Asia

Seoul and Washington are discussing joint nuclear exercises amid flaring tensions with Pyongyang, SK’s President Yoon Suk-yeol has said. Yoon’s comments, made in an interview published Monday, follow similar ones where he called for “war preparation” with an “overwhelming” capability. On Sunday North Korean state media reported that leader Kim …

It’s the American spy plane that dangerously approached a Chinese jet, not the other way around, Beijing insists Washington’s account of last week’s air incident over the South China Sea, involving a Chinese military jet and a US spy plane, disregards the truth and is “pure slander and hype,” the …

Local residents say a loud explosion was heard before 8 am local time on New Year’s Day An explosion was heard outside the military airport in Kabul which is feared to have caused “multiple casualties”, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has said. “Today morning an explosion took place outside Kabul military airport, …

Pyongyang needs “overwhelming military power” to protect its sovereignty, Kim Jong-un says North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for the country to develop a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and boost its nuclear arsenal amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, state-run media reported. Pyongyang requires “overwhelming military power” …

Almost three years after officials announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Indonesia, the country’s leader said Friday they are lifting all coronavirus-related restrictions nationwide. President Joko Widodo said Indonesia’s COVID-19 situation is under control after observing improvements over the past 10 months, allowing the country to abandon the …

“The current four-month military service is not enough to meet the fast and ever-changing situation,” says President Tsai Ing-wen. Taiwan has announced an extension in mandatory military service from four months to one year, citing the threat from China, which considers self-ruled Taiwan a part of its territory. China’s “intimidation …

The Taliban authorities on Tuesday ordered an indefinite ban on university education for Afghan girls, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities. “You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending the education of females until further notice,” said …

Pakistan’s special forces raided a police center in a remote northwestern district on Tuesday, killing all of the 33 Pakistani Taliban militants who earlier this week overpowered guards at the facility, seized arms, and taken hostages, officials said. The militants had killed two hostages before the rescue operation, according to …

Cross-border shelling and gunfire between Afghanistan and Pakistan killed eight Pakistani civilians and one Afghan soldier on Sunday, officials on both sides of the frontier said, with each side accusing the other of starting the fighting. The Pakistan army said Afghan border forces had opened “unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of …

Security forces have reportedly cordoned off the area and confronted the assailants, a local security commander has said A hotel in northwestern Kabul came under attack on Monday, a security official has confirmed. According to witnesses and footage, loud explosions and gunfire were heard at the scene. The fighting reportedly …

According to a rescue agency official, 10 workers were killed in Indonesia after an explosion in a coal mine caused a collapse. The miners were at a coal mine in the West Sumatra province when the blast buried an estimated 14 people. In a statement, local search and rescue agency …

The Chinese government has announced a broad, nationwide loosening of strict health protocols imposed in the past years due to the outbreak of COVID-19. On Wednesday, Beijing declared a relaxation of its COVID-19 prevention and control protocols, which were largely in place since the pandemic erupted three years ago, announcing …

South Korea says the North has fired a barrage of artillery shells into a maritime buffer zone. Pyongyang says it was a warning against Seoul’s “provocative actions.” The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that about 130 artillery rounds were simultaneously fired from two separate sites, …

Japan is set to allocate 40 to 43 trillion yen ($295 to $318 billion) for military spending over five years from the next fiscal year that begins in April, reports say. That’s a relative jump from the current five-year military plan to spend 27.5 trillion yen and raises concerns that …

Japan and South Korea have imposed new sanctions on North Korean individuals and entities in response to Pyongyang’s recent missile tests, a day after the US targeted North Korea with sanctions. The US on Thursday froze any assets held by three North Korean officials in the United States. The US …

The Chinese military says it has chased away a US Navy guided-missile cruiser after it “illegally intruded” into waters in the vicinity of the South China Sea’s Spratly Islands. According to Press TV, on Tuesday, Tian Junli, Spokesman for the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army said that the …

The latest demonstrations are unprecedented in mainland China since President Xi Jinping took power a decade ago. Hundreds of demonstrators and police have clashed in Shanghai as protests over China’s severe COVID-19 restrictions continued into the third day and spread to several other cities. The latest demonstrations — unprecedented in …

Pakistan’s Taliban said on Monday they have called off a shaky ceasefire agreed upon with the government in June and ordered fighters to stage attacks across the country. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a separate entity from the Taliban in Afghanistan but sharing a similar Islamist ideology, has been responsible for dozens …

More than 80 people were wounded in India as villagers protesting to halt construction of the $900-million Vizhinjam port project by India’s Adani Group clashed with police in Kerala state, the latest escalation in a months-long strike. The protests, by a mostly Christian fishing community against the project led by …

A nationwide strike by South Korean truckers over pay and working conditions has entered its fifth day as the government raises the alert level about the cargo transport disruption to its highest level. According to Press TV, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol slammed the strikers on Monday, accusing the strike organizers …