Brexit stands for the “British exit” from the European Union (EU) – the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the 28-nation bloc. It started with a referendum on June 23, 2016, when 52 per cent of British voters decided their country should leave the EU “to take back control'.' 

Hong Kong has one of the world’s top-ranked medical services, providing the city’s 7.4 million people with care that has a good reputation for availability, affordability and quality. 

It has been a year since women in Saudi Arabia were allowed to drive as the nation lifted the world’s only remaining ban on females operating vehicles.

Chennai is facing a severe water shortage as the southern city becomes the latest in India to be caught up in a nationwide crisis.

Organisers say a record-setting 2 million people protested against the Hong Kong government’s contentious extradition bill on June 16, 2019.

Roads around Hong Kong's legislature were cleared the morning after a massive rally against a contentious extradition bill.

Scores of protesters moved back into an area near Hong Kong's government headquarters on Thursday, June 13, 2019, one day after violent clashes between tens of thousands of demonstrators and police.

Continued protests against Hong Kong's controversial extradition bill continued into the afternoon on Wednesday, June 12, 2019.

In a fresh display of defiance against Hong Kong’s contentious extradition bill, protesters began stopping traffic from accessing the legislature on Wednesday morning.

Organisers said more than one million people took to the streets of Hong Kong on June 9, 2019, to protest the government’s proposal to change extradition laws to allow the transfer of fugitives to more jurisdictions, including mainland China.

Future Huawei devices will lose access to Google’s Android services, since Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc will stop doing business with Huawei following a US government order prohibiting US companies from working with the Chinese telecom giant and its affiliates. Since the government blacklist was put in place on May 16, 2019, Google has also suspended all business with Huawei that would involve the transfer of hardware, software and tech services.

Ieoh Ming Pei, commonly known as I.M. Pei, died on May 16, 2019, at age 102. The Chinese-born US architect became famous for his modern designs and high-profile projects,  including the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar.

Four of the nine key figures of Hong Kong’s Occupy movement were jailed on April 24, 2019, for their roles in the 79-day pro-democracy protest in 2014.

A remote-control system that uses advanced 5G mobile networks to operate a car has taken pole position in the race for attention at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show.

India, the world’s biggest democracy is holding its national election. Voting is taking place over seven phases spanning a total of 39 days. Some 900 million eligible voters will be electing 543 members of the country's lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha. Surveys leading up to the start of polling suggested the ruling BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, still enjoys strong support but the main opposition and former ruling party, the Indian National Congress led by Rahul Gandhi also appears to be making a comeback. Here's what you need to know about India's epic democratic exercise.  

An estimated 193 million people are eligible to vote in Indonesia’s general election on April 17, 2019.

A total of 1,529 live turtles and tortoises were recovered on March 3, 2019, at the airport serving the Philippine capital Manila. Customs officers said the reptiles were found in four unclaimed suitcases which belonged to a Filipino passenger flying from Hong Kong. It is still unclear why the luggage was left behind, but officials said the passenger may have become aware of the penalties for illegal trade in wildlife.

Two rival resolutions on Venezuela – one drafted by the US, the other by Russia – have been vetoed at the United Nations Security Council.

Two massive Komodo dragons were caught on camera fighting on the Indonesian island of Pulau Rinca. The fight, filmed by a passing tour, was over in seconds. But local islanders say fights between the world’s largest lizards can last up to 15 minutes. Komodo dragons are found on only five Indonesia islands and can grow to about three metres (10 ft) long and weigh up to 70 kg (150 lbs). 

Yuki Yamamoto, a 22-year-old fireman, beat more than 5,000 runners to be crowned the “luckiest man of the new year” during a race at Japan’s Nishinomiya Shrine. The annual "Lucky Man Run" has been staged for more than 100 years at the Shinto shrine located in the southern part of Japan’s main island of Honshu.

While the United States and China resumed their trade talks in Beijing, a US warship sailed near the disputed Beijing-claimed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, January 7.

A series of modern-day witch hunts have spread terror in the highlands of central Papua New Guinea in recent years. At least 20 murders and dozens of violent attacks have been reported in the Tsak Valley of Enga province, where victims are accused of being witches or of practising sorcery. Tribes in the remove region frequently blame unexplained misfortunes on witchcraft, despite the efforts of authorities trying to change long-held superstitions and traditional beliefs. 

As the world rings in a new year, five major elections are set to take place in Asia in the first half of 2019. The poll results could dramatically change the political landscape of the region.

Bangladesh’s longest-serving prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has won her third consecutive term with a landslide win in the country’s 11th general elections, December 30. The opposition alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party claims the elections were rigged and has called for a new poll.

On Sunday, December 30, Bangladesh goes to the polls. The country’s 11th general elections will be held amid widespread violence, at least six people have died in recent weeks while hundreds have been injured. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is running for a third consecutive term. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist ally Jamaat-e-Islami say over 11,500 of their followers have been detained.

Japan has announced it will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on June 30, 2019. Japanese whalers will be allowed to resume commercial hunting within the nation’s territorial waters and economic exclusive zones from July. The decision follows the IWC rejection in September of a Japanese proposal to allow commercial catch quotas. Japan has long been criticised for claiming that whaling is part of its culture and allowing limited whale hunts for food as so-called scientific research – despite Tokyo being a signatory of a moratorium on whaling.

When Japan’s 85-year-old Emperor Akihito retires on April 30, 2019, he becomes the first emperor in over two centuries to abdicate in the world’s oldest monarchy.

US military statistics revealed that the US Navy had 18 unsafe encounters with Chinese air and naval forces in the last two years. The most recent confrontation happened on September 30, 2018, when there was a near collision between US and Chinese warships near Gaven Reefs in the South China Sea.

China, the world’s largest energy consumer, relies heavily on coal to meet its unrelenting demand for electricity, heating and transportation. The nation is also the world’s biggest producer of energy – generating vast amounts using natural gas, hydropower, nuclear reactors as well as solar and wind.

China has launched a lunar probe that is heading toward the far side of the moon. The ambitious plan, a first in moon exploration, would send the probe on a mission to explore the surface facing away from Earth. The far side is believed to have a thicker crust and is pockmarked by relatively more and deeper craters than the near side. If successful, the Chang-e 4 will unlock valuable clues to the mysteries about the moon and the universe.