Syria's telecommunications ministry has signed an agreement for the landing of the first international submarine cable to the country with Barcelona-based Medusa Submarine Cable System, state-run Ikhbariya TV reported on Saturday. The submarine cable system is intended to connect 12 countries acro
Timor-Leste has been welcomed into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the grouping's 11th member, following an official ceremony at the 47th ASEAN Summit in the Malaysian capital on Sunday. Timor-Leste's President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao were present at
Pakistan's defence minister said on Saturday that he believes Afghanistan wants peace, but warned that failure to reach an agreement during talks in Istanbul would mean “open war.”
Thailand's Queen Mother Sirikit, who brought glamour and elegance to a postwar revival in the country's monarchy and who, in later years, would occasionally wade into politics, has died aged 93, the Thai Royal Household Bureau said on Saturday. Sirikit had been out of the public eye since a stroke
Afghanistan is planning to build a dam on the Kunar River to restrict the flow of water into Pakistan, following India’s example of suspending water sharing under the Indus Waters Treaty earlier this year. The move comes under the instruction of Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhu
A powerful roadside bomb struck a police vehicle Friday in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s northwest near the Afghan border, killing a city police chief and two junior officers, officials said. The bombing took place in the city of Hangu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pr
Governments attending upcoming regional summits in Malaysia should reject the Myanmar military junta's plans to hold "elections" in December 2025, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to all countries sending delegates. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN partner Summits wi
A passenger bus erupted into flames after a motorcycle crashed into it early Friday, killing at least 25 people and injuring several others in southern India, police said. The fire tore through the bus within minutes, trapping dozens of passengers as it sped along a highway near Kurnool district i
Pakistan banned a violent Islamist party under the country's anti-terrorism law on Thursday, the government said, days after the group clashed with police in an anti-Israel rally and five people were killed. Pakistan's cabinet has approved the ban, the government said in a statement. The far-righ
Pakistan has claimed to have seized narcotics worth over $972 million from two sailing boats in the Arabian Sea during a joint operation with a Saudi-led maritime task force. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) said Pakistan Navy ship Yarmook stopped the vessels wi
Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is preparing an economic stimulus package that is likely to exceed last year's $92 billion to help households tackle inflation, government sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday. The package of more than 13.9 trillion yen ($92.19 billion) marks T
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
