Asia

The Russian prime minister on Monday visited the Pacific islands claimed by Japan and said the government is considering setting up a special economic zone there. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is touring Russia’s Far East and Siberia this week, and the Kuril Islands were his first stop on Monday. Mishustin …

Forty-six Afghan soldiers sought refuge in Pakistan after losing control of military positions across the border following advances by the Taliban, Pakistan’s army said on Monday. Hundreds of Afghan army soldiers and civil officials have fled to neighboring Tajikistan, Iran, and Pakistan in recent weeks after Taliban offensives in border …

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of the Chinese city of Shanghai as Typhoon In-Fa hits the coast to its south. All flights to the city and high-speed train services have been suspended. Shanghai issued the second-highest-level typhoon warning as In-Fa is expected to …

Afghan forces have captured four Taliban fighters including a militant commander for carrying out this week’s rocket attack targeting the presidential palace in Kabul during the Muslim Eid al-Adha prayers, officials said Sunday. At least three rockets landed near the palace on Tuesday as President Ashraf Ghani and his top …

Chinese commercial hub Shanghai and neighbouring coastal regions cancelled all flights, slowed or suspended subway trains, and shuttered businesses ahead of Typhoon In-fa’s expected landfall on Sunday afternoon. The typhoon is set to hit the east coast province of Zhejiang even as central China is still reeling from record flooding …

Russian defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Tajik counterpart Sherali Mirzo on Saturday discussed joint measures to counter threats from the Taliban in the Tajik-Afghan border area, the TASS news agency reported. Russia on Friday pledged to help its ally Tajikistan to build a new outpost on the border, amid …

China has hit US-based institutions and individuals, including former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, with retaliatory sanctions following recent American sanctions on Chinese officials in Hong Kong. According to Press TV, Beijing’s punitive measure against Washington on Friday came just ahead a planned visit to China by US Deputy Secretary of …

A warehouse fire in northeastern China on Saturday left at least fourteen people dead and twelve seriously injured, state media reported. The logistics warehouse, located in Changchun, the capital of the northeastern province of Jilin, caught on fire Saturday afternoon, and rescue work is still underway, the official Xinhua news …

India’s Ministry of Defense said that it will use its navy for relief and rescue operations as floods worsen in several states. “With large parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa reeling under extensive flooding of both urban and rural areas caused by incessant rains and consequent overflowing of riverbanks and …

Afghanistan has imposed a night-time curfew to limit the movements of the Taliban across the country, a day after the group demanded the removal of President Ashraf Ghani. “To curb violence and limit the Taliban movements, a night curfew has been imposed in 31 provinces across the country,” the Afghan …

Bali, along with the main island of Java and 15 other regions, is under tight COVID-19 restrictions as cases and deaths surge in the archipelago nation. The Indonesian island of Bali is running out of oxygen for its COVID-19 patients as infections surge, the chief of its health agency has …

Philippine authorities moved thousands of residents in the capital, Manila, out of low-lying communities on Saturday as heavy monsoon rains, compounded by a tropical storm, flooded the city and nearby provinces. The national disaster agency said about 15,000 people, most of them from a flood-prone Manila suburb, had moved into …

 At least 112 people have died in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities said on Friday, after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooded low-lying areas, cutting off hundreds of villages. Parts of India’s west coast received up to 594 mm (23 inches) of rainfall over 24 hours, forcing …

Pakistan called on the United Nations on Friday to investigate whether India used Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to spy on public figures including Prime Minister Imran Khan. The Pakistani leader’s phone number was on a list of what an investigation by a group of 17 international media organizations and Amnesty International …

China said on Friday that it has imposed counter-sanctions on U.S. individuals including former U.S. commerce secretary Wilbur Ross in response to U.S. sanctions on Chinese officials with Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong. The sanctions are the first imposed by China under its new anti-foreign sanction law, passed in …

At least 112 people have died in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, authorities said on Friday, after torrential monsoon rains caused landslides and flooded low-lying areas, cutting off hundreds of villages. Parts of India’s west coast received up to 594 mm (23 inches) of rainfall over 24 hours, forcing …

Olympic organisers on Friday thanked medical workers at a Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony overshadowed by the coronavirus, as athletes from across the world paraded into an almost empty stadium, for the first time their smiles hidden behind masks. Normally a star-studded display teeming with celebrities, the ceremony was shorn of …

The death toll from torrential rain in central China’s Henan Province had risen to 56, with five people reported missing as of 7 p.m. Friday, local authorities said. Rescue efforts including drainage operations are still underway at Jingguang Road tunnel in the provincial capital Zhengzhou, a waterlogged underpass where many …

Tajikistan is preparing to take in up to 100,000 refugees from neighboring Afghanistan where fighting has escalated as United States-led troops withdraw, a senior Tajik official said on Friday. Taliban are gaining control of more and more territory in Afghanistan, which the Pentagon estimates now extends to over half of …

The Philippines sent millions of children back into lockdown Friday as hospitals prepared for a surge in coronavirus cases fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant ravaging neighboring countries. Nearly half of the 47 cases of the more virulent strain detected so far were locally acquired, the health department said, …