Armed troops in Sri Lanka yesterday blocked an opposition march that defied a weekend curfew to protest the island nation’s worsening economic crisis, after authorities imposed a social media blackout to contain public dissent.

Shanghai yesterday ordered its 26 million residents to undergo two more rounds of tests for Covid-19 as public anger grows over how authorities in China’s most populous city are tackling a record coronavirus surge.

North Korea blasted the South Korean defence minister yesterday for “reckless” remarks about Seoul’s ability to strike Pyongyang, warning of retaliation after conducting a record number of weapons tests this year.

Shortly after the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan was dismissed by the National Assembly's deputy speaker and the NA was dissolved by the president on Sunday, Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said the army is not involved in politics.

India will be rushing five additional consignments of fuel, food and medicines to its crisis-hit South Asian neighbour Sri Lanka till May, a senior diplomat said.

Pakistan’s President Dr Arif Alvi has approved the dissolution of the national assembly as per the suggestion of Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to Gulf News.

Pakistan's National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Sunday dismissed the no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan, terming it against Article 5 of the Constitution.

The fate of Prime Minister Imran Khan's government will be decided today as the National Assembly resumes at 11:30am to vote on the no-confidence motion submitted against him by the joint opposition.

Sri Lanka has restricted access to major social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter, internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks said on Sunday, after the government imposed a curfew to tackle growing unrest amid an unprecedented economic crisis.

Esther Zhao thought she was doing the right thing when she brought her 2-1/2-year-old daughter to a Shanghai hospital with a fever on March 26.

The Thai government yesterday hailed “significant progress” in the latest talks with the main group fighting an insurgency in Thailand’s Muslim deep south after the sides agreed to stop violence during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan.

China has offered the European Union assurances that it would seek peace in Ukraine but said this would be on its own terms, deflecting pressure for a tougher stance towards Russia.

The deportation of a 36-year-old Rohingya woman by Indian authorities and fresh detention of Rohingya refugees in Indian-administered Kashmir has been criticised by human rights groups, who called New Delhi’s forcible return of refugees a “cruel disregard for human life and international law”.

At least five people were killed and 20 more wounded when two bombs exploded in quick succession in the western Afghan city of Herat on Friday, officials said.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and inaugurated the Himalayan nation’s only railway link with its southern neighbour yesterday in a summit meant to deepen relations.

Sri Lanka yesterday declared a 36-hour nationwide curfew and deployed troops backed with sweeping new powers under a state of emergency to quell protests against the president, his relatives and even his most trusted shaman.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday suggested that he might not accept a vote to oust him and called on his supporters to take to the streets today ahead of a parliamentary no-confidence vote that could see him thrown out of office.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday urged the country's youth to stage "peaceful protests" against a "foreign conspiracy" allegedly hatched against his government and said that he has "more than one plan" for tomorrow's crucial vote on the no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly.

Indian traders have started loading 40,000 tonnes of rice for prompt shipment to Sri Lanka in the first major food aid since Colombo secured a credit line from New Delhi, two officials told Reuters on Saturday.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a nationwide public emergency late on Friday following violent protests over the country's worst economic crisis in decades.