Japan has appointed a minister for loneliness following a recent rise in the number of suicides and the coronavirus pandemic’s exacerbation of the issue.

India and China have agreed to set up a hotline between their foreign ministers as the two nuclear-armed neighbours look to reduce tensions along a disputed Himalayan border where their troops have been locked in confrontation since last summer.

US President Joe Biden’s administration said Wednesday that its “patience is not unlimited” with Iran as it renewed an offer for talks on its nuclear program.

A senior World Health Organization official yesterday urged national authorities to make a priority of understanding the long-term consequences of coronavirus infections as some people show worrying symptoms months later.

The militaries of India and Pakistan yesterday said in a rare joint statement that they had agreed to observe a ceasefire along the disputed border in Kashmir, having exchanged fire hundreds of times in recent months.

Veteran US diplomat William Burns, nominated to lead the CIA, pledged Wednesday to keep the agency free of politics and said China would be his main focus if confirmed.

Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday declared his country had achieved the “human miracle” of eliminating extreme poverty, though questions continue to surround the Communist Party’s criteria for making the claim.

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a proclamation from his predecessor that blocked many green card applicants from entering the United States.

A declassified version of a US intelligence report expected to be released soon finds that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, four US officials familiar with the matter said.

Facebook and Google will be forced to pay for Australian news under legislation passed yesterday that is being closely watched globally for precedents in the battle between Big Tech and media companies.

Supporters of Myanmar’s military, some armed with knives and clubs, others firing catapults and throwing stones, attacked opponents of the February 1 coup, while Southeast Asian neighbours looked for ways to end the crisis.

With established media under ever greater pressure, the story of Myanmar’s anti-coup protests is being shaped for its people and the world by journalists and citizens streaming and sharing snippets of video and pictures.

US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he has read a US intelligence report on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi that is expected to be released on Thursday.

Indonesia is holding intensive talks with both the Myanmar military and representatives of the ousted elected government in a bid to end a crisis over a Feb. 1 military coup, Indonesia’s foreign minister said yesterday.

Prison riots in Ecuador

A Chinese man has been ordered to pay his ex-wife almost $8,000 for years of unpaid housework, in a landmark divorce case that has sparked furious debate in China.

Nepal’s embattled prime minister, KP Sharma Oli, will not resign but let parliament decide his fate instead, an aide said yesterday, a day after the Supreme Court rejected his decision to dissolve the legislature and call early elections.

Global deaths from the coronavirus fell by 20 percent last week compared with the week before, the World Health Organization said yesterday— part of a wider trend that also includes a decline in cases worldwide.

Iran is producing highly-enriched uranium faster than called for by the law under which it started the process of enriching to 20% fissile purity last month, diplomats and a report by the UN nuclear watchdog said.

China has dramatically increased its prosecution of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang through the formal court system, handing out long prison terms for dubious charges such as “picking quarrels” and giving gifts to overseas relatives, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.