Asia

The Taliban on Thursday violently cracked down on a small women’s rights demonstration, firing shots into the air and pushing back protesters, AFP journalists witnessed. A group of six women gathered outside a high school in eastern Kabul demanding the right for girls to return to secondary school after the …

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s influential sister has been appointed to the country’s top government body, the official KCNA news agency reported Thursday. Kim Yo Jong, a key adviser to her brother, was promoted to a position on the State Affairs Commission, amid a raft of changes approved by …

North Korea says it has successfully test-fired a newly-developed hypersonic missile, in a move it said is strategically significant in the development of the domestic nuclear weapons technology. Pyongyang confirmed that the missile, dubbed the Hwasong-8, was launched from Jagang Province early Tuesday morning, according to the North’s official news agency …

Japan’s former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is set to become the country’s next prime minister, after winning leadership of the long-ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Kishida, 64, overcame popular reformer Taro Kono on Wednesday, in a runoff after moving ahead of two female candidates Sanae Takaichi and Seiko Noda in …

At the United Nations this week, North Korea outlined the defensive nature of its nuclear weapons, which has been subject to US-led Security Council sanctions for more than a decade. Pyongyang also held out hope for dialogue with the US and South Korea. The remarks from North Korea follow the …

North Korea has expressed its readiness to resume inter-Korean talks on officially ending the 1950-53 Korean War based on mutual respect. “I believe only when fairness and mutual respect can be maintained smooth communication between the North and the South can take place,” said Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of …

The situation in the Taiwan Strait is “complex and grim”, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote in a congratulatory letter on Sunday to the newly elected leader of Taiwan’s main opposition party, who has pledged to renew talks with Beijing. Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) elected as their leader on Saturday former New …

The Taliban government in Afghanistan appealed on Sunday for international flights to be resumed, promising full cooperation with airlines and saying that problems at Kabul airport had been resolved. The statement from the foreign affairs ministry comes as the new administration has stepped up efforts to open up the country …

Twenty-nine men were arrested in India on Thursday after being accused of allegedly gang raping a 15-year-old girl repeatedly over the course of almost eight months, CNN reported on Friday. The girl was first raped earlier this year on January 29, junior officer with the Mandapa police in Dombivli, India …

North Korea could consider participating in an inter-Korean summit if mutual respect can be assured, state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday, citing Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The comment comes just a day after North Korea urged the United States and South …

The Canadian government has released a top executive of Chinese communications giant Huawei held in the country on allegations of US fraud charges, a move that shortly prompted the release of two Canadians detained in China for spying. Media reports said Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou flew home to …

According to the latest reports, two security forces were killed by a roadside bomb in the city of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Afghan sources said that two Afghan security forces have been killed in the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province. The incident occurred after a vehicle belonging to intelligence forces collided …

Hundreds of people protested in Kabul on Friday, demanding that the US release billions of dollars in central bank reserves blocked outside Afghanistan as the new Taliban government struggles to contain a deepening economic crisis. The well-organized demonstration, featuring banners with messages printed in English, came as Taliban officials stepped …

China intensified a crackdown on cryptocurrency trading on Friday, vowing to root out “illegal” activity and banning crypto mining nationwide, hitting bitcoin and other major coins, and pressuring crypto and blockchain-related stocks. Ten Chinese government agencies, including the central bank as well as banking, securities, and foreign exchange regulators, said …

A gun battle left seven soldiers and five militants dead in Pakistan’s restive northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, the military said on Wednesday. The fighting took place during an intelligence-based operation in the country’s South Waziristan region, the site of several military operations and US drone strikes targeting homegrown and …

The powerful sister of North Korea’s leader has criticized South Korean President Moon Jae-in and threatened a “complete destruction” of relations hours after Moon said South Korea’s growing missile capabilities will serve as a “sure deterrence” against North Korean provocations. Moon made the comments after South Korea’s first successful test …

A group of Afghan diplomats from Kabul’s deposed government issued on Wednesday a joint statement calling on the leaders of the international community to deny the Taliban formal recognition and blames them for leaving a nation “at the mercy of a terrorist group.” The statement was signed by 24 officials …

China wrapped up the country’s first multinational peacekeeping exercise on Wednesday, demonstrating the extent of its military might on a huge training ground ringed by mountains. China’s defense spending is the second-largest in the world after the US, and tensions have dramatically increased between rival powers as Beijing has poured …

North Korea has reportedly fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast amid the prolonged deadlock in the denuclearization talks with the United States. According to Press TV, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the two missiles launched from a site in central North Korea flew …

South Korea says it has successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) for the first time, becoming the seventh country in the world with the advanced technology. According to reports, the presidential Blue House announced on Wednesday that a missile was fired underwater from the submerged 3,700-ton submarine Ahn Chang-ho …