Asia

A major Taliban suicide attack on an affluent area of Kabul has killed at least 16 people and injured more than 100 others. The attack came just hours after the US said it had agreed on a deal “in principle” with the Taliban for the withdrawal of around 5,000 troops …

As India’s space agency prepares to make history by landing on the Moon later this week, many of the country’s citizens have been left in stitches after footage of an apparent moonwalk went viral. Just days before India’s lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 touches down on the Moon’s south pole on September …

Seven people were killed when a small plane crashed in a resort area near the Philippines’ capital Manila, authorities say. The crash sparked a fire and sent people fleeing and firefighters scrambling to control it. The Philippines Civil Aviation Authority said that the light plane, which was on a medical …

Hong Kong police have used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse crowds as tens of thousands marched in the city, defying a ban. Demonstrators lit fires, threw petrol bombs at riot police and attacked the parliament building. An event to mark five years since Beijing ruled out …

Almost 2 million people in northeast India were left facing statelessness on Saturday after the state of Assam published a citizenship list aimed at weeding out “foreign infiltrators”, in a process the central government wants to replicate nationwide. A total of 31.1 million people were included in a final National …

At least 12 people have been killed and around 50 injured after a series of explosions at a chemical factory in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, hospital officials and police say. An official at Shirpur sub-district hospital in Dhule district said that 12 people had died in the explosion. …

The Japanese military has sought a hike in its annual budget for the eighth consecutive year in a bid to fund the purchase of US-built stealth jet fighters, interceptor missiles and other military hardware to face perceived threats from China and North Korea. Tokyo’s defense ministry budget proposal — unveiled …

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan were being reduced to 8,600 but that American forces would remain in the country even if Washington reaches an agreement with the Taliban to end the 18-year war. “Oh yeah, you have to keep a presence,” Trump …

Hundreds of incidents of protest have erupted in Indian-administered Kashmir since the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of its autonomy and imposed a security clampdown more than three weeks ago. A senior government source told media outlets on Wednesday that at least 500 protests …

Torrential rain-triggered floods and landslides in Japan on Wednesday, killing at least two people and prompting authorities to order more than 900,000 people to leave their homes while another million were advised to move to safety. More than twice the usual rainfall for the whole of August has fallen over …

Prime Minister Imran Khan is considering closing Pakistan’s airspace to India and blocking its eastern neighbor’s land trade route to Afghanistan, the science and technology minister in Islamabad said on Tuesday. Pakistan reopened its airspace to India in mid-July, having closed it in February after an attack by a Pakistan-based …

An Air China Airbus A330 burst into flames right as passengers and crew were boardings, forcing an emergency evacuation of the immediate area at Beijing Airport. There have been no reports of injuries and emergency services are on the scene battling the blaze which erupted in the cargo hold of …

Indonesia’s capital city is to be relocated to the province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, President Joko Widodo has said. The current capital, Jakarta, home to more than 10 million people, sits on swampy land. Parts of the city are sinking by as much as 25cm (10in) …

Police and protesters got up close and personal on Hong Kong streets, a newly posted video shows, and protesters looked like they meant business, appearing to be armed on a par with the city’s law enforcement. The footage shows the police in full riot gear battling protesters who themselves were …

Hong Kong has been rocked by more unrest after anti-China protesters faced off with riot cops. Photos and videos of the street skirmishes show police using tear gas in an attempt to disperse brick-throwing demonstrators. Heavy rain didn’t stop protesters from marching through the city on Sunday, a day after …

A group of Indian opposition party leaders who had traveled from New Delhi to Indian-controlled Kashmir on Saturday was refused entry into the regional capital on Saturday. The delegation of opposition leaders, led by the Indian National Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, said they were flying to the territory’s capital to “assess …

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he has ordered American companies to exit China after Beijing unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. goods, throwing a new twist into the bitter trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Trump said on Twitter he will issue a response …

Pakistan has demanded that Indian actress Priyanka Chopra be stripped of her UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador role, saying that her “support for war” and the Indian government amid heightened tensions in the disputed region of Kashmir make a “mockery” of the position. In a letter addressed to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta …

Indian opposition leaders claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime is stifling democracy in Kashmir, during a rally in New Delhi on Thursday. They also demanded the release of political leaders under detention in the region. Opposition leaders have held a rally in New Delhi in support of two former …

More than 2,000 people have been forced to flee from their homes, and 19 have been killed since fighting broke out between government troops and ethnic insurgents in northern Myanmar last week, government officials said. The escalation in hostilities in Myanmar’s fractured north is another setback for civilian leader Aung …