Japan's parliament elected ultraconservative Sanae Takaichias the country's first female prime minister Tuesday, a day after her struggling party struck a coalition deal with a new partner expected to pull her governing bloc further to the right. Takaichi replaces Shigeru Ishiba, ending a three-mo
Pakistan's ceasefire agreement with the Afghan Taliban hinges on their ability to rein in militant attacks on Islamabad from their soil, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters on Monday. A Taliban spokesperson and its defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comme
Two Hong Kong airport security staff were killed on Monday after a cargo plane from Dubai skidded off the runway on landing, collided with their security patrol vehicle and pushed it into the sea, the city's airport operator said. The Boeing 747 involved in the deadliest airport incident in the fi
Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday that it has located the body of a hostage, which it said will be delivered to Israel on Sunday if field conditions were appropriate. The group said any Israeli "escalation" would hinder search operations, shortly after Israel said it launched airstrikes and artille
A North Korean soldier defected to South Korea by crossing the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone between the two countries on Sunday, the South's military said in a statement. The soldier was taken into custody by South Korean guards who had been monitoring his movements, the military said, say
Japan's Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party have broadly agreed to form a coalition government, setting the stage for the country's first female prime minister, Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday. Sanae Takaichi, leader of the conservative LDP, and Hirofumi Yoshimura, head of
Afghanistan and Pakistan were holding peace talks in Doha on Saturday, both sides said, after the South Asia neighbours extended a ceasefire following a week of fierce border clashes. They are seeking to find a way forward after the clashes killed dozens and wounded hundreds in the worst violence
A high-level delegation from Afghanistan left for peace talks with Pakistan on Saturday in Doha, an Afghan government spokesperson said, after the countries extended a ceasefire to their fierce border clashes. "As promised, negotiations with the Pakistani side will take place today in Doha," Zabih
Chen Ning Yang, one of the world's most renowned physicists and a Nobel Prize winner, died at 103 of illness in Beijing on Oct 18, state news outlet Xinhua said on Saturday. Born in eastern China's Hefei in Anhui province in 1922, Yang was a Chinese-American physicist who worked on statistical mec
Indonesia's military said it killed 14 Papuan fighters during an operation to free a village from the control of separatists in the restive province this week, and said residents had welcomed the soldiers. Troops moved toward the village of Soanggama on Tuesday night and a firefight with a group o
The Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday it is prepared to operate a key crossing for aid between Egypt and Gaza, while raising concerns about who will pay for the reconstruction of the devastated enclave after two years of war. "Now we are ready to engage again, and we have notified all partie
Pakistan carried out an airstrike in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Wednesday, Afghan and Pakistan officials said, as fresh fighting erupted between the neighbours.
Clashes erupted Tuesday between Pakistani and Afghan forces in a remote northwestern border region, with state-run media in Pakistan accusing Afghan troops of opening “unprovoked fire” that was repulsed. Pakistani forces responded, damaging Afghan tanks and military posts, according to
