan on Wednesday flaunted their “strategic alignment” on defense that extends into space amid growing concerns over China and tensions over Taiwan and North Korea. “We agree that China poses the most important strategic challenge to the two countries,” said the head of the American diplomacy, …

Nearly 90 percent of residents in Henan, one of China’s most populous provinces, have been infected with Covid-19, a regional health authority official said Monday. China is facing an unprecedented rebound in the number of positive cases. After three years of some of the most draconian restrictions in the world, …

China announced on Wednesday a general relaxation of health rules against Covid, authorizing certain positive cases to quarantine at home and reducing its use of generalized PCR tests. The change comes days after historic angry protests across the country. According to the new instructions unveiled by the National Health Commission …

The head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken on Sunday said the United States would oppose the establishment of new colonies by the next Israeli government in the occupied West Bank. His remarks come at a time when Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to regain power thanks to a coalition with …