A customer shops for vegetables in Colombo. Sri Lanka's economic crisis has made many families think twice about buying fuel or food. (ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP) HONG KONG – Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising oil and food prices, Asia is experiencing a wave of inflation that will hurt livelihoods and the economy, […]
Policemen carry out a flag march through a street in Ajmer on June 29, 2022. (HIMANSHU SHARMA / AFP) MUMBAI – Fearing outbreaks of religious violence, police in the Indian state of Rajasthan banned public gatherings and suspended internet services a day after two Muslims posted a video claiming responsibility for slaying a Hindu man. […]
An Israeli paramedic collects a swab sample from a child at the Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) COVID-19 coronavirus testing center in Jerusalem on Jan 11, 2022. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP) HANOI / DHAKA / SINGAPORE / NEW DELHI / YANGON / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / YEREVAN / JERUSALEM – The Israeli Ministry of Health on Monday reported 11,483 new […]
This image grab taken from a CCTV footage broadcasted by Jordan's Al-Mamlaka TV on June 27, 2022 shows the moment of a toxic gas explosion in Jordan's Aqaba port. (AL MAMLAKA TV / AFP) At least 12 people died and 251 were injured in a chlorine gas leak from a storage tank at Jordan's Aqaba […]
In this photo taken on June 25, 2022, people attend a mass rally to mark the "day of struggle against US imperialism", on the 72nd anniversary of the three-year Korean War, which began on June 25, 1950, at the plaza of the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang. (KIM WONG JIN / AFP) SEOUL […]
Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during his party's parliamentary group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on June 15, 2022. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP) ISTANBUL – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will attend a round of talks with the leaders […]
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi during a press conference with the Iraqi Prime Minister in the capital Tehran on June 26, 2022. (IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP) TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reiterated on Sunday that the foreign presence in the region not only fails to help […]
Motorists queue along a street to buy fuel at a Ceylon petroleum corporation fuel station in Pugoda, some 50 km from Colombo on June 23, 2022. (ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP) COLOMBO – Sri Lanka will not receive shipments of petrol, diesel and crude oil, scheduled for this week and next week, Minister of Power […]
This undated photo shows solar panels installed on the floating system at Da Mi reservoir in Vietnam. (PHOTO COURTESY OF DHD/ADB VIA VIET NAM NEWS) Vietnam has the potential to be the renewable energy powerhouse of Southeast Asia, but the country still needs to develop more stable resources to ensure energy security, experts say. Globally, […]
High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, gives a press conference in the Iranian capital Tehran, on June 25, 2022. (ATTA KENARE / AFP) TEHRAN – Iran and the European Union announced here on Saturday the resumption of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States in the coming […]
A man stands among destruction after an earthquake in Gayan village, in Paktika province, Afghanistan, June 23, 2022. (EBRAHIM NOOROOZI / AP) KABUL – Afghanistan does not have enough medical supplies to treat the injured from an earthquake that killed 1,000 people this week, a senior official said, as an aftershock on Friday killed five […]
Muhammad Younus Muhmand, vice-chairman of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, a representative of the Taliban movement sanctioned by the UN, attends the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg on June 17, 2022. (OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP) UNITED NATIONS – Afghanistan's ruling Taliban are resisting efforts by the United Nations to help […]
A fire truck battles a raging wildfire near Manavgat in Antalya province, Turkey, on Aug 3, 2021. (XINHUA) ISTANBUL – Firefighters battled a wildfire in southwestern Turkey from land and air on Thursday, as hopes that the blazes were contained fizzled after they spread again due to high temperatures and windy conditions. Scenes of burning […]
In this image taken from video from Bakhtar State News Agency, Taliban fighters secure a government helicopter to evacuate injured people in Gayan district, Paktika province, Afghanistan, June 22, 2022. An earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing at least 920 people, authorities said. (BAKHTAR STATE NEWS AGENCY VIA AP) KABUL – The death toll […]
In this image taken from video from Bakhtar State News Agency, Taliban fighters secure a government helicopter to evacuate injured people in Gayan district, Paktika province, Afghanistan, June 22, 2022. An earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing at least 920 people, authorities said. (BAKHTAR STATE NEWS AGENCY VIA AP) KABUL – The death toll […]
Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in this June 11, 2022 file photo. (ERANGA JAYAWARDENA / AP) COLOMBO – Sri Lanka will call China, India and Japan to a donor conference to drum up more foreign assistance to find a way out […]
Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (left) and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid make a joint statement to the press in Jerusalem on June 20, 2022. Bennett said that Lapid 'will soon take over' as premier, after the pair agreed to dissolve their fraught governing coalition and trigger new elections. (OREN BEN HAKOON / AFP) JERUSALEM – […]
Afghan security personnel stand guard near the site of an attack to a Sikh temple in Kabul on March 25, 2020. (STR / AFP) KABUL – An attack claimed by Islamic State on a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least two people and injured seven, officials said, another deadly […]
Railway workers remove a burnt motorcycle by protesters from the railway tracks at Secundrabad railroad station in Hyderabad, India on June 17, 2022. (MAHESH KUMAR A / AP PHOTO) LUCKNOW – Protesters in India threw stones at police and set fire to train coaches on Friday as demonstrations against a new military recruitment process raged […]
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at a joint press conference with visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (not pictured) in Sydney on June 10, 2022, after a bilateral meeting. (DAVID GRAY / AFP) SYDNEY – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday said he would attend "an important" NATO meeting in Madrid at […]
What is happening in Ukraine is what Tokyo wants to happen in East Asia, said an analyst as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to attend a NATO summit this month and is likely to project Japan's greater power ambitions. On Wednesday, Kishida said he will attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's summit in […]
Experts say chances of resuming Vienna talks undermined but hope remains A flag of Iran flies in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters during a virtual IAEA Board of Governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters of the UN seat in Vienna, Austria, Nov 24, 2021. (PHOTO / IC) A new resolution by […]
In this May 24, 2021 photo, the flag of Iran is seen in front of the building of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. (MICHAEL GRUBER/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE VIA BLOOMBERG) HONG KONG – The United Nations nuclear watchdog’s adoption of a Western-sponsored resolution critical of Iran’s nuclear activities is based on political […]
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a press conference along with the European Parliament president at the European Parliament in Brussels on April 28, 2022. (KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP) HELSINKI – Security concerns raised by Turkey in its opposition to Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership applications are legitimate, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday during […]
Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in her review of her tenure as chief executive said that she did not regret her handling of the extradition bill because the special administrative region government had done nothing wrong. She said that the only thing that is regrettable is that government officials did not do enough to explain […]
Inia Batikoto Seruiratu (second right), Fiji's minister for defense, national security and policing, urges for action against climate change, the imminent security threat, in a session on New Ideas for Securing Regional Stability on June 12, 2022. (PHOTO / IISS) While the United States and its allies push to hype the so-called “China threat” in […]
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency shows Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi (right) and Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (left) shaking hands during a joint statement after their meeting in the capital Tehran on June 11, 2022. (IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP) TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his visiting Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro signed […]
In a tweet on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said that the United States is in a stronger economic position today than any other country, and claimed that independent experts have projected the US economy could grow faster than China's this year, which hasn't happened since 1976. His tweet is clearly aimed at deflecting domestic […]
Supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami religious group demonstrate to condemn derogatory references to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad recently made by Nupur Sharma, a spokesperson of the governing Indian Hindu nationalist party, in Peshawar, Pakistan on June 8, 2022. (MOHAMMAD SAJJAD / AP PHOTO) NEW DELHI – Police in New Delhi said on Thursday they have […]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (left) speaks with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (right) as they meet in Ankara, on June 8, 2022. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP) ANKARA – Turkey's foreign minister said on Wednesday a United Nations plan to restart Ukrainian grain exports along a sea corridor was "reasonable" and requires more talks with […]