Asia

First foreign commercial flight since Taliban takeover leaves Kabul

  by Mohamad Ali Harissi Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — An international commercial flight left Kabul on Monday, the first since the Taliban retook power last month, offering some hope to Afghans still desperate to leave the country. The Afghan capital’s airport was left trashed after US-led forces finished a chaotic evacuation of more than 120,000 people, and the Taliban have since scrambled to get it operational with technical assistance from Qatar and […]

North Korea test-fires new ‘long-range cruise missile’: KCNA

  by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea test-fired a new “long-range cruise missile” over the weekend, state media reported Monday, with the United States saying the nuclear-armed country was threatening its neighbours and beyond. Pictures in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed a missile exiting one of five tubes on a launch vehicle in a ball of flame, and a missile in horizontal flight. Such a weapon would represent […]

NKorea missile test poses ‘threats’ to neighbors: Pentagon

The United States military said Sunday missile tests conducted by North Korea over the weekend posed ‘threats’ to the country’s neighbors and beyond. “This activity highlights DPRK’s continuing focus on developing its military program and the threats that poses to its neighbors and the international community,” the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement, using the North’s official name. North Korean state media reported on Monday morning local time the country had test-fired a new […]

China gifts new $150 million national stadium to Cambodia

China handed over to Cambodia a $150 million stadium in Phnom Penh, with officials saying Sunday it is the result of Beijing’s biggest ever infrastructure grant to the country. The 60,000-capacity venue is the latest project under China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative, a plan to fund infrastructure projects and increase its sway overseas. The presentation of the arena, intended as the main venue when Cambodia hosts the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2023, was […]

Taliban say will allow women at universities, but mixed classes banned

Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as they study separately from men, the Taliban’s new higher education minister said Sunday. Women’s rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule. But speaking to reporters about the new regime’s plans for the country’s education, Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani was unapologetic about […]

Typhoon drenches Taiwan but spares island a direct hit

  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Typhoon Chanthu unleashed powerful winds and heavy rain on eastern Taiwan Sunday, disrupting travel links and cutting electricity to some homes but sparing the island a direct hit. Downgraded from a super typhoon since its rapid formation last week, the outer edges of Chanthu pounded the eastern coastline. But the centre of the storm remained out to sea as it moved north, the central weather bureau said. The eastern regions […]

Sri Lanka asks women to delay pregnancy over Covid risks

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan women were urged to delay getting pregnant after more than 40 expectant mothers died of Covid-19 in four months, the health ministry said Thursday. The island nation, which recorded its first maternal coronavirus death in May, is battling a spike in Delta variant infections after travel restrictions were eased for local new year celebrations in mid-April. “Usually, we have 90 to 100 maternal deaths a year, but since […]

Xi says, ‘critical’ to reset US ties after ‘serious difficulties’

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping told his American counterpart that US policies towards Beijing have caused “serious difficulties” and that putting ties back on track was critical “to the destiny of the world”, state media reported Friday. Ties between Beijing and Washington have been strained in recent years by a bruising trade war and America’s tough stand on China’s human rights track record — while competition over tech dominance and disputes over […]

Super typhoon Chanthu threatens Philippines, Taiwan

A super typhoon that rapidly formed in just 48 hours is threatening both the Philippines and Taiwan with destructive winds and torrential rains over the coming days. Chanthu was about 580 kilometres (360 miles) southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip on Friday morning, packing gusts of up to 234 kilometres (145 miles) an hour, according to Taiwan’s central weather bureau. The Philippine state weather agency said the typhoon was expected to graze the northeastern tip of […]

More than 100 passengers leave Kabul in first flight since US pullout

by James EDGAR KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Just over 100 passengers, including some Americans, left Kabul airport on Thursday on the first flight carrying foreigners out of the Afghan capital since a US-led evacuation ended on August 30. The first international flight came as the Taliban continue their transition from insurgents to governing power, less than a month after they marched into Kabul and ousted president Ashraf Ghani. More than 100 passengers were on the […]

Desperate Afghans still await flights to flee Taliban

by Joris FIORITI PARIS, France (AFP) — When thousands of Afghans hoping to escape the incoming Taliban regime were cut off from Kabul airport last month, many started searching for alternative ways to flee. Hundreds made a daring dash for the airport at Mazar-i-Sharif — a city some 300 kilometers (185 miles) to the north on a route that had become punctuated with Taliban checkpoints. Some managed to board charter planes crowdfunded by individuals and […]

Machines not missiles on show at North Korea anniversary parade

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea put tractors and fire engines on show rather than the more usual tanks and missiles at a parade in Pyongyang early Thursday, the nuclear-armed nation’s third procession in less than a year. Pyongyang has continued to pursue its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs — for which it is internationally sanctioned — during the diplomatic engagement of recent years and often uses military parades to show off its […]