Asia

The Taliban announced Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund as the leader of their new government in Afghanistan on Tuesday. Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also told a press conference that Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy leader. Sarajuddin Haqqani, son of the founder of the Haqqani network, designated as …

Four Americans left Afghanistan by land on Monday with Taliban knowledge in the first departures arranged by the US government since its military pullout, a US official said. The four US citizens left by land and were greeted by American diplomats, said a senior official, without specifying to which country …

The Taliban claimed victory on Monday in the last part of Afghanistan still holding out against their rule, declaring that the capture of the Panjshir valley completed their takeover of the country and they would unveil a new government soon. Pictures on social media showed Taliban members standing in front …

Germany’s ambassador to China Jan Hecker died suddenly, less than two weeks after taking up his post, the European nation’s foreign office said on Monday. Hecker, 54, a foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, had presented his credentials at China’s foreign ministry on August 24, the embassy in the …

The leader of the resistance movement in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley on Monday called for a “national uprising” against the Taliban. In an audio message sent to media, National Resistance Front commander Ahmad Massoud said: “Wherever you are, inside or outside, I call on you to begin a national uprising for …

Taipei says nuclear-capable bombers were among planes entering the air identification zone Taiwan’s air force scrambled on Sunday against renewed Chinese military activity, with its defence ministry reporting that 19 aircraft including nuclear-capable bombers had flown into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or …

The leader of the Afghan opposition group resisting Taliban forces in the Panjshir valley north of Kabul said on Sunday he welcomed proposals from religious scholars for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting. Ahmad Massoud, head of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), made the announcement on the …

At least three paramilitary guards were killed Sunday when a suicide bomber on a motorbike blew himself up in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, police said. The bomber targeted Frontier Constabulary guards in the Mian Ghundi neighbourhood of the city – close to the Afghanistan border – where Hazara Shia merchants were …

The Taliban said on Sunday their forces had fought their way into the provincial capital of Panjshir, the valley where opposition forces have been holding out since the fall of Kabul three weeks ago. The police headquarters and district centre of Rukhah, adjacent to the provincial capital Bazarak, had fallen, …

A 12-year-old boy has died in Kerala, India after being hospitalized for exhibiting symptoms of the Nipah virus, online news media The Indian Express reported on Sunday. He was first admitted to the hospital on Wednesday and his test samples were sent to the Pune National Institute of Virology. It …

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is lifting a coronavirus ban on travelers from 10 countries including India, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia, the presidential spokesperson said on Saturday. The ban, introduced in April then expanded to more countries in July to prevent the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, …

Pro-democracy protesters vented their anger in Bangkok’s heavy rain Saturday after Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha survived a no-confidence vote in parliament. More than 300 demonstrators marched in central Bangkok’s main shopping mall district carrying red flags and wearing ponchos in the downpour. “The government should be gone. If things …

The Japanese government plans to extend a state of emergency in and around Tokyo until the last week of September in a further bid to contain the coronavirus epidemic, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Saturday. Japan last month expanded emergency curbs to cover about 80 percent of its population until …

Taliban special forces in camouflage fired their weapons into the air Saturday, bringing an abrupt and frightening end to the latest protest march in the capital by Afghan women demanding equal rights from the new rulers. Also on Saturday, the chief of Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency, which has an outsized …

Taliban and opposition forces were fighting on Saturday for control of the Panjshir valley north of Kabul, the last province in Afghanistan holding out against the extremist group, according to reports. Taliban sources had said on Friday the group had seized control of the valley, although the resistance denied it …

Taliban forces have taken full control of Afghanistan including the Panjshir valley where opposition forces had been holding out, three Taliban sources said on Friday as heavy celebratory gunfire was heard in the Afghan capital Kabul. “By the grace of Allah Almighty, we are in control of the entire Afghanistan. …

At least 400 people have been hospitalized with viral fever in an Indian city as a mystery illness that has killed more than 60 people in the space of a week continues to spread through the state of Uttar Pradesh. According to a report from the Daily News and Analysis …

India has tightened restrictions on movement in the part of Kashmir that it administers to contain protests after the burial of a top independence leader. Dozens of armed soldiers patrolled the streets of Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar ahead of midday prayers on Friday as tensions ignited in the disputed …

A small group of Afghan women protested near the presidential palace in Kabul on Friday, demanding equal rights from the Taliban as Afghanistan’s new rulers work on forming a government and seeking international recognition. The Taliban captured most of the country in a matter of days last month and celebrated …

China and the United States did not reach an agreement on climate change, with Beijing rebuffing calls to make more public pledges on climate change before a United Nations climate summit in November, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Friday citing a source. “China already has its own …