Turkey's Erdogan says Taliban should end "occupation" in Afghanistan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the Taliban should "end the occupation of their brothers' soil", and played down a warning from the militant group of consequences if Turkish troops remain in Afghanistan to run Kabul airport.
19 July 2021

Pakistan bus crash kills 28 ahead of Muslim holiday

At least 28 people were killed yesterday when a bus packed with people heading home for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday in Pakistan crashed into a truck, officials said.
19 July 2021

Afghan peace talks fail

Fifteen diplomatic missions and the Nato representative in Afghanistan urged the Taliban yesterday to halt their military offensives just hours after the rival Afghan sides failed to agree on a ceasefire at a peace meeting in Doha.
19 July 2021

Pakistan bus crash kills 30 ahead of Eid holiday

At least 30 people were killed and over 40 were injured on Monday when a passenger bus collided with a truck on the Indus Highway in Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, officials said.
19 July 2021

‘Strenuously favours political settlement’

The Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada yesterday said he “strenuously favours” a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan even as the hardline Islamist movement has launched a sweeping offensive across the nation.
18 July 2021

Nepal's new PM wins confidence vote amid coronavirus crisis

Nepal's new Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba won a vote of confidence in parliament on Sunday, days after the Supreme Court reinstated the legislature that was dissolved in May.
18 July 2021

Afghanistan withdraws ambassador, diplomats from Islamabad

Afghanistan has withdrawn its ambassador and diplomats from Pakistan's capital following the kidnapping of the ambassador's daughter, the Afghan foreign ministry said on Sunday, a new blow to relations at a sensitive time for the Afghan peace process.
18 July 2021

US, five Central Asian states vow not to allow forced takeover in Afghanistan

There’s no support in the region for “the imposition by force” of a new government in Afghanistan, says a joint statement signed by the United States and its five Central Asian allies.
18 July 2021

Rivals meet in Doha

Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban met in Doha for talks yesterday, AFP correspondents said, as violence rages in the country with foreign forces almost entirely withdrawn. 
17 July 2021

Kabul, Taliban negotiators meet in Qatar as Afghan fighting rages

Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban met in Doha for talks on Saturday, AFP correspondents said, as violence rages in the country with foreign forces almost entirely withdrawn.
17 July 2021

This day in history

1973 - A military coup in Afghanistan led by former prime minister Sardar Muhammad Daoud Khan overthrew King Mohammed Zahir Shah; a republic was proclaimed with Daoud as president.
16 July 2021

Pulitzer Prize-winning journo killed in Afghanistan

Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan, an Afghan commander said.   
16 July 2021

75 children killed since Myanmar coup

Dozens of children have been killed and hundreds arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since a coup more than five months ago, UN rights experts warned yesterday.
16 July 2021

China steps up fight with emissions trading scheme

China launched its long-awaited emissions trading system yesterday, a key tool in its quest to drive down climate change-causing greenhouse gases and go carbon neutral by 2060. 
16 July 2021

Reuters’ chief photographer Danish Siddiqui killed in Afghanistan

Danish Siddiqui, the chief photographer of Reuters was killed in Afghanistan while covering clashes in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar.
16 July 2021

Myanmar junta slams UN on Rohingya resolution

Myanmar’s junta rejected on Wednesday a UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for reconciliation with the persecuted Rohingya minority, slamming “one-sided allegations” over its treatment of the stateless community. 
15 July 2021

Sanctions bite Myanmar Junta

An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar’s ruling military leaders to represent them in Washington and other capitals said on Wednesday he has stopped his work with the generals because sanctions prevented him from being paid.
15 July 2021

'Momen gets no assurance of prompt vaccine supply from Indian foreign minister'

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made no assurance of supplying vaccine from India any time soon during his meeting with Bangladesh counterpart AK Abdul Momen in Uzbekistan today.
15 July 2021

Myanmar junta slams UN on Rohingya resolution

Myanmar's junta rejected on Wednesday a UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for reconciliation with the persecuted Rohingya minority, slamming "one-sided allegations" over its treatment of the stateless community.
15 July 2021

Take action to restore democracy

About 100 opponents of military rule in Myanmar marched through the centre of its biggest city of Yangon yesterday, as the United States called on Southeast Asian nations to take action to restore democracy and end violence in their neighbour. 
14 July 2021