Children are dying of starvation in Afghanistan, local and international sources said yesterday, following warnings that a million youngsters there could face life-threatening malnutrition by the end of the year.   

Deftly parrying her son with a bamboo cane, Meenakshi Amma belies her 78 years with her prowess at kalari, thought to be India’s oldest martial art. 

Confidence among major Japanese manufacturers has improved for the fifth consecutive quarter, a key business survey showed Friday.

Fully vaccinated travellers from any country can now book holidays to tourism haven Phuket, the Thai government has announced, under tweaks to a struggling quarantine-free travel scheme.

Global manufacturing activity took a big hit from supply chain bottlenecks and escalating costs, exacerbated by pandemic-induced factory shutdowns in Asia and signs of slowing Chinese growth, surveys showed on Friday.

Ho Chi Minh City on Friday lifted a stay-at-home order that had kept its nine million residents indoors for three months and devastated business in Vietnam’s economic hub.

Afghan interpreters who worked for the Netherlands have been summoned to appear in court by the Taliban who have threatened their families, Dutch public television NOS reported on Friday. 

The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday on North Korea’s recent missile tests but failed to agree on a joint statement, diplomats said. 

Taiwan yesterday accused Beijing of bullying and damaging regional peace after Chinese fighter jets and bombers made their largest ever incursion into the island’s air defence zone. 

An Indonesian man named Khoirul Anam has created a stir on social media by ‘marrying’ his rice cooker. Khoirul Anam shared a series of pictures last week that show him dressed up in fancy wedding finery for the ceremony.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday he was retiring from politics, a surprise move that fuelled speculation he was clearing the way for his daughter to run to succeed him, despite her filing for re-election as mayor.

Myanmar is facing a “severe crisis” with the number of people needing aid tripling to three million in the eight months since the military launched a coup, the UN humanitarian coordinator to the country said has said.

Myanmar’s junta has said it was unlikely an Asean special envoy tasked with facilitating dialogue in the coup-hit country would be allowed to meet ousted pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In a retaliatory move, India has decided to impose a mandatory 10-day home quarantine for all British nationals, irrespective of vaccination status, arriving in the country from October 4.

Qatar and the EU’s top diplomats yesterday labelled a recent string of human rights abuses in Afghanistan “disappointing”, with Doha encouraging the Taliban to look to Qatar for how to run an Islamic system.

Armenia has detained on corruption charges the former defence minister who headed the country’s military during last year’s disastrous war with Azerbaijan, officials said yesterday.

Nepal has introduced a third gender category in its census for the first time, a move the Himalayan nation’s LGBTQ community hopes will bring them greater rights.

By-polls for Bhabanipur, Jangipur, Samserganj constituencies in West Bengal took place yesterday.

Russia yesterday threatened to block YouTube and take other retaliatory measures, after the US video-sharing platform blocked the German-language channels of state broadcaster RT.

The stage is set for today’s assembly by-polls in south Kolkata’s high-profile Bhabanipur constituency where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is seeking the people’s mandate to enter the state legislature in order to retain her post.