Bhutan

by Maria Casadei | INDIA - BHUTAN

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Thimphu marks a new chapter in Indo-Chinese strategic competition. New Delhi has announced a 40 billion rupee credit line and inaugurated the Punatsangchhu-II hydroelectric power station, intended to strengthen energy interdependence between the two countries. India's moves come as China intensifies border negotiations with Bhutan, in a process that could redefine highly sensitive areas such as the Doklam, Pasamlung and Jakarlung plateaus.


Today's news: at least 36 victims in Guangdong in highway collapse; Ankara wants to join South Africa in genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice; Bhutan is a pioneer in South Asia for primary health care (PHA); Heat wave and mismanagement cause a fish die-off in a reservoir in southern Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of animals dead. 

| 02/05/2024
| ASIA TODAY

The latest data on international arms transfers over the past five years come from Sweden-based SIPRI. India is the world's top importer, while the United States, for the first time in 25 years, is Asia’s largest supplier. Driving rearmament, experts explain, is the perception of a Chinese threat (which continues to boost its war production).

| 11/03/2024
| ASIA – PACIFIC

Today's news: attacker who shot opposition leader in South Korea wanted to prevent him from becoming president; In Myanmar at least 34 people died in prison in 2023; Diplomatic dispute between the Maldives, India, and China continues; In Hong Kong a man wearing a T-shirt with pro-democracy slogans arrested.

| 10/01/2024
| ASIA TODAY

Today's news: One of Hezbollah's leaders eliminated in southern Lebanon; Chinese President Xi Jinping said more efforts are needed in the fight against corruption; Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif is free to participate in the upcoming elections; Polling stations open for the Bhutan runoff.

| 09/01/2024
| ASIA TODAY

Today's news: Israel renews attacks on the Strip, the UN says it will not rule out Jabalia refugee camp attack being considered a 'war crime';  The Cambodian government establishes an authority for civil cases, separate from the ordinary courts; Beijing tightens regulations on bank capital to contain financial risks; Senior officials of an Indonesian pharmaceutical company convicted over a drug linked to the deaths of 200 children; Bhutan appoints an interim government ahead of parliamentary elections; Entire Russian settlements beyond the polar circle without heating,wood or coal as winter sets in.

| 02/11/2023
| ASIA TODAY

Today's news: Hong Kong’s new cardinal says a liaison office is a matter “between the two governments," but stresses his diocese’s role as a potential "bridge" between China and the Vatican. India and Bhutan report a significant rise in the number of wild tigers. The United Arab Emirates will allow protesters to “assemble peacefully” during COP28. A “delicacy" in many countries, frog legs shortages are reported in Indonesia and Vietnam. Russia speeds up building its own "sovereign internet".

| 02/08/2023
| ASIA TODAY
Editor's choices
 
The 'Yesterday’ project, which reports from abroad on protests in China, selected the 10 most significant collective initiatives of the past year, offering a snapshot of activism in China. It features “unsung heroes” who together ...
| 08/01/2026
| RED LANTERNS
 
The year begins with elections in Bangladesh, Thailand and Nepal, but also with the Vietnamese Communist Party Congress. The Philippines will hold the rotating presidency of ASEAN, while Shenzhen will host the APEC summit. Japan will host the 20th edition ...
| 01/01/2026
| ASIA
 
The list includes Japan's first female prime minister, Nepal's Generation Z, and Field Marshal Munir in Pakistan. We also have Zohran Mamdani, who today speaks to India from his post as mayor of New York; Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, ...
| 31/12/2025
| THE YEAR THAT IS ENDING
 
by Gianni Criveller
The editorial director of AsiaNews offers his best wishes to “those who oppose war and division, who pay with prison for their fidelity to their ideals, who dedicate themselves for the least. Even in the huge continent where His disciples are few, ...
| 24/12/2025
| ASIANEWS
 
This is a time to see the lights everywhere in the city and hear questions from young Chinese about the "exotic festival" from the West. Local Catholics show a surprising ability to combine mass culture and evangelisation. “I like to think it is ...
| 23/12/2025
| CHINA
 
by fr. Gabriel Romanelli
The parish priest of the Holy Family shares a video testimony of these days of Advent with AsiaNews. Life has ‘slightly improved’ after the ceasefire, but the war ‘continues’. The humanitarian emergency remains current in a climate ...
| 17/12/2025
| ISRAEL - PALESTINE
 
After five years in prison and a one-sided trial lasting 156 hearings, the “exemplary” sentence was handed down today to the Catholic entrepreneur, publisher of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. The sentence has yet to be determined, ...
| 15/12/2025
| HONG KONG
 
The border dispute is not the only factor in restarting clashes. Scores of online scam centres operate along the border, run by criminal networks linked to Cambodian elites. Thailand considers them strategic military targets and is using the war to build ...
| 11/12/2025
| THAILAND – CAMBODIA
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”