Asia

There is no room for compromise over Taiwan and the United States should not have any illusions about this, China’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday, adding that Washington had of late made a series of “provocations” on several issues. China says the issue of Taiwan, which it claims as Chinese …

The Taliban plans to discuss American recognition of its interim government, the unfreezing of assets, and Afghanistan’s reconstruction in upcoming talks with the US in the Qatari capital Doha, the group’s spokesman has revealed. In an interview with Sputnik news agency on Wednesday, Suhail Shaheen said the militant group is …

The Taliban have signed a deal with Australian company Cpharm that wants to set up a cannabis processing center in Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesperson said on Twitter. A contract has been signed and the project will be up and running within days, Taliban Press Director Qari Saeed Khosty said. Afghanistan’s …

Flushed with victory after Prime Minister Narendra Modi caved in to demands for agricultural reform laws to be repealed, Indian farmers held a mass rally on Monday to demand minimum support prices be extended to all products, not just rice and wheat. The protest movement launched by farmers more than …

Gunmen shot and killed three workers at a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan, officials said on Sunday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Suhail Anwar Hashmi, the top administrator in Harnai district in Baluchistan province, said the early morning violence took place in the Sharag area where most …

China downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania on Sunday, expressing strong dissatisfaction with the Baltic State after Taiwan opened a de facto embassy there, escalating a row that has sucked in Washington. China views self-ruled and democratically governed Taiwan as its territory with no right to the trappings of a …

Reuters has apologized for its poor choice of photo to illustrate a story about a monkey brain study that was deemed offensive and racist in China. On Thursday, Reuters published a story titled “Monkey-brain study with a link to China’s military roils top European university.” The report was about a …

The coalition of Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Saturday scored a crucial win in a state election seen as a test for the country’s fractured political parties as they gear up for national polls that could be called by next year. The election in Malacca, on the country’s …

Afghanistan’s Taliban administration will begin paying the overdue salaries of government workers from Saturday, officials said. Thousands of Afghan government workers are owed at least three months of salary, one of the many crises faced by the Taliban since the extremist group took over the country in August. “The finance …

In a surprise announcement on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would repeal agriculture laws that farmers have been protesting against for more than a year, sparking celebrations for what farmers called a hard-fought victory. Modi’s decision is a significant climb-down for the combative leader and comes as …

The United States on Friday warned China after a standoff in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines, saying it stood by Manila amid an “escalation that directly threatens regional peace and stability”. Beijing “should not interfere with lawful Philippine activities in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone”, U.S. …

The Philippines on Thursday condemned “in strongest terms” the actions of three Chinese coast guard vessels that it said blocked and used water cannon on resupply boats headed towards a Philippine-occupied atoll in the South China Sea. Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin said no one was hurt during Tuesday’s incident at …

U.S. President Joe Biden pressed his Chinese counterpart on human rights in a video call lasting more than three hours, while Xi Jinping warned that China would respond to provocations on Taiwan, according to official accounts of the exchange. The closely scrutinized conversation between the leaders of the world’s biggest …

A bomb blast in the Afghan capital of Kabul wounded two people on Monday, the Taliban’s interior ministry said, just two days after a similar explosion that was claimed by the Islamic State militant group. Both devices were of a magnetic type attached to vehicles that have become common in …

Schools in New Delhi will be closed for a week and construction sites for four days, the Indian capital’s chief minister said on Saturday, as the city tries to protect people in a worsening air pollution crisis. Arvind Kejriwal said talks on a potential complete lockdown in the capital were …

A magnetic bomb attached to a passenger minivan exploded in a heavily Shi’ite area of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, causing an unknown number of casualties, Taliban officials and local residents said. A recent spate of such attacks has heaped more pressure on the Taliban rulers, who took power …

Indonesia’s top religious body has declared that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are forbidden under Islamic law and should not be traded in the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation. The country’s powerful Ulema Council issued a fatwah, or religious edict, as virtual currency trading soars in Indonesia and elsewhere. Fatwas have …

The United States and Qatar have agreed that Qatar will represent the diplomatic interests of the United States in Afghanistan, a senior US official told Reuters, an important signal of potential direct engagement between Washington and Kabul in the future after two decades of war. Qatar will sign an arrangement …

An explosion hit a mosque in the Spin Ghar district of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, wounding at least 12 people including the imam of the mosque, local residents said. Atal Shinwari, a resident of the area, said the blast occurred at around 1:30 p.m. when explosives apparently located in …

US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were expected to hold a virtual summit on Monday, sources told Reuters on Thursday, amid tensions over trade, human rights, and military activities. Washington and Beijing have been sparring on issues from the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic to China’s expanding …