China yesterday pledged to inject $233 million into a new fund to protect biodiversity in developing countries during a key UN conservation summit, despite disagreements among major donors on the initiative.

Government forces killed five suspected rebels in India-administered Kashmir, police said yesterday, a day after militants shot dead five soldiers.

The Taliban held their first face-to-face talks with a joint US-EU delegation yesterday in Qatar as Brussels pledged one billion euros ($1.2 billion) in aid for Afghanistan.

At least 15 people have died during unseasonably heavy rain and flooding in north China’s Shanxi province earlier this month, local officials said yesterday, after the normally dry region received three months’ rain in one week.

Hong Kong battened down yesterday evening for the second time in less than a week as an approaching tropical storm prompted forecasters to raise their alert level and trigger safety measures.

At least 28 people were killed and more than a dozen injured yesterday after a packed passenger bus plunged off a road in a hilly region in northwestern Nepal, officials said.

At least 28 people died on Tuesday in western Nepal after the bus they were on skidded off a mountain road and fell hundreds of meters (yards) into a gorge, authorities said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cautioned against “selective interpretation” of human rights and looking at the issue through political prism to diminish the country’s image.

The navies of Quad countries -- the US, India, Japan, and Australia -- began the second phase of a maritime exercise in the Bay of Bengal today as the chief of American naval operations arrived in New Delhi on a five-day visit.

At least 95-100 Right to Information (RTI) applicants have been killed while 190 were attacked in India in the last 15-16 years, according to a report by Transparency International India (TII).

Chinese authorities confirmed Tuesday 13 people had died after a bus plunged into a rushing river amid heavy flooding that has caused 15 other fatalities in the north.

China and India yesterday blamed each other for the failure of high-level talks to ease tensions along a disputed Himalayan border between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

A top aide to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to journalist and government critic Maria Ressa was proof that “press freedom is alive” in the country.

The US State Department said Sunday that this weekend’s talks with representatives of the Taliban in Doha, Qatar -- the first such gathering since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of August -- were “candid and professional” while emphasizing that the Taliban “will be judged on its actions, not only its words.”

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted his government is “not delivering” as shortages persist of food, medicines and other essential items because of a dire foreign exchange squeeze.

A key UN summit tasked with protecting biodiversity opened in China and online yesterday, as countries meet to protect ecosystems and prevent mass extinction weeks before the COP26 climate conference.

An officer and four soldiers of the Indian army were killed in an encounter with terrorists during an anti-militancy operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district today, officials said.

“Bhaager Maa”, meaning “mother divided”, is the theme that South Kolkata’s Barisha Club chose for this year’s Durga Puja pandal, according to a report of Hindustan Times.

The United States said on Sunday the first face-to-face meeting between senior US and Taliban officials since the hardline group retook power in Afghanistan was "candid and professional" and that the US side reiterated that the Taliban would be judged on their actions, not just their words.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday termed China as a “great friend” to Bangladesh and emphasised the need to enhance bilateral relations between the two with a focus on trade in the days ahead.