Yoga enthusiasts practice yoga at a park in Handan, Hebei province, northern China, ahead of International Yoga Day, which has been celebrated annually on June 21 since 2015. (Photos: AFP-Yonhap) By Kim Tae-eun ( kimt17@heraldcorp.com )

Diverse forms of protest art created by various people, from artists and students to teachers, to express their solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement across different cities and states in the United States (Photos: AP, Reuters-Yonhap) By Kim Tae-eun ( kimt17@heraldcorp.com )

LONDON (AFP) -- The British government on Friday said it had officially told the European Union it would not seek an extension to the post-Brexit transition period beyond December 31 this year. Britain left the bloc in January but remains under EU rules until the end of the year, as new terms are thrashed out between the two sides for their future relationship. London maintains it does not need...

JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- More than two dozen international aid organizations have told the US government they are "increasingly alarmed'' that "little to no US humanitarian assistance has reached those on the front lines'' of the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of new cases picks up speed in some of the world's most fragile regions. The letter obtained by The Associated Press and signed by group...

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Thailand will open "travel bubbles" with countries which have comparably low coronavirus infections, officials said Friday, as the kingdom tries to claw back money for its battered tourism sector.The country closed its borders at the start of April, leading to millions of job losses across a tourism industry which accounts for around 20 percent of GDP. Despite registering the fi...

South Korea been named 10th safest country out of 200 regions in the world for COVID-19, according a report from Deep Knowledge Group, a consortium of companies and non-profit organisations. The study was based on 130 quantitative and qualitative parameters and over 11,400 data points in categories like quarantine efficiency, monitoring and detection, health readiness and government efficiency...

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that an elderly man bleeding from the head after he was shoved to the ground by US riot police was a far-left agitator faking the shocking incident. "I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?" Trump asked on his massively followed Twitter account. Two police officers in Buffalo, New York, were c...

BEIJING (AFP) -- China reacted angrily on Thursday to a US military transport jet's flight over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, calling it an "illegal act" and "serious provocation". The overflight adds to rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over a slew of issues, and the US relationship with the island claimed by China is high on the list of disagreements. Taiwan's defence ministry...

Schools and businesses have been closed, sports events canceled and cultural institutions shut down around the world, as countries try to stem the coronavirus outbreak. The latest Nielsen survey shows what people missed the most during the social distancing in the US.

'Anti-virus software' Under a deal signed with Britain ahead of the 1997 handover, China agreed to let Hong Kong keep certain freedoms and autonomy for 50 years. Protests over the last decade have been fuelled by fears those freedoms are being prematurely curtailed, something Beijing denies. Analysts say the space for dissent has rapidly diminished in the last year. "I don't think the passion...

TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's national broadcaster NHK Tuesday apologised and deleted an animation depicting Black Lives Matter protests in the US after widespread complaints of racism -- including from the US embassy and tennis star Naomi Osaka. NHK's animation, aired Sunday, told viewers that the coronavirus pandemic had fuelled anger amongst African Americans, many of whom lost jobs, but failed to m...

VATICAN CITY (AFP) -- Pope Francis said on Sunday the worst of the coronavirus crisis was over in Italy, addressing the faithful for the first time in Saint Peter's Square since the health emergency began. The pontiff's address came a day after the Vatican said there were no more cases of COVID-19 within its population. "Your presence in the square is a sign that in Italy the acute phase of the...

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City is lifting its curfew spurred by protests against police brutality ahead of schedule, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday morning. The 8 p.m. citywide curfew, New York's first in decades, had been set to remain in effect through at least Sunday, with the city planning to lift it at the same time it enters the first phase of reopening after more than two months of...

Members of Workers’ Solidarity hold a rally in front of the US Embassy in Seoul on Friday morning over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis by a white police officer who pressed a knee into his neck. The death of the 46-year-old African American man involving police brutality and racial discrimination fueled public outrage across the United Stat...

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Hong Kong protester Crystal has yet to tell her parents she has fled overseas to seek asylum in Canada, one of a growing number of residents choosing self-exile as Beijing tightens control. The 21-year-old student spent months on the front lines of the pro-democracy protests, which first exploded with huge marches last June and descended into increasingly violent battles with ...