Thousands of anti-coup protesters marched in Myanmar on Sunday, calling for a "spring revolution" with the country in its fourth month under a military regime.Cities, rural areas, remote mountainous regions and even rebel-controlled border territories have been in uproar since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a 1 February coup.The junta has aimed to suppress dissent through a brutal crackdown involving mass arrests and an escalating death toll.Demonstrations k

The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic climbed past 400,000 on Sunday with fatalities accelerating in the epicentre of Latin America even as Europe emerges from its virus lockdown with infections there increasingly under control.Almost seven million infections have been registered since the COVID-19 virus emerged in China late last year, forcing much of the globe into lockdown and pushing the world economy towards its worst downturn since the Great Depression.However, fears of a

A cheerful reunion, an interfaith choir and a dazzling dance – here are some of the most striking moments from Pope Francis' four-day trip to Thailand, which ended Saturday when he flew to Japan.Shoeless in BangkokIt was a sight to behold: The head of Thailand's Buddhists, sitting with the head of the world's Catholic church – neither wearing shoes.Pope Francis readily adhered to local custom Thursday when he met Somdej Phra Maha Muneewong, leaving his shoes behind for their fa

Pope Francis led an impassioned mass for tens of thousands of emotional worshippers at a packed Bangkok stadium Thursday, urging respect for prostitutes and trafficking victims in a part of the world where sex work is rampant.The remarks came at the end of a whirlwind day of meetings for Pope Francis, who is on his first trip to Buddhist-majority Thailand where he is carrying a message of religious harmony and peace.He heads to Japan next, visiting the twin atomic bombs sites of Nagasaki and

Pope Francis will travel to Thailand in November, the Vatican said Friday, in a visit to Asia that will sweep in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were both decimated by atomic bombs in 1945.It has been nearly four decades since a pontiff visited Thailand and Japan, both Buddhist-majority countries.The late Pope John Paul II went to Japan – where Shinto and Buddhism are the main religions – in 1981, and he travelled to Thailand three years later where he met with the late Ki