Xi’s early involvement in virus outbreak raises questions
BEIJING — A recent speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping that has been published by state media indicates for the first time that he was leading the ...
Cost of China’s anti-virus fight rises with workers idle
BEIJING — Real estate agent Du Xuekun’s sales usually jump after the Lunar New Year holiday. But this year, Du has been at home for a month with no in...
France announces 1st death of virus patient outside Asia
PARIS — France on Saturday reported the first death outside Asia of a person infected with the new virus from China, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist wh...
New virus cases fall; WHO says China bought the world time
BEIJING — China reported 143 virus deaths and a dip in new cases Saturday while the head of the World Health Organization praised the country's effort...
Questions complicate efforts to contain new virus from China
WASHINGTON — Reports one day suggest the respiratory outbreak in China might be slowing, the next brings word of thousands more cases. Even the expert...
US defense chief slams China as rising threat to world order
MUNICH, Germany — U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Saturday cast China as a rising threat to world order — saying the world's most populous nation...
No handshakes: Viral outbreak spooks Asian places of worship
MANILA, Philippines — In a popular Catholic church in the Philippines, nearly half of the pews were empty for Sunday Mass. The few hundred worshippers...
US and Taliban agree to truce, way forward in Afghanistan
MUNICH — The United States and the Taliban have agreed to a temporary truce that, if successful, would open the way for a deal that would bring Americ...
US travel ban for Sri Lanka army chief in hospital shelling
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The U.S. government on Friday issued a travel ban Sri Lanka's army chief, saying there is “credible information of his involvemen...
With virus, shops in China suffer a star-crossed Valentines
BEIJING — In virus-stricken China, couples can celebrate Valentine's Day with a roast beef salad, hot chocolate, a rose and a note, all delivered to t...
No ‘Plan B’ for Olympics; questions over Chinese presence
TOKYO — Tokyo Olympic organizers and the International Olympic Committee said Friday there is no “Plan B” for the 2020 Games, which open in just over ...
India keeps lid on Kashmir’s internet 6 months into lockdown
NEW DELHI — Six months after India's government stripped restive Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and enforced a total communications blackout, it is hera...
Health concerns meet politics amid Taiwan’s WHO exclusion
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Organization is pitting health concerns against geopolitics during the current crisis over t...
RK Pachauri, who led Nobel-winning climate panel, dies at 79
NEW DELHI — Indian environmentalist Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, under whose leadership a U.N. climate change panel shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, has...
Cruise stranded by virus fears ends with roses in Cambodia
SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — Hundreds of cruise ship passengers long stranded at sea by virus fears cheered as they finally disembarked Friday and were w...
Fear, boredom, adventure fill each day on quarantined ship
YOKOHAMA, Japan — Fear. Surprising moments of levity. Soul-crushing boredom.
EU health ministers boost preparations to fight new virus
BRUSSELS — European Union health ministers agreed Thursday to boost preparations and organize a coordinated response to prevent the virus that emerged...
Virus worries force cancellation of major tech show in Spain
LONDON — Organizers of the world’s biggest mobile technology fair are pulling the plug over worries about the viral outbreak from China.
Fall in new cases raises hope in virus outbreak in China
BEIJING — The number of new cases of the coronavirus in China dropped for a second straight day, health officials said Wednesday in a possible glimmer...
Singapore bank clears office after virus case found
SINGAPORE — The Singapore bank DBS on Wednesday cleared a downtown office and told some 300 employees to work from home after one of its staff was inf...
Lone door led out as fire burned Indian factory of US denim
NEW DELHI — Shouting and crying, workers in an Indian denim factory struggled to claw their way up a ladder to a door, their only exit as a fire blaze...
Virus puts Hong Kong protests on ice. Will they return?
The crowd lining up recently on a cold, dark Hong Kong street wasn't part of the anti-government protest movement that rocked the semi-autonomous Chin...
Philippines notifies US of intent to end major security pact
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines notified the United States on Tuesday it would end a major security pact allowing American forces to train in th...
Rohingya boat capsizes in Bay of Bengal; at least 15 dead
DHAKA, Bangladesh — An overcrowded boat carrying about 138 Rohingya refugees from Bangladeshi camps sank Tuesday in the Bay of Bengal, leaving at leas...
Virus cases in Hong Kong apartments recall SARS memories
HONG KONG — The diagnosis of four people living in a single Hong Kong apartment block who were sickened by a new virus is prompting worried comparison...
China still mostly closed down as virus deaths pass 1,000
BEIJING — China remains mostly closed for business, as the daily death toll from a new virus topped 100 for the first time, pushing the total above 1,...
UN meeting ponders fast-track drugs, vaccines for new virus
GENEVA — The World Health Organization convened outside experts Tuesday to fast-track promising tests, drugs and vaccines to help slow the outbreak of...
Health officials trace British patient travels in outbreak
LONDON — A middle-aged businessman from England who vacationed in the Alps has illustrated how the ease of international travel is complicating global...
Thai army chief: Gunman wasn’t treated fairly in land deal
BANGKOK — Thailand's army commander said Tuesday the soldier who killed 29 people in a shooting rampage had not been treated fairly in a land deal inv...
Rebuilding Afghanistan has a high human cost, US agency says
KABUL, Afghanistan — Rebuilding Afghanistan has cost hundreds of lives, according to a new report released Tuesday by a U.S. government watchdog that ...