Lanka leader calls Modi, denies blaming RAW

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on telephone and rejected reports in a section of the media about him alluding to the involvement of India and its external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in an alleged plot to assassinate the President and a former defence secretary of Sri Lanka.
18 October 2018, 18:00 PM

UNSC to get briefing from key probe body

The chair of a United Nations inquiry that accused Myanmar's military of genocide is likely to brief the Security Council this month after Britain, France, the United States and six other members requested the meeting, diplomats said on Tuesday.
17 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Bangladesh slips a notch

Bangladesh has come down one spot in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index thanks to a change in methodology to better reflect today's rapidly changing, increasingly digitised world economy.
17 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Pak PM holds on to slim majority

Pakistan's ruling party under new Prime Minister Imran Khan has maintained its slim majority in parliament after key by-elections, final results showed yesterday.
15 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Yameen blames defeat on 'disappearing ink'

Outgoing Maldives President Abdulla Yameen has told the Supreme Court that disappearing ink and specially treated ballot papers were to blame for his heavy election defeat last month.
15 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Rohingya crisis: Myanmar monk hits back at international community

An ultra-nationalist monk -- dubbed the "Buddhist Bin Laden" -- condemns the international community for their calls to bring Myanmar's generals to justice over the Rohingya crisis.
15 October 2018, 04:19 AM

Maldives risks sanctions as Yameen fights back

Maldives judges yesterday heard a petition by strongman president Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering US sanctions and plunging the Indian Ocean archipelago into fresh turmoil.
14 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Indian Union Minister MJ Akbar to take legal action against accusers

In a statement released after he arrived in India from an official tour in Nigeria, Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar terms the allegations against him “false and fabricated”.
14 October 2018, 08:05 AM

22 killed in Indonesia floods and landslides

At least 22 people have died and many are missing after heavy rain unleashed flash floods and landslides in western Indonesia, an official
13 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Snowstorm kills 9 climbers on Nepal peak

Nine members of a South Korean climbing expedition were killed after a violent snowstorm swept them off a cliff on Nepal's Mount Gurja, one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents to hit the Himalayan nation in recent years.
13 October 2018, 18:00 PM

US warns Yameen

The United States yesterday warned that action could be taken against outgoing Maldives president Abdulla Yameen if he seeks to overturn his election defeat.
13 October 2018, 18:00 PM

At least 14 killed, dozens injured

At least 14 people were killed and 30 injured in an explosion at an election rally for a woman standing as a candidate in Afghanistan's parliamentary polls, officials said yesterday.
13 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Taliban confirm meeting with US envoy in Qatar

A Taliban delegation has met with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar to discuss ending the Afghan conflict, the militant group said yesterday, the first time either side has officially confirmed talks.
13 October 2018, 18:00 PM

15-page ballot paper!

More than 800 faces, 15 pages, one vote. Kabul voters will wrestle with newspaper-sized ballot papers on October 20, racing to find their candidate in a city under constant threat from militant attacks.
12 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Pak HC judge removed

A Pakistani high court judge who publicly accused the country's powerful intelligence service of manipulating judicial decisions to influence the last general election was removed from his post Thursday.
12 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Titli batters eastern India

Cyclonic storm Titli left eight people dead and caused widespread damage in two coastal districts in India's Andhra Pradesh yesterday. However, there was no casualty or major destruction in adjacent Odisha, officials said.
11 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Lanka passes bill

Sri Lanka's parliament yesterday passed legislation to pay compensation to victims of the island's brutal civil war, nearly a decade after the end of the conflict which claimed 100,000 lives.
10 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Yameen challenges election defeat

Maldives strongman President Abdulla Yameen yesterday filed a legal challenge against his recent landslide election defeat despite international pressure for him to go quietly.
10 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Shahbaz arrested at Imran's behest

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) central executive committee in an 'emergency meeting' on Monday night decided to launch a protest movement against what it termed political victimisation of opponents by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led coalition government.
9 October 2018, 18:00 PM

Taliban urge Afghans to boycott polls

The Taliban yesterday directed Afghans to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections and demanded a complete withdrawal of foreign forces as the only solution to end the 17-year-old war as they ramped up attacks in strategic provinces.
8 October 2018, 18:00 PM