Asia

North Korea says Washington has left Pyongyang with no choice but to “counter nuclear with nuclear” in a bid to confront hostile US policies against the Asian country. “In order to eliminate the nuclear threats from the US, the DPRK government made all possible efforts either through dialogue or in …

The death of a father and son in police custody in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has caused outrage after the victims’ family accused the police of torturing the duo in custody. P Jayaraj, 59, and his son J Bennix, 31, were imprisoned by police last Friday in …

A Russian military intelligence unit secretly offered bounties to militants in Afghanistan for killing coalition forces — including targeting American troops, according to a report Friday. The revelations, from American intelligence officials — reported by The New York Times — came as the US, Taliban militants and the Afghan government …

Hong Kong police on Saturday (Jun 27) banned a major demonstration against China’s planned national security law for the city which critics fear would smother the financial hub’s treasured freedoms, organisers said. The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) said the force had rejected its applications for rallies on Jul 1, …

Authorities said a total of 15,685 people had died after another 385 fatalities were added to the toll in 24 hours. The pandemic is not expected to peak in India for several more weeks and experts say the number of cases could pass one million before the end of July. …

More than 100 people have been killed during lightning strikes in two Indian states in two days, according to authorities. In the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 24 people died due to lightning in the past 24 hours, according to senior Uttar Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority official Aditi …

Pakistani opposition parties criticized Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday after he told parliament that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been “martyred” in 2011 by US forces. Bin Laden, who masterminded the 9/11 attacks on the United States, was killed in a raid on his hideout in the …

Nearly 100 Rohingya migrants from Myanmar, including 30 children, were rescued from a rickety wooden boat off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Wednesday. They had gone without food for several days, officials said Survivors from a boat crammed with over 300 Rohingya Muslim refugees told Malaysian authorities that …

More than 30% of civilian pilots in Pakistan have fake licenses and are not qualified to fly, the country’s aviation minister revealed Wednesday. Addressing Pakistan’s National Assembly, Ghulam Sarwar Khan said 262 pilots in the country “did not take the exam themselves” and had paid someone else to sit it …

Japan has scrapped the deployment of a multibillion-dollar US anti-missile system, the government confirmed Thursday, days after saying the programme had been suspended. Interceptors for the Aegis Ashore system were to be placed in two regions under the costly and controversial programme. But the government reversed course under pressure from …

The Pentagon put Huawei Technologies and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology on a list of 20 companies it says are owned or controlled by China’s military, opening them up to potential additional U.S. sanctions. In letters to lawmakers dated June 24, the Pentagon said it was providing a list of “Communist …

North Korea said Wednesday leader Kim Jong Un suspended a planned military retaliation against South Korea, in an apparent slowing of the pressure campaign it has waged against its rival amid stalled nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration. Last week, the North had declared relations with the South as fully …

China on Tuesday launched the final satellite in its homegrown geolocation system, completing a network designed to rival American GPS as it jostles for market share in the lucrative sector. Footage broadcast lives on television showed a rocket blasting off with the satellite from a mountainous region of southwest China, …

Afghan officials say dozens of Taliban fighters staged overnight raids and stormed several checkpoints in the northern part of the country, killing at least 14 security personnel. The violence early on June 23 comes after authorities this week accused the Taliban of increasing attacks on Afghan forces at a time …

Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were detained in what was widely seen as a retaliatory measure against Canada after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s December 2018 arrest in Vancouver. China has asked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “stop making irresponsible remarks” after he said Beijing’s decision to charge two Canadians …

South Korea is in the midst of a “second wave” of coronavirus infections, health officials claimed on Monday. Until now the country had been hailed a success story for its handling of the worldwide virus pandemic. However, the Korea Centers for Disease Control (KCDC) said on Monday that a rise …

US President Donald Trump says he did not sanction Chinese officials further over the detention of Muslims in Xinjiang as he was in the “middle of a trade deal”. Trump told the Axios news site that achieving a “great” deal meant he could not impose “additional sanctions”. China has held …

China and the European Union (EU) on Monday reaffirmed commitment to conclude a comprehensive bilateral investment agreement in 2020. The pledge came as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held the 22nd China-EU leaders’ meeting with President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der …

North Korea is prepared to launch thousands of balloons carrying millions of “retaliatory” leaflets to its southern neighbor as inter-Korean relations take a nosedive. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) will soon distribute 12 million leaflets to South Korea “to make them pay dearly for their crime,” the official …

  Top military commanders of India and China have held a second round of talks amid rising tensions at their contested border. Commanders from both sides met on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the disputed Aksai Chin-Ladakh border area on Monday, Reuters reported citing an …