Asia Tajikistan Rare protests by thousands of people in the remote Gorno-Badakhshan region continued for a third day yesterday demanding an investigation into the death of a local man wanted on kidnapping charges and fatally wounded by security forces
Asia Taiwan Amid growing demand for pet sitting, legal bases are needed for better management and the country is looking to enact an ordinance to regulate the burgeoning industry to ensure the rights of both owners and service providers
Asia Japan New government bonds will be issued - worth ¥22.1 trillion (US$192 billion), they will finance an extra budget for the current fiscal year until next March for an economic stimulus package, adding a further blow to fiscal health
Asia Syria Three sculptures looted from the ancient city of Palmyra in 2009 or 2010, dated to the third century bC, have now been returned to the country after being later intercepted by Swiss customs police in a Geneva free port
Asia North Korea A student has been sentenced to death for smuggling copies of 'Squid Game' to high school students, after returning from China with a digital version of the South Korean series stored on a hidden USB stick
Asia Turkey Turkey recycled 1,1 million tonnes of plastic scrap in 2020, saving $1 billion in plastic raw material imports last year, according to statistics from the Turkish Recyclers Association
Asia Vietnam More than 700.000 employees have requested a one-off social insurance payment in the first 10 months of this year, +5,45% compared to 2020, according to data from Việt Nam Social Security
Asia Israel The Knesset Interior Committee voted to move forward a controversial bill that allows thousands of illegally built homes to be connected to the national electricity grid
Asia Laos Nearly 3/4 of Vientiane's drivers habitually break speed limits and nearly 1/3 of drivers have been drinking alcohol, as a new research on the growing problem of road accidents by the Department of Transport and Traffic Police Department shows
Asia Yemen Amid severe shortages of life-saving medicines and other supplies caused by the conflict, the health ministry has appealed to local and international organizations to step in and save some 1.700 patients in need of kidney implant surgeries
Asia Sri Lanka The first national survey of women and girls has found that one in five women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner, says the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) Sri Lanka
Asia Uzbekistan The European Union will establish a centre in Termez to facilitate humanitarian aid to Afghanistan; the country's efforts to evacuate EU citizens from Afghanistan has been strongly appreciated
Asia Iran Iranian photographer Mohammad Babaei has won the Winter Sports Photo Awards at the World Media Summit in China for his stories on Iran's national women's ice hockey team during their training for the Asian Challenge Cup