Asia Today

Today's headlines: US strikes 85 targets in Syria and Iraq in response to an attack against a US base in Jordan. North Korea conducts new missile test. More than 90,000 polling stations have been set up for the February 8 vote in Pakistan. One out of every 140 Japanese teachers is on leave for mental illness. Kazakhstan wants to build a fibre optic communication line with Russia and Iran.

Today's news: Hindu worshippers started to pray inside the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi; Indonesian President Jokowi dismisses rumours of discontent among his ministers; Korean President Yoon's popularity falls due to the affair over his wife's Dior bag; Azerbaijan tries to take over more Armenian churches.

Today's news: India has deployed several warships to fight piracy; Four people were found guilty of rioting and disorder by a Hong Kong court over the 2019 protests; Former Malaysian premier Najib Razak's prison sentence reduced; Russian dissident rock group Bi-2 left Thailand to fly to Israel.

Today's news: 14 more years in prison for former premier Imran Khan and wife in Pakistan. Sultan of Johor sworn in as new king of Mlaysia; Pyongyang confirmed third cruise missile launch in seven days.

Today's news: Hong Kong to present new details on national security law; Two ships taken hostage by Somali pirates are freed; CNN office closes in the Philippines; Chinese companies will build Central Asia's first private airport.

Today's news: attack against US troops in Jordan; North Korea launched more missiles off its east coast; In Maharashtra another disputed place of worship generates religious disputes; New tensions in Belucistan; In Myanmar, the Pa-O ethnic group also decided to fight against the army; Restrictions on journalists in Kazakhstan.

Today's news: An archaeological report finds that the Varanasi mosque in India was allegedly built on the ashes of a Hindu temple; Chinese industrial profits fell by 2.3% in 2023; The director of the WHO described conditions in Gaza as 'hellish'; General strike in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan over rising wheat prices; Vladimir Putin visits the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on Polish territory on 'Russian Students' Day' (Tatjanin Den). Malaysia increases water tariffs.

Today's news: China tries to push Iran to curb Houthi attacks in the Red Sea; Under threat of going underwater within the next 25 years, elections are held in Tuvalu;Taiwan initiates compulsory conscription extended to one year in response to the Chinese threat; The earth continues to shake on the border between Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China; The precision landing of its space lander on the Moon boosts the ambitions of Japan's space programme.

Today's news: India won't withdraw troops from the Maldives, after archipelago's president seeks relations with Beijing; Seoul court approves seizure of funds from a Japanese company to compensate for wartime labour exploitation; Israel denies the attack on the UN shelter in Gaza that also drew a rebuke from Washington; Fuel runs out in Laos.

Today's news: progress on the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages, but Hamas wants an end to the war; In Islamabad, a Belucian garrison was removed and protesters were booked; As Beijing forges alliances in the Pacific, Taiwan asks Biden to join the US-led 'Indo-Pacific economic framework'; Modi's India expels French journalist Vanessa Dougnac, correspondent of the Catholic newspaper La Croix.

Today's news: In Pakistan, suspected bombing led to the closure of schools and universities in Islamabad; A 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China. Large-scale attacks by the United States and Britain against the Houthis in Yemen; Relatives of hostages break into parliament in Jerusalem, 21 Israeli soldiers killed in a single day in Gaza. In Russia over 400 attacks on military bases and logistical facilities to sabotage the war in Ukraine.

Today's news: Taiwan says it has detected six more Chinese spy balloons flying over the island; In May, construction will begin on a new mosque in Ayodhya, India; Putin says he plans to visit Pyongyang soon; Israeli Foreign Minister Katz and his Palestinian counterpart al-Maliki will attend the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels separately: Tajikistan continues the work of "de-Russification" of its civil code.