Suspected rebels killed an Indian army officer and a trooper during a manhunt in Kashmir, where 22 people have died in spiralling violence in the past two weeks, officials said yesterday.

China and Bhutan signed an MoU Thursday for what they called a “Three-step roadmap” for expediting the boundary negotiations and which according to Thimphu will provide fresh impetus to talks and can bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion acceptable to both sides.

Suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar during Friday prayers, witnesses said, killing at least 41 people and injuring scores more.

The head lawyer representing Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Friday he had been issued a gag order by authorities in the military-ruled country.

North Korean defectors in Tokyo symbolically summoned Kim Jong Un to court yesterday over a repatriation programme they describe as “state kidnapping”.

The death toll from a storm that triggered landslides and flash floods across the Philippines has risen to at least 19, authorities said yesterday, linking the extreme rainfall to climate change.

Japan dissolved its parliament yesterday, setting the stage for an election at the end of the month that will pit new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida against unpopular opposition in a battle over who can better fix the pandemic-battered economy.

The Indian Border Security Force’s jurisdiction of operation has been extended from 15km to 50km inside the international border and its officers have been given the power to arrest and seize in the three border states of West Bengal, Assam and Punjab in a bid to crack down on smuggling including that of narcotics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that battle-hardened militants from Iraq and Syria are “actively” entering Afghanistan as the country’s new rulers are struggling to steady the ship as it faces problems from multiple fronts.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended flights to the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday after what it called heavy handed interference by Taliban authorities, including arbitrary rule changes and intimidation of staff.

Japan dissolved its parliament on Thursday, setting the stage for an election at the end of the month that will pit new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida against unpopular opposition in a battle over who can better fix the pandemic-battered economy.

A fire in a residential building in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung has killed 46 peopleand injured another 41, the government said on Thursday.

Indian Border Security Force’s jurisdiction of operation has been extended from 15km to 50km inside the international border and its officers have been given the power to arrest and seize in the three border states of West Bengal, Assam and Punjab in a bid to crack down on smuggling including that of narcotics.

India has resumed a small amount of exports of Covid-19 vaccines and will increase exports significantly in the next few months as domestic stocks build up and most of its own large population is inoculated, officials said yesterday.

Afghanistan’s new Taliban government has warned US and European envoys that continued attempts to pressure them through sanctions will undermine security and could trigger a wave of economic refugees. 

Taiwan’s defence ministry warned China of strong countermeasures yesterday if its forces got too close to the island, as Beijing defended its incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone as “just” moves to protect peace and stability.

More than 100 countries yesterday pledged to put the protection of habitats at the heart of their government decision-making but they stopped short of committing to specific targets to curb mass extinctions.

Asia-Pacific airlines have lost billions of dollars this year, with jets grounded in Covid-19 transportation freezes. Now, as some of the world's strictest pandemic-related travel rules begin to ease, they're ramping up flights and ticket offers.

A laser show at Kolkata’s much-hyped Durga Puja pandal, modeled after Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, has courted controversy over its laser lighting.

On October 10, Pakistan's "Father of Islamic Bomb" Abdul Qadeer Khan -- popularly known as AQ Khan -- passed away in Islamabad due to Covid-19. Unlike many other great men, Khan left behind a legacy no short of a Bond film.