Afghan forces battled on Monday (Aug 2) to stop a first major city from falling to the Taleban as the United States and Britain accused the insurgents of massacring civilians in a town they recently captured near the Pakistan border.

President Ashraf Ghani yesterday blamed Afghanistan’s fast-deteriorating security situation on a “sudden” decision by the United States to withdraw its troops, but said his government had a plan to bring conditions under control within six months.

Members of a shadow government set up by opponents of Myanmar’s coup yesterday condemned the country’s military ruler for taking on the role of prime minister in a caretaker government and said the move was designed to try to win legitimacy.

In its article, titled “Bangladesh and Pakistan - Formerly one Nation, today a World Apart”, IFFRAS (International Forum for Rights and Security) described how Bangladesh became a “miracle story” and Pakistan a “disaster tale”. 

Afghan government forces struggled against Taliban assaults on several major cities yesterday as the insurgents stepped up a nationwide offensive that saw a key airport in the south come under rocket fire overnight. 

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.

Sri Lanka yesterday announced it was ending its work-from-home option for civil servants, ordering all 1.2 million back to the office from Monday despite a surge in coronavirus infections.

Britain warned the United Nations Security Council Thursday that half of coup-wracked Myanmar’s population of 54 million could become infected with Covid-19 within the next two weeks.

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. 

Imprisoned by the military, detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is isolated from the young protesters now forging their own struggle for democracy outside of her shadow. 

A Myanmar militia group opposed to military rule has found at least seven bodies with bullet wounds in a jungle area after clashes with the army and it was looking for more missing people on Friday, a militia member and media said.

Noor Mukadam’s last hours were terror-filled. Beaten repeatedly, the 27-year-old jumped from a window but was dragged back, beaten again and finally beheaded. A childhood friend has been charged with her killing.

1912 - Japanese Emperor Meiji died and was succeeded by Yoshihito. During Meiji’s reign Japan was transformed into one of the modern world’s great powers.

Tsunami warnings were lifted for Alaska and the rest of Pacific after a huge earthquake of 8.2 magnitude struck the seismically active US state in the late hours on Wednesday.

Afghan villagers searched desperately for survivors after flash flood swept down a narrow valley in a Taliban-controlled area, killing at least 40 people and destroying dozens of houses in the early hours of yesterday, officials said.

Malaysia’s embattled leader was accused of treason and urged to quit yesterday after the king denounced his crisis-hit government for misleading parliament, a rare public rebuke from the revered monarch.

International calls yesterday mounted for the release of a Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and the repeal of anti-terror laws used to detain him for 15 months.

China told a visiting Taliban delegation on Wednesday it expected the insurgent group to play an important role in ending Afghanistan's war and rebuilding the country, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar yesterday called on the UN Security Council and member states to push for an emergency “Covid ceasefire” in light of an explosion of Covid-19 infections and deaths in Myanmar where attacks against the health workers escalated. 

Bhutan has inoculated most of its eligible population with second doses of Covid-19 vaccinations in a week, in a speedy rollout hailed by Unicef as a “success story” for international donations.