Asia

After years of absence, India began its 8th term as a non-permanent UNSC member this January India on Sunday assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the month of August, taking over from France. “India has just assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council on Aug. …

The Iranian embassy in Afghanistan has issued an urgent warning calling on citizens to immediately leave cities outside the capital Kabul amid a deteriorating security situation in the country. “It is recommended to the nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran who live or do business in Afghan districts and …

A Belarusian sprinter refused to get on a flight from Tokyo on Sunday after being taken to the airport against her wishes by her team following her complaints about national coaches at the Olympic Games. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, was still at Tokyo’s Haneda airport in the early hours of Monday. …

China on Saturday reported 55 new coronavirus cases on the mainland for July 30, compared with 64 cases a day earlier, as the Delta variant spreads across the country during the summer holiday. Thirty of the new infections were local cases, compared with 21 the previous day, the National Health …

Government forces are fighting Taliban assaults on major cities, including in Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar, whose airport was bombed by the Taliban. Afghan forces fought fierce street battles and bombed Taliban positions as the group’s fighters swarmed major cities amid an intensifying nationwide offensive. Hundreds of commandos were deployed …

Chinese cities rolled out mass testing of millions of people and imposed fresh travel restrictions as health authorities battled Sunday to contain the country’s most widespread coronavirus outbreak in months. China on Sunday reported 75 new coronavirus cases with 53 local transmissions, with a cluster linked to an eastern airport …

Myanmar’s military ruler Min Aung Hlaing has taken on the role of prime minister in a newly formed caretaker government, state media reported on Sunday, six months after the army seized power from a civilian government. In a speech on Sunday, Min Aung Hlaing repeated a pledge to hold elections …

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un warned Sunday that next month’s annual military drills between South Korean and US troops will undermine prospects for better ties between the Koreas, just days after the rivals reopened their long-dormant communication channels. Kim Yo Jong’s statement carried by state media …

Hundreds of young people in Malaysia rallied in central Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, demanding the country’s prime minister resign over what they view as his mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic. Public anger has built up against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s unelected government, which took power in March 2020, as infections …

Myanmar’s military ruler Min Aung Hlaing has promised to hold elections in two years’ time, extending the state of emergency that was imposed after the civilian government was overthrown in a military coup six months ago. The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the army ousted Aung San …

Sindh’s chief minister said a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases flooded hospitals in Karachi, the provincial capital. Provincial authorities have imposed a partial lockdown in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, including the commercial hub of Karachi and other urban centres, amid an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases. The lockdown began on …

Demonstrators demand embattled PM Muhyiddin Yassin resign over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The mastermind behind a 2019 attack that killed 40 Indian paramilitary troops has been killed in a shootout with security forces, Indian police in Kashmir said on Saturday.

Top Indian and Chinese army commanders met Saturday after a gap of three months to discuss the expeditious disengagement of thousands of forces in a bid to ease the 15-month border tensions and clashes.

Afghan and Taliban forces clashed again on the outskirts of Herat Saturday, a day after a police guard was killed when a United Nations compound in the western city came under attack. Violence has surged across the country since early May when the Taliban launched a sweeping offensive as US-led …

The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) on Friday announced the seizure of a 2,734-ton tanker it said was owned and operated by a Singaporean national and used to make shipments of petroleum products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions. A DoJ statement said the M/T Courageous was seized by …

The first person convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law was jailed for nine years on Friday for terrorist activities and inciting secession, judges said, in a watershed ruling with long-term implications for the city’s judicial landscape. Former waiter Tong Ying-kit, 24, was accused of driving his motorcycle into three …

PM Imran Khan denies report that Pakistani fighters crossed border into Afghanistan to aid Taliban in its fight against Afghan government. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has denied a report that Pakistani fighters have crossed the border into Afghanistan to aid the Taliban in its fight against the Afghan government. …

Some 200 Afghans were set to begin new lives in the United States on Friday as an airlift got underway for translators and others who risk Taliban retaliation because they worked for the US government during its 20-year war in Afghanistan, US officials said. The operation to evacuate US-affiliated Afghans …

Attackers threw a hand grenade at a police van in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday, killing a policeman and wounding two others before fleeing the scene, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, Peshawar police said the attack happened while a government …