Asia

China has highlighted its role in United Nations peacekeeping operations by hosting multinational exercises called “Shared Destiny 2021.” About 1,000 troops from China, Pakistan, Mongolia and Thailand participated in the comprehensive exercise, which kicked off on September 6 at a training base in Queshan County of central China’s Henan Province, …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pushed for a slower drawdown to encourage negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government, according to “Peril.” President Joe Biden’s top cabinet members unsuccessfully tried to dissuade him from pulling all US troops from Afghanistan, hoping he would …

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday vowed to boost humanitarian aid to Afghanistan as she pledged the 27-nation bloc stands “by the Afghan people”. “We must do everything to avert the real risk that is out there of a major famine and humanitarian disaster. And we will do …

The Intelligence agency deputy director noted that intelligence agencies were already noticing activities by al-Qaeda to re-establish a presence in Afghanistan. US intelligence officials warned Tuesday that the terrorist group al-Qaeda could re-establish itself in Afghanistan within the next one to two years. President Joe Biden ordered the complete withdrawal …

Senior diplomats from Japan, the United States, and South Korea urged North Korea on Tuesday to return to talks over its missile and nuclear development, a day after it announced it successfully tested new long-range cruise missiles, indicating an advancement of its military capabilities. The three-way meeting in Tokyo was …

Afghan women should not be allowed to work alongside men, a senior figure in the ruling Taliban said earlier this week, a position which, if formally implemented, would effectively bar them from employment in government offices, banks, media companies, and beyond. Waheed Ullah Hashimi, a senior figure in the Taliban …

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held talks with the Singaporean leader, foreign and deputy prime ministers in separate meetings on his two-day visit to Singapore. The visit is part of Wang’s six-day trip to four countries – Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and South Korea – in the region that started …

Donors have pledged more than a billion dollars to help Afghanistan, where poverty and hunger have spiraled since the Taliban took power, and foreign aid has dried up, raising the specter of a mass exodus. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was impossible to say how much of the money …

An outbreak of dengue fever is suspected of killing dozens of people in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh since the start of September, and authorities have launched a campaign to destroy mosquito breeding grounds. Dinesh Kumar Premi, the chief medical officer in Firozabad, the most affected district in the …

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane carrying a handful of passengers touched down at Kabul airport Monday, the first international commercial flight to land since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan on August 15. “There was hardly anyone on the plane, around 10 people… maybe more staff than passengers,” said …

North Korea carried out successful long-range cruise missile tests over the weekend, its state media, KCNA, said on Monday, amid a protracted standoff with the US over denuclearisation. The missiles flew 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) before hitting their targets and falling into the country’s territorial waters during the tests held …

Authorities in Shanghai and neighboring coastal regions canceled flights and suspended schools, subways, and trains as Typhoon Chanthu approached mainland China after drenching Taiwan. The storm, with winds of more than 170 kilometers per hour near its eye, had been downgraded from a super typhoon to a strong typhoon on …

The New York Times, analyzing security camera footage, said the US military may have been seeing the slain Ahmadi and a colleague loading canisters of water, which was in short supply after the collapse of the Western-backed government and picking up a laptop for his boss. The US carried out …

Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held talks with the Taliban-appointed prime minister on Sunday, a Taliban spokesman said, in the highest level foreign visit to Kabul since the group seized the capital last month. Qatar is considered one of the countries with the most influence over the …

The Taliban’s higher education minister has announced that Afghan women would be allowed to study at university as long as they are separated from men, stressing that there would be a ban on mixed classes. Abdul Baqi Haqqani made the announcement at a press briefing on Sunday, as he elaborated …

Torrential monsoon rains and mudslides hit areas in northwestern Pakistan early on Sunday, destroying homes and killing at least 17 people, police said. Officer Mohammad Nawaz Said eleven bodies were recovered from the debris of mud and brick houses in the Tor Ghar district, and rescuers were searching for the …

Anti-Taliban resistance leader Ahmad Massoud is still in Afghanistan, Iranian FARS news agency reported on Saturday, citing a source. The source reportedly said that rumors about Massoud leaving Afghanistan for Turkey or any other place were false and that 70 percent of Panjshir’s main streets had fallen to the control …

The Taliban saw “positive signs” pointing to the international community recognizing the group’s government “soon”, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Saturday. “Efforts are underway. Signs are positive… [Taliban government] will be recognized at the international level,” he said. Mujahid added that the demands of the international community have been met, …

Japan can now give defense equipment and technology to Vietnam under an agreement signed Saturday, as the two countries step up their military cooperation amid worries about China’s growing military influence. Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the deal elevates their defense partnership “to a new level” and that Japan …

Russia has sent armored vehicles and military equipment to Tajikistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor, against the backdrop of “growing instability” near the southern border, says the defense ministry. The ministry announced in a statement on Saturday it had transferred 12 armored vehicles and an array of military equipment, which includes close combat …