World
Asia
Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong sent back to prison by South Korean court over bribery
In a much-anticipated retrial, the Seoul High Court found Lee guilty of bribing then-President Park Geun-hye and her close confidante in 2015.
- by Kim Tong-hyung
Latest
Indian zoo stops feeding chickens to hawks on bird flu fears
Serological tests of a brown fish owl, which died at the National Zoological Park in New Delhi, confirmed that the bird was infected with the H5N8 virus.
- by Atul Prakash
'Caught in a political war': First sailors set free after months stuck at sea
But scores of others remain stranded in the multibillion-dollar trade dispute between Australia and China.
- by Eryk Bagshaw
Chinese economy picks up speed, ends 2020 in solid position despite COVID
China's GDP grew 2.3 per cent in 2020 making it the only major economy to avoid a pandemic-induced contraction last year.
- by Gabriel Crossley and Kevin Yao
Indonesian teams find more bodies from Sulawesi quake
Separately about 40,000 people have been evacuated and at least 20 have been killed due to floods that affected other parts of the country at the weekend.
- by Muhammad Rifki and Yusuf Wahil
In Hong Kong, a new party calls for stability (and raises suspicions)
They are businessmen born in mainland China, serve on top advisory committees to Beijing and profess patriotism for the motherland. Now, they are seeking to bring that ardour to Hong Kong, as the founders of the city's newest political party.
- by Keith Bradsher and Vivian Wang
Explainer
War
Miniskirts and mujahideen: how did Afghanistan come to be defined by war?
It was once a stop on the hippie trail and inspiration for the Lonely Planet guidebooks. So how did Afghanistan come to be defined by war and terrorism?
- by Maher Mughrabi
Hope sinks in Kashmir as COVID compounds India crackdown
Once a hub for both Western and Indian tourists, Kashmir has been reeling for more than a year. First, India brought in security forces. Then the coronavirus struck.
- by Emily Schmall
US steps up claims COVID-19 may have escaped from Chinese lab
The US said it had obtained new evidence that researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick with the virus before the first identified case of the outbreak, but provided no data to back up its claims.
- by Bill Faries
China builds hospital in five days after surge in virus cases
The government is building a number of COVID hospitals, saying the new strain is harder to contain.
- by Joe McDonald
Volcano on Indonesia's Java island spews hot clouds
The volcano's hot clouds came just days after an earthquake killed dozens on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.