Asia

Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader who oversaw the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan in 1989 after Moscow’s failed decade-long campaign there, said on Tuesday that NATO’s own deployment to the country had been doomed from the start. Gorbachev, 90, regarded the Soviet presence in Afghanistan as a political mistake that …

About 1,000 Russian troops have started a month-long exercise in Tajikistan, a week after concluding the previous drills, Interfax quoted officials from Russia’s central military district as saying on Tuesday. Russia has stepped up military activity and reinforced its base in Tajikistan as U.S.-led forces have pulled out of neighbouring …

China carried out assault drills near Taiwan on Tuesday with warships and fighter jets exercising off the southwest and southeast of the island, in what the country’s armed forces said was a response to “external interference” and “provocations”. Taiwan, which Beijing claims as Chinese territory, has complained of repeated People’s …

Chubu Electric Power Co Inc said fire alarms were triggered and a worker saw smoke early on Tuesday in the turbine building of the suspended No. 5 unit at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in central Japan. There were no injuries and no radiation leak, the company said. The local …

A first German military plane to land in Kabul since the Taliban takeover evacuated only seven people, the government said on Tuesday, due to chaos at the Afghan capital’s airport. Germany, which had the second-largest military contingent in Afghanistan after the United States, wants to airlift thousands of German-Afghan dual …

China’s factory output and retail sales growth slowed sharply and missed expectations in July, as new COVID-19 outbreaks and floods disrupted business operations, adding to signs the economic recovery is losing momentum. Industrial production in the world’s second largest economy increased 6.4% year-on-year in July, data from the National Bureau …

An Afghan military jet was shot down by Uzbek air defences as it tried to violate the border, Uzbekistan’s defence ministry was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency on Monday. The aircraft came down on Sunday after crossing the border into Uzbekistan, and its pilot ejected and survived, …

Woman says she was held for days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uighurs. A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uighurs, in what may be …

Russia’s embassy in Kabul said on Monday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country with four cars and a helicopter full of cash and had to leave some money behind as it would not all fit in, the RIA news agency reported. Ghani, whose current whereabouts are unknown, …

Japan warned of more rain to come, especially in the southwest island of Kyushu, as rescue teams searched for people missing in landslides and residents grew weary of the continuing rain. Heavy rains lashed much of Japan over the weekend, submerging streets and triggering landslides that killed four people in …

Russia is in contact with Taliban officials via its embassy in Kabul, President Vladimir Putin’s special representative on Afghanistan said on Monday, a day after the Afghan government collapsed and the capital fell to the Islamist insurgent group. “They are talking in Kabul. All contacts are being made there at …

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has handed his resignation to the king but will stay on as interim premier, the palace said on Monday, after months of political turmoil culminated in the loss of his majority. Muhyiddin’s hand had been weakened by months of infighting in his coalition and it …

At least five people were killed in Kabul airport as hundreds of people tried to forcibly enter planes leaving the Afghan capital, witnesses told Reuters. One witness said he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle. Another witness said it was not clear whether the …

Peace prevailed across Afghanistan on Monday, Taliban officials said, as the militants declared the war over a day after seizing the capital, while Western nations scrambled to evacuate their citizens from an increasingly chaotic Kabul airport. President Ashraf Ghani fled from the country on Sunday as the Islamists entered Kabul …

Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan says Moscow is ready to work with the future interim government in Afghanistan The time to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate authority has not come yet, Russia’s presidential envoy for Afghanistan said on Sunday. At the moment, Moscow is ready to work with a …

Germany on Sunday shuttered its embassy in Kabul and prepared to send A400M military transport planes to Afghanistan to evacuate as many Germans and local Afghan helpers as possible after Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital. “We are doing everything to enable our citizens and our former local staff to …

Tensions have flared up between Japan and the two Koreas on the anniversary of the end of World War II after two Japanese ministers paid a visit to a controversial shrine in Tokyo, seen as a symbol of Japan’s wartime legacy in East Asia. Both Seoul and Pyongyang, along with …

Russia is working with other countries to hold an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan as the Taliban completes its military takeover of the country, foreign ministry official Zamir Kabulov told Russian news agencies. “We are working on this,” Kabulov said, adding that the meeting will take place. Russia …

India will launch a 100 trillion rupee ($1.35 trillion) national infrastructure plan that will help generate jobs and expand use of cleaner fuels to achieve the country’s climate goals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. The infrastructure program, called “Gati Shakti”, will help boost productivity of industries and boost …

The death toll from an overnight grenade attack on a truck carrying women and children in Karachi rose to 12 on Sunday. Attackers targeted the truck on Saturday evening as it shuttled an extended family from a wedding ceremony in a western Karachi neighborhood, killing nine people and wounding nine …