Reuters Asia Top

By Sophie Yu and Brenda Goh BEIJING (Reuters) – A headache-prone Pokemon character given away in KFC children’s meals has become China’s most wanted toy, selling for up to $200, as people seek ways to express their frustrations over COVID-19 lockdowns. KFC began handing out Psyduck in China on May 21, ahead of a promotion …

Pokemon Psyduck becomes symbol of China’s lockdown headaches Read More »

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Trafficking of synthetic drugs in East and Southeast Asia continued to expand last year, with more than one billion methamphetamine tablets seized by authorities, the United Nations said on Monday. Prices of methamphetamine or meth, by far the region’s most popular drug, fell last year even as interceptions rose, indicating supply had …

Asia’s synthetic drug trade booms, with record meth seizures Read More »

BEIJING (Reuters) – Beijing reported one new community COVID-19 infection during 15 hours to 3 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) on Monday, after the Chinese capital had reported zero such cases for three consecutive days, a disease control official said. The Chinese capital Beijing has had 1,752 COVID infections as of 3 pm local time …

Beijing city reports one new community COVID case during 15 hours ending 3 pm on Monday Read More »

BERLIN (Reuters) – The Group of Seven major economies jointly condemned on Monday North Korea’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile test and called on all U.N. member states to condemn the nuclear-armed state’s actions. “We are very concerned by the unprecedented series of ballistic missile tests with increasingly versatile systems across all ranges,” the foreign ministers …

G7 foreign ministers decry latest North Korean ICBM test Read More »

By Maki Shiraki, Yuki Nitta and Rocky Swift TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s easing of a two-year ban on foreign tourists seeks to balance the enormous economic importance of tourism with concerns that travellers would trigger a COVID outbreak, insiders say. The decision means Japan will allow in a limited number of foreign tourists on package …

Wary of foreign ‘bad manners’, Japan eases borders to aid hobbled tourism industry Read More »

By Harish Sridharan and Rushil Dutta (Reuters) -Dairy companies in Australia and New Zealand are queueing to restock empty shelves in the United States with baby food, after the country recently relaxed its import policy to mitigate one of the biggest infant formula shortages in recent history. New Zealand’s dairy giants Fonterra and a2 Milk, …

Antipodean dairy firms eye baby food supply to U.S. after Bubs Australia nod Read More »

KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Rescue workers in Nepal have so far recovered 14 bodies from the crash site of a small plane carrying 22 people that went down in a remote region, an airport official said on Monday. “The search for others is continuing,” said Tek Raj Sitaula, a spokesman for the Tribhuvan International Airport in …

Nepal authorities recover bodies of 14 persons who were on board crashed plane Read More »

(Reuters) – Russia’s foreign minister said on Monday that Moscow would consider offers from the West to re-establish ties and determine whether that is needed, but will focus on developing relations with China. Sergei Lavrov, in a question and answer session at an event in Moscow, said Western countries had espoused “russophobia” since Russia launched …

Moscow not sure it needs resumed ties with West, will work on ties with China -Lavrov Read More »

By Sudarshan Varadhan and Munsif Vengattil NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India on Sunday withdrew a warning not to share photocopies of the national biometric identity card after the announcement caused widespread panic on social media. The Aadhaar card, which has a unique number tied to an individual’s fingerprints, face and eye scan, aims to block …

India withdraws warning on national biometric ID after online panic Read More »