Latest South Asia News

Nepalese climber Nirmal Purja, who along with his team recently made history by scaling the K2 summit in the winter season, flashes a victory sign on his arrival to the airport in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Winter winds on K2 can blow at more than 200 km per hour (125 miles per hour) and temperatures can drop to minus 60 C (minus 76 F), an official of Pakistan's Alpine Club, Karrar Haideri said. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Nepali climbers who scaled K2 in Pakistan recount success

Jan. 22, 2021 2:34 PM EST

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Nepalese climbers who last week made history by scaling the world’s second highest peak — Pakistan’s K2 — in the winter season praised Pakistan’s military and civil authorities on Friday for facilitating their challenging expedition. The leader of the...

6 die in collapse of abandoned mine in northeast India

Jan. 22, 2021 10:19 AM EST

GAUHATI, India (AP) — Six miners died after being trapped in an abandoned coal mine that collapsed in India’s remote northeast, a state official said Friday. Their bodies were recovered on Friday, a day after the six were trapped in the mine in Meghalaya state, said E. Kharmalki, district magistrate...

Police officers and workers in protective suits close off a neighborhood as it is placed under lockdown in Shanghai, China, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Shanghai has imposed lockdowns on two of China's best-known hospitals and some surrounding residential communities after they were linked to new coronavirus cases. (Chinatopix via AP)

Asia Today: Shanghai outbreak prompts 2 hospital lockdowns

Jan. 22, 2021 8:46 AM EST

BEIJING (AP) — Shanghai has imposed lockdowns on two of China's best-known hospitals after they were linked to new coronavirus cases. Outpatient services have been suspended at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Renji Hospital. They have been cordoned off, along with some surrounding residential...

Demonstrators open a large banner with text written in Portuguese that reads

Brazil awaits vaccine cargo from India amid supply concerns

Jan. 22, 2021 8:34 AM EST

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's government on Friday awaited the arrival of 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccine from India, but experts warned the shipment will do little to shore up an insufficient supply in South America’s biggest nation. Brazil’s Health Ministry on Thursday announced...

Indian Farmers listen to their leader as they continue to block highway leading to Delhi in protest against new farm laws, at Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, India, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Talks between protesting farmers’ leaders and the government ended abruptly in a stalemate on Friday with the agriculture minister saying he has nothing more to offer than suspending contentious agricultural laws for 18 months. The farmers’ organizations in a statement on Thursday said they can’t accept anything except the repeal of the three new laws. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Talks between Indian farmers, government reach stalemate

Jan. 22, 2021 8:29 AM EST

NEW DELHI (AP) — Talks between leaders of protesting farmers and the Indian government ended abruptly in a stalemate Friday when the agriculture minister said he had nothing more to offer than an 18-month suspension of contentious agricultural reform laws. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar asked...

Sri Lankan municipal workers wait as they prepare to cremate a body of a COVID-19 victim at a cemetery in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Sri Lanka on Friday approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19 amid warnings from doctors that front-line health workers should be quickly inoculated to stop the system from collapsing. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka approves vaccine amid warnings of virus spread

Jan. 22, 2021 8:11 AM EST

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka on Friday approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for COVID-19 amid warnings from doctors that front-line health workers should be quickly inoculated to prevent the medical system from collapsing. Minister for Pharmaceutical Production and Regulation Channa Jayasumana...

Nepalese supporters of the splinter group in the governing Nepal Communist Party participate in a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Nepal’s capital Friday protesting against the prime minister who had dissolved the parliament and ordered fresh election because of feuds within the ruling political party. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Tens of thousands protest against Nepal's prime minister

Jan. 22, 2021 6:41 AM EST

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Tens of thousands of people protested in Nepal’s capital on Friday against the prime minister for dissolving Parliament and ordering new elections in an escalating feud within the governing party. The supporters of a splinter group in the Nepal Communist Party marched...

This photo provided by Bangalore News Photo shows the remains of a truck carrying explosives that detonated in Shivamogga, 300 kilometers (250 miles) southeast of Bengaluru, India, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. The truck detonated at a stone-crushing unit in southern India, leaving several dead, police said Friday. (Bangalore News Photo via AP)

Truck with quarry explosives blasts in India, killing 5

Jan. 22, 2021 1:54 AM EST

NEW DELHI (AP) — A truck carrying explosives detonated at a stone-crushing unit in southern India, leaving at least five people dead, police said Friday. The cause of the explosion on Thursday night is being investigated, said district administrator Shiv Kumar. The Press Trust of India news agency put the...

A man carries a child, both wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, as they stroll along a street near the popular frozen Houhai Lake in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. China is making some of its toughest travel restrictions yet as coronavirus cases surge in several northern provinces ahead of the travel rush for Lunar New Year on next month. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

The Latest: Shanghai locks down 2 major hospitals over cases

Jan. 21, 2021 10:33 PM EST

BEIJING — Shanghai has imposed lockdowns on two of China’s best-known hospitals after they were linked to new coronavirus cases. Outpatient services have been suspended at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Renji Hospital, both of which have been cordoned off along with some surrounding...

Smoke rises from the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker that is manufacturing the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine for the coronavirus, in Pune, India, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

5 killed in blaze at Indian producer of COVID-19 vaccine

Jan. 21, 2021 8:35 PM EST

PUNE, India (AP) — At least five people were killed in a fire that broke out Thursday at a building under construction at Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, officials said. The company said the blaze would not affect production of the COVID-19 vaccine. Murlidhar...

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