Over the last two days, Nepal has been rattled by its worst earthquakes since 1934. More than 3,000 people have lost their lives, and villages, roads, highways and ancient buildings have been devastated. The total economic losses from the damage could be between $1 billion and $10 billion, according to the US Geological Survey’s best estimate. In all, the destruction could push the economy of Nepal—already one of the world’s poorest countries—back by a decade or more, significantly hurting the small Himalayan nation’s efforts to...

At the ASEAN Summit, which starts on Monday, Apr 27, foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations said they stood ready to extend assistance to the governments and people of the countries affected by Saturday’s earthquake. The nations of ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said they stood ready to extend their assistance to the countries hit by a deadly earthquake on Saturday. The delegates were in Kuala Lumpur for the three-day ASEAN Summit, which officially starts on Monday (Apr 27). ...

Southeast Asian lawmakers on Wednesday urged their leaders to discuss Burma’s Rohingya Muslim crisis at their summit in Malaysia this weekend, saying it has led to the highest outflow of asylum seekers by sea in the region since the Vietnam War. Burma, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 50 million, is home to an estimated 1.3 million Rohingya, and most are considered stateless. Though many of their families arrived from Bangladesh generations ago, almost all are denied citizenship by Burma as well as Bangladesh. The ...

An Egyptian court has sentenced former President Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in jail for ordering the arrest and torture of protesters during his rule. It is the first verdict he has received since his ousting and is one of several trials he faces. Morsi was deposed by the army in July 2013 following mass street protests against his rule. Since then, the authorities have banned his Muslim Brotherhood movement and arrested thousands of his supporters. Morsi and 14 other Brotherhood figures escaped a more serious charge of inciting the k...

China’s President Xi Jinping is on a two-day visit to Pakistan, where he is expected to announce investment of $46bn (£30.7bn). The focus of spending is on building a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - a network of roads, railway and pipelines between the long-time allies. They will run some 3,000km (1,865 miles) from Gwadar in Pakistan to China’s western Xinjiang region. The projects will give China direct access to the Indian Ocean and beyond. This marks a major advance in China’s plans to boost its economic influ...

Hundreds of people are feared to have drowned after a boat carrying up to 700 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, the Italian coastguard says. A major rescue operation is under way after the vessel carrying “between 500 and 700 migrants” capsized at midnight local time, in Libyan waters south of the Italian island of Lampedusa. So far 28 people have been rescued. Since the start of the year, at least 900 other migrants are thought to have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea. In the past week alone...