Asia

The new Taliban government said on Tuesday it hoped to build on the “good progress” made in talks with the former US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmai Khalilzad and was optimistic about moving forward with his successor Tom West. Khalilzad’s departure as the top US envoy for Afghanistan was announced …

At least 24 people died and more than a dozen were missing after landslides and flash floods triggered by several days of heavy rain hit northern India, officials said Tuesday. Forecasters have also warned of more downpours in the coming days in the southern state of Kerala where floods have …

Poachers in Vietnam have shot dead five critically endangered langurs, a type of monkey killed for bushmeat and traditional medicine, state media said Tuesday. Rangers and police found the dead gray-shanked douc langurs during a regular patrol of forests in Quang Ngai province. Restricted to the forests of central Vietnam, …

Japan on Tuesday kicked off its first official day of campaigning ahead of the Oct. 31 general election, with a media poll showing support for the ruling party easing, in a blow for recently installed prime minister Fumio Kishida. Support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was at 38.8 …

A group of 10 military vessels from China and Russia sailed through a narrow strait separating Japan’s main island and its northern island of Hokkaido on Monday, the Japanese defense ministry said on Tuesday. It was the first time Japan, which closely monitors military exercises in its region, has confirmed …

Azerbaijan accused rival Armenia at the UN’s top court on Monday of laying landmines as part of a campaign of “ethnic cleansing” despite the end of last year’s war. Both countries have lodged tit-for-tat cases at the International Court of Justice seeking emergency measures against alleged racial discrimination, with Armenia …

Indian authorities have moved thousands of migrant workers in Kashmir to safer locations overnight, while hundreds have fled the Himalayan valley after a wave of targeted killings, two security officials said on Monday. Suspected militants have killed eleven civilians, including five migrant workers, in Kashmir since early October despite a …

Floods and landslides due to incessant rain in India’s Kerala State has left 21 dead, according to media reports on Sunday. Rescue operations were underway by the Indian Army and Navy in the Kottayam and Idukki districts. According to Press TV, Kerala State was also a victim to the worst …

The US military has announced that two American and Canadian warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait last week in what China called an attempt “to provoke and stir up trouble” in the strait. The US military dispatched Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey through the waterway that separates China from …

A Russia-led post-Soviet security bloc started its largest military drills near the Tajik-Afghan border in years on Monday amid cross-border tensions ahead of talks between Afghanistan’s new Taliban leaders and major regional powers. Unlike Afghanistan’s other northern neighbors who have de facto acknowledged the Taliban leadership and started building working …

Japan’s new prime minister on Sunday said the planned mass disposal of treated but still radioactive water stored at the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant cannot be delayed, despite concerns from local residents. Speaking at his first visit to the facility since taking office, Fumio Kishida said his government would work …

Vulnerable Indian migrant workers in Kashmir will be moved to army and police camps for protection after several were killed by militants, the police chief on the Indian side of the disputed region said on Sunday. Vijay Kumar said he had instructed his officers to move workers after three laborers …

China’s military on Sunday condemned the United States and Canada for sending warships through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying their actions seriously jeopardized peace and stability. Chinese forces monitored the ships and “stood guard” throughout their sailing, the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement. The …

At least 23 people have died, and a dozen are feared missing after a day of torrential rains in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Rescue operations were underway on Sunday after heavy rains lashed the state the day before, triggering flash floods and landslides, the Press Trust of India …

China has tested a new space capability with a hypersonic missile, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. The report, citing multiple sources familiar with the test, said Beijing in August launched a nuclear-capable missile that circled the Earth at low orbit before descending toward its target, which three sources said …

Two Hindu men have been killed in fresh religious violence in Bangladesh, police officials said on Saturday, taking the death toll to six from recent unrest in the Muslim-majority country. Protests began on Wednesday after footage emerged of a Quran being placed on the knee of a Hindu god during …

A Southeast Asia summit this month will invite a non-political representative from Myanmar, Brunei said on Saturday, sidelining the leader of the military junta in an unprecedented move for the group. The decision by foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), at an emergency meeting on Friday …

Three people were killed Saturday when an earthquake struck the Indonesian tourist island Bali, the disaster agency said. The 4.8 magnitude quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) northeast of the town of Banjar Wanasari. Shallow quakes tend to do more damage than deep tremors. …

Global condemnations continue to pour in after terrorist bombers attacked a Shia mosque in southern Afghanistan and martyred dozens of worshipers attending Friday prayers. At least 47 people were martyred and more than 80 others wounded after an explosion went off inside the Bibi Fatima mosque in the Afghan city …

Russia says its naval forces have chased away a US Navy destroyer that attempted to cross the Russian sea border in the Sea of Japan. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the US destroyer USS Chafee sailed close to the Russian waters in the Peter the Great Gulf on …