Pakistan's army yesterday threw its support behind the latest US efforts for a political settlement with the Afghan Taliban to end a 17-year-old war, urging Washington to leave Kabul as a friend of the region rather than a "failure".

Murtaza Ahmadi moved the world with his love for footballer Lionel Messi in 2016. His dream of meeting the Argentinian came true, but now the seven-year-old boy is living a nightmare as one of thousands of Afghans displaced by war.

While the audience shared the intensity with which many of his contemporaries and admirers expressed their admiration for the music legend Salil Chowdhury on his 93rd birth anniversary, there was a depressing footnote when his daughter, Antara, confessed that it had become quite difficult to arrange a celebration even on a small scale.

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is facing international criticism over her country's crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, yesterday called for "a culture of peace" to end conflict between communities.

A United Nations investigation has found that at least 23 Afghan civilians, most of them women and children, were killed in a US airstrike in the southern province of Helmand this week, the latest in a growing toll of casualties from air operations.

Sri Lanka's parliament yesterday voted to halt payment of ministers' salaries and travel expenses, but it remained unclear how the move would impact the disputed government of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa whose ministers boycotted the vote.

India yesterday successfully launched its latest Earth observation satellite and 30 other micro and nano-satellites of eight countries into their designated orbits.

Making peace overtures, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday said he was ready to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi as he conceded that it was not in Islamabad's interest to allow use of its territory for terror activities outside the country.

Sri Lanka's parliament cut the budget of the Prime Minister's office yesterday, a move designed to hinder disputed premier Mahinda Rajapaksa whose supporters boycotted the vote in the latest twist in a weeks-long political standoff.

As Myanmar State Counsellor and Minister for Foreign Affairs Aung San Suu Kyi commences her two-day Nepal visit, the Nepalese government should draw her attention to ensure safe return of the Rohingya Muslim minorities and have a fair investigation into the alleged abuses, said human rights agencies.

A massive explosion rocked Kabul late yesterday amid fears a British security company had been targeted, officials said, with casualties expected in the latest violence to beset the Afghan capital.

Sri Lanka's top-ranking military officer surrendered to court yesterday after weeks evading arrest for allegedly protecting the chief suspect in the high-profile murder of 11 people during the island's civil war.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday laid the foundation stone for a corridor linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur — the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev — to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district to facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims.

Allies of Sri Lanka's embattled President Maithripala Sirisena boycotted parliament yesterday as the country drifted into a second month of political turmoil.

The Maldives top court yesterday overturned a terrorism conviction against the country's first democratically elected leader Mohamed Nasheed, who fled into exile after being sentenced to 13 years behind bars.

Sri Lanka's ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday initiated moves to take control of state finances as a power struggle with the country's president entered a second month.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday urged Pakistan to take action against those responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as Washington offered a new reward of $5 million for helping secure their capture.

Eight people were killed yesterday in violence in Indian-administered Kashmir, capping off one of the deadliest weeks this year in a region already suffering its worst bloodshed in a decade.

Udhav Thackeray, the president of right-wing political party Shiv Sena in India's Maharashtra, yesterday said BJP will not be able to return to power in next year's general elections if it failed to fulfil its commitment of building the "Rama Temple" in Ayodhya.

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday reignited the power struggle that has crippled Sri Lanka's government for more than a month, vowing never to reappoint arch-rival Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister.