Reuters Asia Top

By Ian Ransom (Reuters) – A few months after holding a Winter Olympics as memorable for its extreme anti-COVID-19 measures as the competition, China has all but given up hosting international sporting events while it battles fresh outbreaks around key cities. On Sunday, China surrendered hosting rights for next year’s Asian Cup, the continent’s top …

After Winter Olympics, China retreats from sports hosting amid ‘zero-COVID’ policy Read More »

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in South Korea on Friday, the first leg of his first trip to Asia as president. Biden was greeted at the U.S. air base at Osan by South Korean foreign minister Park Jin, and the commanding general of U.S. forces in Korea, Paul …

Biden arrives in South Korea for talks with President Yoon Read More »

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will next month double its limit on foreign arrivals to 20,000 a day, the top government spokesperson said on Friday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular news conference that travellers from most countries, about 80% of the total foreign entrants to Japan, would not be required to provide proof …

Japan to double limit on foreign arrivals from next month Read More »

By Brenda Goh SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) -Shanghai announced its first new COVID-19 cases outside quarantined areas in five days on Friday, triggering stricter curbs and mass testing in one district but plans to end a prolonged city-wide lockdown on June 1 appeared on track. The commercial hub of 25 million found three new cases in the …

Shanghai finds cases after five days of ‘zero COVID’ but end of lockdown on track Read More »

By Emma Farge and Jennifer Rigby GENEVA (Reuters) – More than 100 world health ministers will meet in Geneva next week for the World Health Organization’s first in-person assembly in three years as the U.N. agency seeks to define its future role in global health policy. The agenda of the World Health Assembly (WHA) is …

Explainer-What is on (and off) the agenda of the WHO Assembly? Read More »

By Casey Hall SHANGHAI (Reuters) – After teaching for three years at an international school in Shanghai, Michael is preparing to break his contract and leave, worn down by stringent measures against the coronavirus. Following two years of nearly-shut borders, onerous health checks and quarantine norms, a decision at the beginning of April to lock …

China’s international schools hit by exodus of teachers dejected by COVID curbs Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea reported 263,370 more people with fever symptoms, and two more deaths as the country battles its first confirmed outbreak of COVID-19, the North’s official KCNA said on Friday. It did not report how many of those cases had tested positive for the coronavirus. (Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Chris …

N.Korea reports 263,370 more people with fever symptoms amid COVID outbreak -KCNA Read More »

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Pakistan’s new Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said on Thursday he would like to pivot away from single-issue transactional relationship with the United States as he seeks to repair frayed ties with Washington. “Our relationship with the United States has been colored too much by the geopolitical context in …

Pakistan’s new foreign minister seeks to broaden U.S. ties Read More »