Asia

Taliban captured the city of Ghazni on Thursday, the ninth provincial capital they have seized in a week, as US intelligence said the capital, Kabul, just 150 km to the northeast, could fall to the insurgents within 90 days. The speed of the Taliban advance has sparked widespread recriminations over …

A Panamanian-registered ship ran aground in a northern Japan harbour, then split in two and was leaking oil, but there were no injuries among the 21 crew and the oil leak was being controlled with no signs it had reached shore, the Japan Coast Guard said. The 39,910-tonne vessel, the …

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused the United States of seeing his country as useful only in the context of the “mess” it is leaving behind in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting. Washington has been pressing Pakistan to use its influence over the Taliban to broker an elusive peace …

An earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck off the southeast coast of the Philippines early on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, as various agencies ruled out the risk of it triggering tsunamis. The quake was at a depth of 65.6 km, the USGS said. Broadcaster CNN reported the Philippine Institute …

Turkey is for now still intent on running and guarding Kabul airport after other foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan, but is monitoring the situation after rapid advances by Taliban forces, two Turkish officials said. Taliban fighters took control of another city in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the eighth provincial capital …

Rights groups say Myanmar’s military has killed more than two dozen medics and carried out hundreds of attacks against health workers in order to hamper the response to a resurgent outbreak of COVID-19 amid ongoing turmoil across the Southeast Asian country. According to Press TV, Insecurity Insight, Physicians for Human …

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said a Chinese court’s sentencing of Canadian businessman Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for espionage on Wednesday was “absolutely unacceptable” and called for his immediate release. The United States embassy in Beijing also condemned the sentencing in a statement, saying that proceedings against …

Thai police defended their use of force against protesters as a necessary public safety measure, as the capital Bangkok braced for more demonstrations on Wednesday to demand the prime minister’s removal for mismanaging a coronavirus crisis. Police fired tear gas, water cannon, and rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse protesters …

Taliban overruns cities of Farah and Pul-e-Khumri in fresh setbacks for Afghanistan’s government. The Taliban has captured two more cities in Afghanistan, taking the number of provincial capitals the group has seized since Friday to eight. Farah city of the eponymous southwestern province and Pul-e-Khumri of the northern province of …

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi is scheduled to visit Tehran as part of a tour of West Asian meant to discuss regional security and the response to the coronavirus pandemic with officials of the new Iranian administration. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the top Japanese diplomat said he …

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has thrown her weight behind the adoption of a law introduced by Beijing to uphold the territory’s sovereignty in the face of foreign interference and sanctions. Lam said on Tuesday that her government would do its utmost to fulfill its constitutional responsibility, adding, “The purpose …

At least 11 Taliban members were killed in a B-52 airstrike by US forces in Kapisa province’s Nijrab district on Tuesday morning, TOLO News quoted a provincial police spokesman as saying. By Tuesday, the Taliban were in control of six Afghan provincial capitals following a blitz across the north that …

Several rounds of meetings scheduled over three days between Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban as armed group makes advances. The United States envoy on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, “will press the Taliban to stop their military offensive” at talks in Qatar’s capital this week, the Department of State announced after the …

Bangladesh began vaccinating thousands of Rohingya Muslims on Tuesday in the world’s largest refugee settlement amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the country, officials said. Aid workers have long warned of a potential humanitarian disaster if there is a significant outbreak in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, the …

South Korea and the United States should pay a price for going ahead with annual joint military drills due to begin this week, Kim Yo Jong, a powerful North Korean official and sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Tuesday. South Korea and the United States began preliminary training …

Five accused, including ex-BJP spokesman, in police custody over a controversial event held in the heart of New Delhi. At least five people, including a former spokesman of India’s governing right-wing party, are in police custody over anti-Muslim slogans raised in the capital. A protest, organised on Sunday by former …

A Chinese court upheld on Tuesday a Canadian man’s death sentence for drug smuggling a day before another court is due to rule on the case of another Canadian accused of spying. The court proceedings for the two Canadians come as lawyers in Canada representing the detained chief financial officer …

The United States and China clashed over actions in the South China Sea at a high-level U.N. Security Council meeting on maritime security Monday that also put a spotlight on attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and drug and human trafficking in the …

As Pakistan continues its massive drive to plant 10 billion trees to reduce smog, the country’s prime minister urged his citizens to heed the dire warnings in a UN climate change report released on Monday. Prime Minister Imran Khan made the remarks as he inaugurated what officials say is the …

Survivors and other residents in Nagasaki have taken part in a somber ceremony to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese city. On August 9, 1945, in the final year of World War II, Nagasaki was reduced to rubble by an atomic bomb dropped by …