United States (US) President Donald Trump cast blame on China over the coronavirus pandemic in an address on Tuesday before the United Nations (UN), whose chief warned against a new "Cold War" between the two powers.At a General Assembly held almost entirely virtually due to COVID-19, Trump delivered a speech in election campaign mode, while Chinese President Xi Jinping instead unveiled ambitious new targets to fight climate change.As the US death toll from COVID-19 reached the grim

Booted from Aung San Suu Kyi's "chaotic and autocratic" party, one female MP is now taking on Myanmar's national heroine in the upcoming election, claiming the country needs to work with, not against, a military accused of genocide.Voters are expected to return Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party to power at the 8 November polls - only the second since the country emerged from decades of outright military rule - but Thet Thet Khine is still hoping to make h

A deal to restructure ownership of the popular video app TikTok was thrown into doubt Monday when President Donald Trump vowed to block any deal that allows its Chinese parent firm to retain any control.The comments raised fresh concerns over a weekend deal that appeared to avert a United States (US)-ordered ban of TikTok, which the Trump administration has called a national security risk and has threatened to ban without ownership changes.The deal would make Silicon Valley giant Oracle the d

China ramped up its rhetoric over Taiwan on Monday, describing any support for its independence as "doomed to fail", and threatened retaliation against United States (US) diplomatic visits to the island.Taiwan has been ruled separately from China since the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory awaiting reunification.The island is a flashpoint with Washington, which promises military support to the elected government and has sent two envoy

A plaque installed by activists in Bangkok declaring Thailand "belongs to the people" had been removed Monday, after a weekend show of force by protesters calling for the royal family to stay out of the kingdom's politics.Thailand has seen near-daily protests for the past two months led by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, a former army chief who masterminded a 2014 coup.Some 30,000 demonstrators rallied Saturday close to Bangkok's Gra

In the sweltering heat and humidity, 31-year-old Caitlyn Tojanes grumbles about having to wear a face shield over her mask as she waits in line for her bus in the Philippine capital Manila."It's uncomfortable.

China on Saturday launched a mechanism that would allow it to sanction foreign companies, upping the ante in a tech war with the United States (US) a day after Washington moved to curb popular Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat.China's long-expected "unreliable entities list" is seen as a weapon for Beijing to retaliate against the US, which has used its own "entity list" to shut Chinese telecom giant Huawei out of the US market, while also moving against TikTok and WeCha

Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's Grand Palace on Saturday, in a huge rally calling for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy.The kingdom has seen near-daily gatherings of youth-led groups since mid-July calling for the resignation of Prayut, the former army chief behind the 2014 coup, and a complete overhaul of his administration.Some are also demanding reforms to Thailand's ultra-wealthy and power

A global hacking collective known as APT41 has been accused by United States (US) authorities of targeting company servers for ransom, compromising government networks and spying on Hong Kong activists.Seven members of the group – including five Chinese nationals – were charged by the US Justice Department on Wednesday.Some experts say they are tied to the Chinese state, while others speculate money was their only motive.

The number of coronavirus cases registered worldwide topped 30 million on Thursday, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.The grim landmark came as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of "alarming rates of transmission" of COVID-19 across Europe.The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the WHO, probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most