Asia News from WN Network

China warns diplomatic ties with US could face 'downward spiral' as Blinken visits Beijing 2024-04-26
France24

China's foreign minister on Friday urged visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address rising disagreements or risk a "downward spiral" between the two powers after months of efforts to ease tensions. ......

photo: AP / Mark Schiefelbein, Pool

India election: Second phase of voting today as Modi vs Gandhi campaign heats up 2024-04-26
Khaleejtimes

India began voting on Friday in the second phase of the world's biggest election, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his rivals raise the pitch of the campaign by focusing on hot-button issues such as religious discrimination, affirmative action and taxes. Almost one billion people are eligible to...

photo: AP / Channi Anand

Blinken kicks off direct engagement with China ahead of tough talks 2024-04-25
Voa News

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored the necessity for "direct" and "sustained engagement" between the United States and China during his first official meeting in Shanghai, a city home to more than 1,000 U.S. companies. Thursday morning, Blinken held talks with Chen...

photo: AP / Alex Brandon

Blinken back in China seeking pressure but also stability 2024-04-24
Korea Times

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted by at the Kong Fuan, Director General of the Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China R. Nicholas Burns and U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai Scott Walker, upon his arrival in Shanghai, China, April 24,...

photo: AP / Mark Schiefelbein, Pool

‘Absolute power’: After pro-China Maldives leader’s big win, what’s next? 2024-04-24
Al Jazeera

Very few expected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party to win Sunday’s parliamentary elections, that too by a landslide. For this was a man whose triumph in the presidential poll last year came by a fluke. Back then, the 45-year-old mayor of the capital Male entered the presidential race only...

photo: AP / Rafiq Maqbool, File

China evacuates over 100,000 as heavy rain continues to lash south 2024-04-23
Al Jazeera

China has evacuated more than 100,000 people as heavy rain continues to lash the southern province of Guangdong. Authorities raised the highest level of alarm on Tuesday as the storms showed no sign of letting up. Flooding has already killed four people, with another 10 reported missing, in just the...

photo: AP / Ng Han Guan

Asia bears biggest climate-change brunt amid extreme weather: WMO 2024-04-23
Al Jazeera

Asia was the region most affected by climate change, weather and water-related hazards globally last year, the United Nations weather agency has said. In a report published on Tuesday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said floods and storms were the main cause of casualties and economic...

photo: AP / Muhammad Sajjad

Floods swamp China's south, spark extreme weather fears 2024-04-22
LBC International

Floods swamped a handful of cities in southern China's densely populated Pearl River Delta following record-breaking rains, sparking worries about the region's defenses against bigger deluges induced by extreme weather events. The province once dubbed the "factory floor of the world" is prone to...

photo: AP / Andy Wong

Why is Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi visiting Pakistan? 2024-04-22
Al Jazeera

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is in Pakistan on a three-day trip to discuss regional and bilateral relations days after Iran and Israel carried out attacks against each other, risking the Gaza war to expand into a regional conflict. Raisi is scheduled to hold talks with top Pakistani leadership,...

photo: AP / Prime Minister Office via AP

Racial wart on Myanmar’s revolutionary troika 2024-04-22
Asiatimes

As Myanmar’s political opposition complex marks a three-year anniversary since the 2021 military coup, its progress has been at best mediocre and at worst an abysmal failure. The three groups that comprise the complex are the multi-member policy advisory body the National Unity Consultative Council...

photo: AP / Photo, File