At least three Indian states are denying passports and government jobs to people because of their social media posts or participation in protests, human rights activists said.

At least 16 workers died and more were missing after a factory fire in Pakistan’s commercial capital Karachi yesterday, police said.

United States: President Joe Biden vowed to hunt down those behind the suicide bombings that killed American troops in the worst single-day loss for the Pentagon in Afghanistan since 2011. “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden, visibly shaken, said in a White House address during which he said evacuations of vulnerable people would continue until August 31.

Hundreds of Afghan families who have been camping in searing heat at a Kabul park after the Taliban overran their provinces begged for food and shelter on Thursday, the most visible face of a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the war-torn country.

NATO allies are struggling to ensure that Afghanistan's main gateway, Kabul airport, remains open for urgently needed humanitarian aid flights next week when they end their evacuation airlifts and turn it over to the Taliban.

At least 16 people were killed in a factory fire on Friday in Pakistan’s largest city and financial hub, Karachi, raising questions about the industrial safety in a country not new to such accidents.

UN officials appealed for $800 million to fill a chronic funding gap for Afghanistan on Friday, with a senior aid official describing the situation as "catastrophic" with at least one third of people expected to be facing hunger.

Changi Airport will reopen Terminals 1 and 3 to the public from next Wednesday (Sept 1), following a three-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Against all odds, the Taliban need to prove their credentials as Afghan nationalists and shun the global jihadist movement along with delivering promises to the international community if they want to be successful in governing Afghanistan, a panel of experts said Thursday.

India has administered at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to half its eligible adult population of 94 crore, as it crossed 61.10 crore cumulative vaccinations across the country.

Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of desperate people fleeing the Taliban takeover. The U.S. says further attempted attacks are expected ahead of the Tuesday deadline for foreign troops to leave, ending America’s longest war.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack outside Kabul airport on Thursday, the group's Amaq News Agency said on its Telegram channel.

Islamic State suicide bombers struck the crowded gates of Kabul airport with at least two explosions yesterday, killing at least 60 people and injuring dozens, and bringing a catastrophic halt to the airlift of tens of thousands of Afghans desperate to flee. 

Japan’s ruling party yesterday set a September 29 date for a leadership race ahead of an expected October general election and with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga facing record-low approval.

A powerful new Hong Kong committee tasked with vetting politicians and officials for their loyalty disqualified an opposition lawmaker for the first time yesterday, as authorities purge its institutions of anyone deemed disloyal to Beijing.

The Taliban stopped an Afghan United Nations staff member as he tried to reach Kabul airport on Sunday. They searched his vehicle and found his UN identification. Then they beat him.

Twenty years ago, US president George W. Bush declared a “war on terror”. Today, its failure is undeniable, with jihadist groups both more numerous and scattered more widely across the world. 

US forces helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule braced for more attacks on Friday after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 85 people, including 13 US soldiers outside the gates of Kabul airport.

India's most populous state will drop legal proceedings against farmers accused of burning crop waste, a major source of pollution, as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party tries to placate growers ahead of elections next year to the state assembly.

An Afghan girl born aboard a US military plane as her family was fleeing Taliban rule was named Reach after the aircraft's code name, US military officials said Wednesday.