Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cautioned against “selective interpretation” of human rights and looking at the issue through political prism to diminish the country’s image.

The navies of Quad countries -- the US, India, Japan, and Australia -- began the second phase of a maritime exercise in the Bay of Bengal today as the chief of American naval operations arrived in New Delhi on a five-day visit.

At least 95-100 Right to Information (RTI) applicants have been killed while 190 were attacked in India in the last 15-16 years, according to a report by Transparency International India (TII).

Chinese authorities confirmed Tuesday 13 people had died after a bus plunged into a rushing river amid heavy flooding that has caused 15 other fatalities in the north.

The US State Department said Sunday that this weekend’s talks with representatives of the Taliban in Doha, Qatar -- the first such gathering since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of August -- were “candid and professional” while emphasizing that the Taliban “will be judged on its actions, not only its words.”

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted his government is “not delivering” as shortages persist of food, medicines and other essential items because of a dire foreign exchange squeeze.

A key UN summit tasked with protecting biodiversity opened in China and online yesterday, as countries meet to protect ecosystems and prevent mass extinction weeks before the COP26 climate conference.

China and India yesterday blamed each other for the failure of high-level talks to ease tensions along a disputed Himalayan border between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

A top aide to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to journalist and government critic Maria Ressa was proof that “press freedom is alive” in the country.

An officer and four soldiers of the Indian army were killed in an encounter with terrorists during an anti-militancy operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district today, officials said.

“Bhaager Maa”, meaning “mother divided”, is the theme that South Kolkata’s Barisha Club chose for this year’s Durga Puja pandal, according to a report of Hindustan Times.

The United States said on Sunday the first face-to-face meeting between senior US and Taliban officials since the hardline group retook power in Afghanistan was "candid and professional" and that the US side reiterated that the Taliban would be judged on their actions, not just their words.

Malaysia yesterday lifted interstate and international travel restrictions for residents fully vaccinated against Covid-19, as the country achieved its target of inoculating 90 percent of its adult population.

The son of an Indian minister has been arrested on preliminary charges of murder, police said yesterday, a week after the death of eight people during a farmers’ protest sparked national outrage. 

The Taliban have warned the United States not to “destabilise” the regime during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal, as a deadly sectarian bombing raised further questions about their grip on power. 

Japan’s new Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said on Sunday he won’t seek to change the country’s taxes on capital gains and dividends for now as he intends to pursue other steps for better wealth distribution, such as raising wages of medical workers.

China will continue to curb monopolistic behaviors of internet platform companies and strengthen the protection of consumer privacy and data security, central bank governor Yi Gang said.

China Evergrande Group offshore bondholders are concerned that it is close to defaulting on debt payments and want more information and transparency from the cash-strapped property developer, their advisers said.

Taiwan will keep bolstering its defences to ensure nobody can force them to accept the path China has laid down that offers neither freedom nor democracy, President Tsai Ing-wen said yesterday, in a riposte to Beijing that its government denounced.

Hundreds of people in restive Indian-administered Kashmir have been detained by police investigating a spate of targeted killings by suspected rebels, officials told AFP yesterday.