An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 struck Afghanistan's ⁠Hindu Kush region on Friday

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was elected president yesterday after breezing through a parliamentary vote, formalising his grip on political power in the war-torn nation five years after he ousted an elected government in a coup.

Pakistan has hiked consumer prices for diesel and petrol sharply, its second increase in less than a month, amid rising global oil prices spurred by the conflict in the Middle East.

Nepal’s newly elected lawmakers yesterday met for the first parliamentary session since deadly anti‑corruption protests toppled the government in September 2025 and left the old parliament building in flames.

Myanmar lawmakers will elect a new president today, the parliamentary speaker said, with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing one of three candidates for the post.

Pakistan said yesterday that the burden of ending its conflict with Afghanistan lay with Kabul, as the two sides held preliminary talks to try to end hostilities.

Nepal’s new govt said it would issue a “formal state apology” to Dalits and other historically excluded communities within 15 days under Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s 100-point reform agenda, in what activists described as a historic acknowledgment of generations of caste-based discrimination and denial of opportunity.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have traded heavy fire, both sides said, days after they announced a temporary pause in fighting, escalating tensions in the volatile region as Islamabad prepares to host talks between the US and Iran.

After five years of hardline rule, he oversaw heavily restricted elections that criminalised protest or criticism of the vote and returned a walkover win for pro-military parties in late January

A Nepal court yesterday extended by five days the detention of former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and his home minister after their arrest over alleged involvement in a deadly crackdown on the 2025 protests that ousted him.

Nepal's Department of Money Laundering Investigation will oversee the probe

The newly formed 15-member Nepali cabinet has five female ministers, ensuring 33 percent representation of women for the first time, as enshrined in the country’s constitution.

The detentions come a day after Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his cabinet were sworn in

Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister of Nepal yesterday, tasked with restoring political stability and creating jobs in the poor Himalayan nation long troubled by fragile governments and weak growth prospects.

Sri Lanka has jailed a man for three weeks after he admitted to hoarding four litres of petrol during a nationwide fuel shortage triggered by the Middle East war, local media reported yesterday.

Myanmar’s junta signalled changes in the military’s leadership ahead of the country’s annual show of force yesterday, potentially clearing the way for defence chief Min Aung Hlaing to become president.

A Nepali panel set up to investigate the violence during anti-corruption protests in September last year has recommended that former prime minister K P Sharma Oli be prosecuted for “negligence” for failing to prevent dozens of deaths.

Israel removed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf from its hit list after Pakistan urged Washington to press Israel not to target them, a Pakistani source with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters yesterday.

At least 77 people were killed in the anti-corruption youth uprising on September 8 and 9, which began over a brief social media ban, but tapped into longstanding fury over economic hardship

Thirteen people died when a wall collapsed on Wednesday, while five people, including two women, were killed elsewhere in the city