CNN-Asia Pacific

By Jessie Yeung and Ben Westcott, CNN After months of lockdown, parts of Southeast Asia are leaving behind their “zero-Covid” policy and charting a path toward living with the virus — despite experts’ warnings that it may be too early to do so. Covid-19 swept across the region this summer, fueled by the highly infectious

By Jack Guy, CNN Two Japanese sisters have been confirmed as the world’s oldest living identical twins and the oldest ever identical twins at the age of 107. Born on November 5, 1913, Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama were 107 years and 300 days old as of September 1, according to a statement from Guinness

By Jessie Yeung and Steve George, CNN Last week, a 47-year-old man stormed into a law firm in China’s Wuhan city and shot dead a lawyer who he had “some disputes with,” according to Chinese state media. He then stuffed his gun, just under 20 inches (50 centimeters) long, into a tennis racket bag and

By Hira Humayun and Helen Regan, CNN Female employees in the Kabul city government have been told to stay home, and only women whose jobs cannot be done by men are allowed to come to work — the latest restrictions imposed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The order, announced by Kabul’s acting Mayor Hamdullah Nohmani

By Rebecca Wright, Anna Coren and Abdul Basir Bina, CNN Tugging at the folds of the traditional hijab dress, two young sisters jostle and laugh to try to get their mother’s attention as she fries onions on the stove. Along with their 6-month-old sister, the girls are oblivious to the threat they now face from

By Nic Robertson, Ingrid Formanek and Ivana Kottasová, CNN Emal Ahmadi knew his brother Zamarai wasn’t the ISIS-K facilitator that American officials portrayed him to be in the days after his death. Now, at last, the whole world knows that too. Zamarai Ahmadi and nine other civilians, including seven children, were killed in a US

By CNN staff Students and lecturers at Hong Kong‘s most prestigious university returned from summer break this month to a very different institution. The Democracy Wall at the University of Hong Kong (better known as HKU) — a pinboard where students once shared political thoughts — is gone. The student union, which once advocated for

By Nic Robertson, Ingrid Formanek, Taylor Barnes and Ivana Kottasová, CNN The Taliban have denied claims that Afghan women would be banned from secondary schools after calling on boys, but not girls, to resume education, claiming they needed to set up a “secure transportation system” for female students before allowing them back into classrooms. The

By Antonia Mortensen, Tim Lister and Phil Black, CNN Wakil’s eyes fill with tears. He has no idea whether he and his family will get out of Afghanistan, and fears that if they don’t the Taliban will hunt him down and kill him. A former US government employee, Wakil is not his real name; he

By Amy Sood, CNN A Jakarta court on Thursday ruled the Indonesian government had failed to uphold citizens’ right to clean air, in a landmark judgment campaigners hope will force authorities to take action on the city’s notorious smog. The long-awaited decision ends a two-year legal challenge brought by 32 Jakarta citizens against Indonesian President

By Jessie Yeung, CNN An earthquake in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan left at least three people dead and 60 injured on Thursday, according to state-run media. Local authorities put the quake at 6.0-magnitude, while the US Geological Survey (USGS) put it at 5.4-magnitude on an 8-point scale. The quake hit in the early hours

By Brad Lendon and Blake Essig, CNN Japan is drawing a red line around an island chain also claimed by China, pushing back at Beijing’s increasingly aggressive military posturing, and setting the stage for a potential showdown between the region’s two biggest powers. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said

By Sarah Dean, CNN Taliban co-founder and acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar appeared in a television interview Wednesday to refute rumors he had been injured or even killed in a dispute last week at the presidential palace in Kabul. Rumors had been circulating — and widely shared on social media — that

By Becky Anderson, Zeena Saifi and Helen Regan, CNN Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan said the best way forward for peace and stability in Afghanistan is to engage with the Taliban and “incentivize” them on issues such as women’s rights and inclusive government. Speaking to CNN from his private Bani Gala residence in Islamabad on