In a veiled message to Pakistan, top national security advisers of eight Asian countries today got together for the first time in New Delhi and called for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan and non-interference in its internal affairs.

An American journalist detained in military-ruled Myanmar accused of incitement is facing new charges of sedition and terrorism, his lawyer said on Wednesday, in a setback for US efforts to secure his release.

Malala Yousafzai, the campaigner for girls' education and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who survived being shot aged 15 by a Taliban gunman in her native Pakistan in 2012, has got married, she said on social media on Tuesday.

India is set to issue tourist visas from November 15 after a pause of 19 months for the global coronavirus pandemic, much to the cheer of Bangladeshis who account for the largest share of foreign tourist arrivals in the neighbouring country.

A Myanmar junta court will give its verdict next month on whether ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi broke coronavirus rules during elections her party won last year, a source said yesterday.

A librarian in Indonesia’s Java island is lending books to children in exchange for trash they collect in a novel way to clean up the environment and get the kids to read more.

China’s armed forces are capable of blockading Taiwan’s key harbours and airports, the island’s defence ministry said yesterday, offering its latest assessment of what it describes as a “grave” military threat posed by its giant neighbour.

Liberation War veteran Lt Col (retd) Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir yesterday received Padma Shri, one of India’s most prestigious civilian awards, in recognition of his contribution to public affairs.

In Taliban’s first news briefing since their return to power in Kabul, the group’s spokesperson said the new regime would be “positively different” from their 1996-2001 stint, which was infamous for deaths by stoning, girls being banned from school and women from working in contact with men.

India has told a gathering of navy chiefs and heads of maritime forces of 12 countries, including Bangladesh, that New Delhi will continue to oppose and deter the attempts of aggression on land and sea and also called for a collaborative effort in this regard.

Four of 40 infants in the newborn-care unit of a government hospital died in central India when a fire swept through the unit late on Monday, government officials said, the latest in a string of hospital fires in the country this year that have killed dozens.

Astronaut Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to walk in space, authorities said yesterday, as her team completed a six-hour stint outside the Tiangong space station as part of its ongoing construction.

Two Bangladeshis -- career diplomat Syed Muazzem Ali and scholar Dr Enamul Haque -- were yesterday honoured by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind with two highest civilian awards of India.  

Nine people are dead and two others missing after floods in Sri Lanka and parts of southern India caused by more than a week of pounding rains.

At least 89 people, including 17 children, have tested positive for the Zika virus in a surge of cases in the Indian city of Kanpur, its health department said yesterday.

The Taliban appointed 44 of its members to key roles including provincial governors and police chiefs on Sunday, a key step in increasing its governance as the country grapples with growing security and economic problems.

Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik yesterday said Aryan Khan, the son of Shah Rukh Khan, was kidnapped for ransom and “their game was ruined because of one selfie”.

A drone laden with explosives targeted the residence of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Baghdad early on Sunday in what the Iraqi military called an attempted assassination, but said Kadhimi escaped unhurt.

China’s state news agency Xinhua lauded President Xi Jinping on Saturday as a tireless, selfless and scholarly servant of the people, ahead of a key meeting of the ruling Communist Party that is expected to further cement his authority.

A spy for the Chinese Ministry of State Security has been convicted by a federal jury of plotting to steal trade secrets from several U.S. aviation and aerospace companies, the Justice Department said on Friday.