North Korea wants international sanctions banning its metal exports and imports of refined fuel and other necessities lifted before it restarts denuclearisation talks with the United States, South Korean lawmakers said yesterday.   

More than 100 protesters have been charged under Thailand’s royal insult laws since last July, when rallies across the kingdom began demanding reforms to the unassailable monarchy, a lawyer representing the activists and an AFP tally showed yesterday.

The United States said that Myanmar’s junta was playing for time with a two-year election timeframe as Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to encourage Asean to appoint an envoy. 

At least 16 people have been killed and a quarter of a million people displaced from their homes after heavy monsoon rains lashed eastern India, officials said yesterday, as the air force joined rescue efforts. 

Myanmar’s neighbouring countries and international organisations need to act now to prevent Myanmar from becoming a regional epicenter of Covid-19 pandemic, experts suggested.

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.

An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 struck Indonesia's Mentawai island region on Tuesday, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).

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.

Two states in India’s north-east have agreed to resolve their differences peacefully after their long-running border dispute erupted into deadly violence last week, reports AFP.

The death toll from floods in central China last month is at least 302 with dozens of people still missing, officials said yesterday, after record downpours dumped a year’s worth of rain on a city in just three days, reports AFP. Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province and the epicentre of the record flooding, was hardest-hit with 292 people dead and 47 missing, according to a provincial government press briefing, as residents were trapped in subway trains, underground car parks, and tunnels. Images of passengers inundated by shoulder-height water went viral on Chinese social media on Line 5 of the city subway where 14 people died, while dozens of cars in a tunnel were tossed aside by the deluge, many with passengers still inside.

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”. 

The death toll from floods in central China last month is at least 302 with dozens of people still missing, officials said, after record downpours dumped a year's worth of rain on a city in just three days.

Myanmar’s military ruler Min Aung Hlaing has taken on the role of prime minister in a newly formed caretaker government, state media reported yesterday, six months after the army seized power from a civilian government.

China’s growth in new home prices slowed in July for the first time in five months, with smaller cities especially weighed down by higher mortgage rates, price caps on resale homes and other steps to cool speculation, a private-sector survey showed on Sunday.

Chinese factory activity weakened in July to its lowest level since the start of the pandemic, data showed Saturday, as manufacturing was impacted by slowing demand, weak exports and extreme weather.

China’s securities regulator said on Sunday it will seek closer cooperation with its US counterpart and will support overseas listings, after US regulators tightened disclosure for Chinese companies and voiced concern about Beijing’s regulatory actions.

India yesterday assumed the rotating Presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of August. It has several important items on

 China and a number of Asian countries ramped up Covid-19 curbs yesterday as Delta variant cases surged and tens of thousands rallied in France against restrictions designed to stop the pandemic.

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.