Asia

At least three people have been killed, 20 others injured and many are feared trapped after a massive fire raged through a factory in Bangladesh, officials said on Friday. The cause of the fire, which originated at a ground floor of a multi-storey building of the juice factory on Thursday …

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey has reached an agreement with the United States on the “scope” of how to secure Kabul airport under the control of Turkish forces. Erdogan said on Friday that providing the airport security that has become a main concern for the US, was discussed between …

The Taliban, which controls eighty-five percent of the territory in Afghanistan, say they captured the war-torn country’s main conduit for trade with Iran. The militant group said it will try to shortly put back into operation the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat province. An Afghan government official said efforts …

At least 52 people were killed, 20 injured and many more feared trapped after a massive fire raged through a juice-making factory in Bangladesh, officials said on Friday, the latest industrial fire accident in the country. The fire started on Thursday evening at the ground floor of a six-story factory …

Authorities in India’s southern Kerala region have issued a statewide alert after a case of the Zika virus was confirmed, officials said Friday. A further 13 suspected cases were being investigated, state health minister Veena George said. A 24-year-old pregnant woman was found to be infected with the mosquito-borne disease …

A Taliban delegation in Moscow said on Friday that the group controlled over 85% of the territory in Afghanistan and reassured Russia it would not allow the country to be used as a platform to attack others. Foreign forces, including the United States, are withdrawing after almost 20 years of …

The Biden administration is set as early as Friday to add more than 10 Chinese companies to its economic blacklist over alleged human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang, two sources said. The U.S. Commerce Department action will follow its announcement last month adding five other companies and other …

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry has asked the United States to avoid causing “unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding” after the White House Covid-19 Response Team deleted a tweet that contained the island’s flag. Earlier this week, the White House coronavirus taskforce posted a tweet that showed the flags of nations receiving donations of …

The majority of the UK’s armed forces personnel assigned to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan have left that country and the rest are returning home, Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. The withdrawal comes 20 years after the US, with British support, launched the so-called “war on terror” against the Taliban in …

Most British soldiers have been pulled out of Afghanistan, ending Britain’s official role in a two-decades-long conflict even as the Taliban are gaining ground and amid fears, the departure of foreign soldiers could lead to civil war. Summary | Britain to leave behind only an embassy protection force PM Johnson …

South Korea’s intelligence chief has said he is working on a possible visit by Pope Francis to North Korea, a Catholic news agency associated with the Vatican says.

Japan is to place its capital Tokyo under a state of emergency, which will last through the upcoming Olympic games. There are fears coronavirus could surge during the event, and at a meeting with experts on Thursday morning government officials proposed a plan to start the state of emergency from …

Taliban insurgents on Wednesday reached the entry points to the capital of Afghanistan’s northwestern Badghis province, officials said, causing panic among local people and prompting prisoners to break out of the city’s prison. Provincial governor Husamuddin Shams told Reuters the Taliban had attacked the city of Qala-e-Naw from three directions …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the situation in Afghanistan had a tendency to swiftly deteriorate and said Moscow was ready to defend its regional allies if necessary. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday told Emomali Rakhmon, the president of Tajikistan, that Moscow would help the impoverished …

Beijing has warned Tokyo against damaging bilateral relations after Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso suggested that his country should work with the US to defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese invasion. “If a major incident happened [in Taiwan], it would not be strange at all if it touches …

The Biden administration is considering whether to continue to authorize the CIA and the Pentagon to carry out deadly drone strikes and commando raids in Afghanistan after the complete withdrawal of US forces from the country. CNN reported on Monday that as withdrawal from Afghanistan nears completion, the administration of …

Authorities in India arrested 14 people in connection with a scheme that allegedly saw 2,000 people injected with fake COVID-19 vaccines containing saltwater in Mumbai, the New York Times reported on Sunday. A total of around $20,000 was confiscated from the arrested suspects, some of whom are medical professionals. At …

Russian military helicopters based in Tajikistan fired air-to-surface missiles during a training exercise on Tuesday as Moscow said its forces in the Central Asian nation were fully equipped to help secure the border with Afghanistan. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon on Monday ordered the mobilisation of 20,000 military reservists to bolster …

The Taliban plan to present a written peace proposal to the Afghan government side as soon as next month, a spokesman for the Islamist insurgents said even as they make major territorial gains in the breach left by departing foreign forces. Hundreds of Afghan security force members have fled into …

Thousands of people on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital were being evacuated on Monday as firefighters battled blazes for hours after a factory explosion that killed a rescue worker and wounded 29 people, officials said. Disaster authorities said 70 houses were damaged and fires were still being fought 15 hours …