Leaders held as Myanmar declares 1-year emergency

This photo shows soldiers sitting inside trucks parked on a road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Feb 1, 2021, as the military announced it was taking control of the country for one year. (PHOTO / AP) A yearlong state of emergency was announced in Myanmar after the detention of senior government leaders on Monday. A declaration signed […]

Pakistan receives China-donated vaccines

Workers in Beijing load COVID-19 vaccines onto an aircraft on Jan 31, 2021 before it departs for Pakistan. The vaccines, developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group, known as Sinopharm, arrived in Islamabad on Feb 1, making Pakistan the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY) A […]

Iran tells US that mere signature won’t fix nuclear deal

This undated photo shows Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. (ANNA KENARE / AFP) Iran said the US has to remove key economic sanctions and return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal before any talks on resetting the Islamic Republic’s atomic program. Iran began enriching uranium to levels that exceed allowed limits after Donald […]

S’pore proposes law to allow tracing data for serious crimes

People view the Merlion statue in Singapore on Oct 14, 2020. (ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP) Singapore introduced a bill on Monday in parliament to formalize the use of contact tracing data in criminal investigations for serious offenses, after it was revealed that such information was already used in a murder case. The law will specify government […]

Fatal air crash renews safety doubts

Investigators inspect the pieces of the plane debris recovered from the crash site of Sriwijaya Air flight SJY182, at the port in Jakarta on Jan 15, 2021. (Azwar Ipank / AFP) The Sriwijaya Air crash last month that killed 62 people has prompted fresh scrutiny of Indonesia's civil aviation sector, which is already reeling from […]

India doubles healthcare spending, opens up insurance to more FDI

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addresses a news conference in New Delhi on Oct 12, 2020. (PRAKASH SINGH / AFP) NEW DELHI – India proposed doubling healthcare spending in an annual budget unveiled on Monday and lifted caps on foreigners investing in its vast insurance market to help revive an economy that suffered its deepest recorded slump […]

Iran hosts Afghan Taliban leader as peace talks stalled

A picture obtained by AFP from the Iranian news agency Tasnim on January 31, 2021, shows Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (right) meeting with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (center left) of the Taliban in Tehran. (TASNIM NEWS / AFP) DUBAI – Iran has hosted the political leader of Afghanistan’s Taliban during the past week, […]

Foreign troops ‘to stay in Afghanistan beyond May deadline’

In this photograph taken on Aug 13, 2015, US army soldiers walk as a NATO helicopter flies overhead at coalition force Forward Operating Base (FOB) Connelly in the Khogyani district in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Afghanistan. (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES) ISLAMABAD – International troops plan to stay in Afghanistan beyond the May deadline envisaged by […]

Iran rejects new participants, any talks on nuclear deal

This photo taken on Nov 10, 2019 shows an Iranian flag flying at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. (ATTA KENARE / AFP) DUBAI / TEHRAN – Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday rejected any new negotiations or changes to the participants of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, after French President Emmanuel Macron said any new […]

Putin, Aliyev discuss ceasefire control in Nagorno-Karabakh

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) shakes hands with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev before a meeting with leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region's future at the Kremlin in Moscow on January 11, 2021. (MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV / SPUTNIK / AFP) MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on […]

Kin of murdered US reporter to appeal Pakistan top court ruling

In this March 29, 2002 file photo, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the alleged mastermind behind Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl's kidnap-slaying, appears at a court in Karachi, Pakistan. (ZIA MAZHAR / AP) KARACHI, Pakistan – The family of US journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded in Pakistan in 2001, plans to appeal […]

NZ govt told to move faster on carbon reduction

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speak during a press conference about the charges laid over the 2019 White Island volcanic eruption, in Wellington on Nov 30, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP) New Zealand’s government welcomed a harsh assessment of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, saying it was willing to do more to achieve its […]

India cuts off internet near Delhi as farmers begin hunger strike

Farmers sit on a blocked highway as they take part in a protest against the central government's recent agricultural reforms at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border in Ghazipur on Jan 30, 2021. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN / AFP) SINGHU, India – India blocked mobile internet services in several areas surrounding New Delhi on Saturday as protesting farmers […]

Japan discovers new types of UK coronavirus strain

People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk on a street in Tokyo, Japan, Jan 27, 2021. (KOJI SASAHARA / AP) BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / ISLAMABAD / RIYADH / TASHKENT / HANOI / SINGAPORE / BANGKOK / NEW DELHI / ULAANBAATAR / RAMALLAH / MANILA / JAKARTA – Three new […]

President Ghani says NATO for keeping forces in Afghanistan

In this image made from UNTV video, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, president of Afghanistan, speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the UN General Assembly's special session to discuss the response to COVID-19 and the best path to recovery from the pandemic, Dec 3, 2020, at UN headquarters, in New York. (PHOTO / AP) […]

New US envoy, European officials ‘talk on Iran nuke deal’

In this March 29, 2015 photo, then US Secretary of State John Kerry (1st left), then US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (2nd left) and Robert Malley (3rd left), then member of the US National Security Council, meet with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (3rd right), Head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar […]

Military coup fears overshadow Myanmar parliament opening

Police take up positions along a road in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Jan 29, 2021, ahead of the reopening of the parliament on Feb 1 following the November, 2020 election which Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide. (THET AUNG / AFP) YANGON – Myanmar members of parliament are […]

Pentagon warns Taliban on failure to meet commitments

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby speaks during a media briefing at the Pentagon, Jan 28, 2021, in Washington. (PHOTO / AP) WASHINGTON / KABUL – The Biden administration believes it is hard to see a way forward for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban unless the militant group meets its commitments under a 2020 deal, although […]

Zhaparov takes office as Kyrgyz president

Then Kyrgyz presidential candidate Sadyr Zhaparov addresses supporters at Bishkek's Ala-Too Square on January 11, 2021, a day after the presidential election. (VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO / AFP) BISHKEK – Sadyr Zhaparov officially took office as the new Kyrgyz president on Thursday, becoming the sixth president of Kyrgyzstan. Zhaparov took the oath at an inauguration ceremony at […]

ROK PM: DPRK, US should aim for initial nuclear freeze

SEOUL – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States should seek an initial denuclearization deal that includes a halt to DPRK's nuclear activity and a cut in its program in exchange for some sanctions relief, the Republic of Korea's (ROK) prime minister said on Thursday. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, in his […]

India says COVID-19 contained, but vaccine campaign stutters

A health worker prepares to inoculate a private hospital staff with a COVID-19 vaccine in Hyderabad on Jan 28, 2021. (NOAH SEELAM / AFP) SYDNEY / ANKARA / JERUSALEM / NEW DELHI – India’s health minister on Thursday declared its COVID-19 epidemic contained as, with most of the country’s active patients concentrated in two states, […]

US vows to restore relations with Palestinians

In this June 19, 2020 photo, Palestinians cross a bridge at Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem. (ODED BALILTY / AP) UNITED NATIONS-US President Joe Biden's administration announced on Tuesday it was restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of his predecessor Donald Trump's […]