Asia & Pacific

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection announced the start of intensified air pollution monitoring program in 28 cities. As a part of the program, the environmental monitoring center in the Chinese province of Hebei employed experts, specializing in "smog tasting."

A new ransomware called UIWIX was detected by China’s National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (VERC), local media reported Thursday.

India has replaced the US as the second most attractive renewable energy market, with China topping the list. The US lost due to a shift in domestic energy policy under President Donald Trump.

China has managed to successfully mine combustible ice in the South China Sea after nearly two decades of research and exploration.

China hopes that South Korea will further improve bilateral relations, Chinese Foreign Minister said Thursday during a meeting with Seoul’s special envoy.

India’s attempts to expedite infrastructure development in regions close to China and Myanmar will get a major boost as Japan has officially offered support for various ongoing as well as upcoming development and infrastructure projects in the country’s north-eastern region.

US car manufacturer General Motors (GM) has announced that it will close its car sale business in India and use its Indian car manufacturing plant only for export needs.

The US hampers the world’s concerted efforts to deal with against cybercrime, and its National Security Agency must shoulder some of the blame for the recent global cyberattack that infected computers at 30,000 Chinese institutions and businesses, China Daily wrote on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the International Court of Justice ordered Pakistan to stay the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who Pakistan claims to be an Indian spy, until the case is heard in full by the court in The Hague, the Netherlands. It also asked Pakistan to give India full consular access to Jadhav.

A pessimistic assessment of the development of the situation in Afghanistan was made by the director of the US National Intelligence Agency, Dan Coates on May 11.

Amid India’s reluctance to allow the Australian Navy to be part of the annual trilateral Exercise Malabar, the Australian Border Force Cutter (ABFC) Ocean Shield ship has arrived at Chennai on a two-day visit to India as part of international co-operation.

Seoul dismissed Tokyo's official objections over the operation of a South Korean research vessel in the area around the disputed Liancourt Rocks in the Sea of Japan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said Thursday.

A Hong Kong-based campaigner has managed to persuade 42 airlines and transport companies to ban the transport of shark fins on their planes but US companies such as FedEx and United Airlines have yet to follow suit. Shark fin soup is a delicacy in China but conservationists say it is endangering several species of shark.

The Philippines will no longer accept multimillion dollar grants from the European Union, as the bloc allegedly uses the funding for the purpose of interfering in the country’s internal affairs, Philippine presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Thursday.

With China's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative getting all the global attention in Beijing, India and Japan plan a soft launch of their Asia-Africa connectivity project later this month. Experts, however, pointed out that OBOR can't be ignored despite Indian and Japanese reluctance to join it.

The first passenger ferry arrived Thursday from North Korean port city of Rason to Russia's Vladivostok on a route linking the countries, a representative of the carrier company, Russia's InvestStroiTrest, told Sputnik.

Chinese drone owners will have to register their UAVs -- and use their real names -- with the country’s civilian aviation regulator.

On Wednesday the head of the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) called North Korea’s recent missile launch "a recipe for a disaster" and said Washington and it’s partners in the region should continue collaborating to fend off provocation from Pyongyang.

Following the deployment of the cutting-edge US-built THAAD missile system in South Korea and Sunday’s successful launch of Pyongyang’s most powerful ballistic missile to date, newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in has declared that war with the North is a "high possibility."

China has reportedly further militarized a disputed reef in the South China Sea, just days after agreeing to minimize tensions with Vietnam.