The US State Department said Sunday that this weekend’s talks with representatives of the Taliban in Doha, Qatar -- the first such gathering since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of August -- were “candid and professional” while emphasizing that the Taliban “will be judged on its actions, not only its words.”

An officer and four soldiers of the Indian army were killed in an encounter with terrorists during an anti-militancy operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district today, officials said.

“Bhaager Maa”, meaning “mother divided”, is the theme that South Kolkata’s Barisha Club chose for this year’s Durga Puja pandal, according to a report of Hindustan Times.

The United States said on Sunday the first face-to-face meeting between senior US and Taliban officials since the hardline group retook power in Afghanistan was "candid and professional" and that the US side reiterated that the Taliban would be judged on their actions, not just their words.

Malaysia yesterday lifted interstate and international travel restrictions for residents fully vaccinated against Covid-19, as the country achieved its target of inoculating 90 percent of its adult population.

The son of an Indian minister has been arrested on preliminary charges of murder, police said yesterday, a week after the death of eight people during a farmers’ protest sparked national outrage. 

The Taliban have warned the United States not to “destabilise” the regime during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal, as a deadly sectarian bombing raised further questions about their grip on power. 

Japan’s new Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said on Sunday he won’t seek to change the country’s taxes on capital gains and dividends for now as he intends to pursue other steps for better wealth distribution, such as raising wages of medical workers.

China will continue to curb monopolistic behaviors of internet platform companies and strengthen the protection of consumer privacy and data security, central bank governor Yi Gang said.

China Evergrande Group offshore bondholders are concerned that it is close to defaulting on debt payments and want more information and transparency from the cash-strapped property developer, their advisers said.

Taiwan will keep bolstering its defences to ensure nobody can force them to accept the path China has laid down that offers neither freedom nor democracy, President Tsai Ing-wen said yesterday, in a riposte to Beijing that its government denounced.

Hundreds of people in restive Indian-administered Kashmir have been detained by police investigating a spate of targeted killings by suspected rebels, officials told AFP yesterday.

Abdul Qadeer Khan, lionised at home as the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb despite admitting he was at the centre of a nuclear proliferation ring, died yesterday at age 85.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday termed China as a “great friend” to Bangladesh and emphasised the need to enhance bilateral relations between the two with a focus on trade in the days ahead.

Lee Jae-myung became the presidential candidate for South Korea's ruling party on Sunday, hoping to overcome a property scandal and gather national support while conservative opponents trade barbs over anal acupuncture and fortune-tellers.

India today dismissed any possibility of a major countrywide disruption in electricity supply due to “shortage” of coal, terming it as “entirely misplaced fears” and stressing that “ample coal is available in the country to meet the demand of power plants”.

Nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan passed away in Islamabad on Sunday morning at the age of 85.

Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday vowed to realise peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan, though did not directly mention the use of force after a week of tensions with the Chinese-claimed island that sparked international concern.

Veteran Philippine journalist Maria Ressa yesterday said her Nobel Peace Prize was for “all journalists around the world”, as she vowed to continue her battle for press freedom.

China ordered miners in Inner Mongolia to ramp up coal production and oil prices jumped on Friday as a record surge in the cost of gas revived demand for the most polluting fossil fuels to keep factories open and homes heated.