Asia

Youth unemployment in China climbed to 18.8 percent in August, its highest level this year, as the country struggles to boost a flagging economy. The unemployment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds not in education rose from 17.1 percent in July, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday. The closely…

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka was voting for its next president Saturday in an effective referendum on an unpopular International Monetary Fund austerity plan enacted after the island nation's unprecedented financial crisis. President Ranil Wickremesinghe is fighting an uphill battle for a fresh mandate to continue belt-tightening measures that stabilised the economy and ended months of food,…

Iran unveiled a new ballistic missile and an upgraded one-way attack drone at a military parade on Saturday, state media said, amid soaring regional tensions and allegations of arming Russia. Iran stands accused by Western governments of supplying both drones and missiles to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, a charge it has…

Hezbollah said Saturday that a second senior commander was among 16 fighters killed in an Israeli air strike on its Beirut stronghold the previous day, highlighting the scale of the blow to its military leadership. Israel said Friday's strike on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital killed the head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim…

Japanese authorities told tens of thousands of people to evacuate the quake-hit region of Ishikawa on Saturday as "unprecedented" rains triggered floods and landslides. A dozen rivers in the region, on the west coast of central Japan, had burst their banks by 11:00 am (0200 GMT), land ministry official Masaru Kojima said. Three people were…

North Korea had successfully tested a new ballistic missile capable of carrying a super-large conventional warhead, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Thursday. State-controlled KCNA news agency quoted the country’s Missile Administration as stating the test-fire, held on Wednesday, went as planned. It added that ruler Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch. “The new-type tactical ballistic…

Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday to punish Israel after hundreds of paging devices used by the militant group's members exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others. Israel had announced…

The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant said on Tuesday it has suspended an operation to remove a sample of highly radioactive material because of a new technical problem. Extracting the estimated 880 tons of highly radioactive fuel and debris inside the former power station remains the most challenging part of decommissioning the facility,…

The death toll from massive flooding in Myanmar in the wake of Typhoon Yagi has doubled to 226, state media reported, as the UN warned as many as 630,000 people could need help. Yagi swept across northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar more than a week ago with powerful winds and an enormous amount of…

Tens of millions of people in Shanghai and across China's densely populated east coast hunkered indoors Monday as the strongest typhoon to hit since 1949 swept in, downing trees and disrupting transport across the region. Typhoon Bebinca -- the fiercest storm to hit the megacity since Gloria 75 years ago -- landed early Monday morning…

The death toll in Myanmar in the wake of Typhoon Yagi has jumped to 74, state media reported on Sunday, a day after its junta made a rare

Adriana Torres is due for release soon from the biggest women's prison in the South American nation of Paraguay. But she says she's in no hurry. "I've no plans to escape," the gap-toothed 33-year-old mother of five joked as she took her bow after performing a stand-up comedy routine in the prison yard. Torres is…