Dozens of people attacked a Hindu temple in central Pakistan over blasphemy allegations, police said yesterday, in the latest incident of religious-fueled violence targeting a minority group in the Islamic republic.

Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, who has refused to leave his post despite being fired after the February coup, has alerted the world body to a “reported massacre” by the military junta.

A Myanmar militia force fighting the army in a central part of the country and residents have found at least 40 bodies in jungle areas in recent weeks, including some showing signs of torture, said a militia member and Myanmar's U.N. envoy.

Pakistan deployed paramilitary forces in a central town on Thursday to check communal unrest after a mob ransacked and set fire to a Hindu temple.

Russia will deploy four Tu-22M3 supersonic strategic bombers in drills near the Afghan border in Uzbekistan, Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying on Thursday.

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday defied mounting pressure to quit, saying he retained majority support among lawmakers and would prove it when the southeast Asian nation’s parliament reconvened next month. 

Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have appointed Brunei's second minister for foreign affairs, Erywan Yusof, as special envoy to Myanmar, the group said on Wednesday.

A powerful blast followed by sporadic gunfire hit Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Tuesday near the city's heavily fortified "Green Zone", an area home to government buildings and foreign embassies, police officials said.

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. 

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.

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.