Reuters Asia Top

By Stephanie Nebehay and Ludwig Burger GENEVA (Reuters) – The Omicron coronavirus variant, reported in more than 60 countries, poses a “very high” global risk, with some evidence that it evades vaccine protection but clinical data on its severity is limited, the World Health Organization says. Considerable uncertainties surround Omicron, first detected last month in …

Omicron poses ‘very high’ risk but data on severity limited Read More »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has helped over 900 American citizens and lawful permanent residents to leave Afghanistan and relocate to the United States since Aug. 31, after the chaotic end to the American war there, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. The United States has directly assisted 479 American citizens and 450 …

Over 900 American citizens, permanent residents left Afghanistan with U.S. help -agency Read More »

(This Dec. 12 story’s headline and first paragraph have been corrected to show that the 500 million figure includes people who were already experiencing extreme poverty) By Manas Mishra (Reuters) – More than half a billion people globally were pushed or sent further into extreme poverty last year as they paid for health costs out …

Health costs pushed or worsened poverty for over 500 million Read More »

By Lisa Shumaker and Andrea Januta (Reuters) – Extreme weather events in 2021 shattered records around the globe. Hundreds died in storms and heatwaves. Farmers struggled with drought, and in some cases with locust plagues. Wildfires set new records for carbon emissions, while swallowing forests, towns and homes. Many of these events were exacerbated by …

From killer heatwaves to floods, climate change worsened weather extremes in 2021 Read More »

By Humeyra Pamuk and Stanley Widianto JAKARTA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a strong commitment to Indonesia on Monday, a senior official said, as he kicked off a Southeast Asia trip aimed at strengthening ties with a region that has become a strategic arena for Washington and Beijing. In his first …

Indonesia cites strong U.S. commitment as Blinken starts Southeast Asia tour Read More »

By Sabine Siebold and Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Lithuania’s foreign minister said on Monday he would not attend the 2022 Olympic Games in China as France and the Netherlands sought a common position on a European Union response to highlight Chinese human rights abuses. The bloc is torn over whether to join the United States, …

EU hesitates over possible Olympic boycott in China Read More »

(Reuters) – Taiwan votes in four referendums on Saturday that could have a major bearing on its energy and trade policy and are a key test of support for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT). The DPP is urging a “no” vote for all, while the KMT …

Factbox-Taiwan’s referendums and what’s up for a vote Read More »