The Indian Border Security Force’s jurisdiction of operation has been extended from 15km to 50km inside the international border and its officers have been given the power to arrest and seize in the three border states of West Bengal, Assam and Punjab in a bid to crack down on smuggling including that of narcotics.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that battle-hardened militants from Iraq and Syria are “actively” entering Afghanistan as the country’s new rulers are struggling to steady the ship as it faces problems from multiple fronts.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended flights to the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday after what it called heavy handed interference by Taliban authorities, including arbitrary rule changes and intimidation of staff.

Japan dissolved its parliament on Thursday, setting the stage for an election at the end of the month that will pit new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida against unpopular opposition in a battle over who can better fix the pandemic-battered economy.

A fire in a residential building in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung has killed 46 peopleand injured another 41, the government said on Thursday.

Indian Border Security Force’s jurisdiction of operation has been extended from 15km to 50km inside the international border and its officers have been given the power to arrest and seize in the three border states of West Bengal, Assam and Punjab in a bid to crack down on smuggling including that of narcotics.

Afghanistan’s new Taliban government has warned US and European envoys that continued attempts to pressure them through sanctions will undermine security and could trigger a wave of economic refugees. 

Taiwan’s defence ministry warned China of strong countermeasures yesterday if its forces got too close to the island, as Beijing defended its incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone as “just” moves to protect peace and stability.

More than 100 countries yesterday pledged to put the protection of habitats at the heart of their government decision-making but they stopped short of committing to specific targets to curb mass extinctions.

India has resumed a small amount of exports of Covid-19 vaccines and will increase exports significantly in the next few months as domestic stocks build up and most of its own large population is inoculated, officials said yesterday.

Asia-Pacific airlines have lost billions of dollars this year, with jets grounded in Covid-19 transportation freezes. Now, as some of the world's strictest pandemic-related travel rules begin to ease, they're ramping up flights and ticket offers.

A laser show at Kolkata’s much-hyped Durga Puja pandal, modeled after Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, has courted controversy over its laser lighting.

On October 10, Pakistan's "Father of Islamic Bomb" Abdul Qadeer Khan -- popularly known as AQ Khan -- passed away in Islamabad due to Covid-19. Unlike many other great men, Khan left behind a legacy no short of a Bond film.

Hong Kong battened down yesterday evening for the second time in less than a week as an approaching tropical storm prompted forecasters to raise their alert level and trigger safety measures.

At least 28 people were killed and more than a dozen injured yesterday after a packed passenger bus plunged off a road in a hilly region in northwestern Nepal, officials said.

China yesterday pledged to inject $233 million into a new fund to protect biodiversity in developing countries during a key UN conservation summit, despite disagreements among major donors on the initiative.

Government forces killed five suspected rebels in India-administered Kashmir, police said yesterday, a day after militants shot dead five soldiers.

The Taliban held their first face-to-face talks with a joint US-EU delegation yesterday in Qatar as Brussels pledged one billion euros ($1.2 billion) in aid for Afghanistan.

At least 15 people have died during unseasonably heavy rain and flooding in north China’s Shanxi province earlier this month, local officials said yesterday, after the normally dry region received three months’ rain in one week.

At least 28 people died on Tuesday in western Nepal after the bus they were on skidded off a mountain road and fell hundreds of meters (yards) into a gorge, authorities said.