North Korea continued developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs during the first half of 2021 in violation of international sanctions and despite the country's worsening economic situation, according to an excerpt of a confidential United Nations report seen by Reuters on Friday.

The Taliban captured an Afghan provincial capital and assassinated the government’s top media officer in Kabul yesterday, dealing twin high-profile blows to the Western-backed administration. 

More than 1,100 homes in North Korea were damaged, thousands of people evacuated, and farms and roads washed away after days of heavy rains brought flooding, its state media reported.

In a major step towards de-escalating their military standoff, India and China have carried out disengagement of their troops from eyeball-to-eyeball position at the key patrol point at Gogra Post in eastern Ladakh.

The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday arrested another member of the human-trafficking gang involving Rohingyas and Bangladeshis from Hyderabad in southern India.

Taliban fighters on Friday assassinated the Afghanistan government's top media and information officer in the capital Kabul, an act condemned by the senior U.S. diplomat in the country as an affront to human rights and free speech.

The city of Zaranj in Afghanistan's Nimroz province fell to the Taliban on Friday, provincial police said, making it the first provincial capital the insurgents have captured as they step up offensives.

Hiroshima on Friday marked the 76th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing, as the mayor of the Japanese city urged global leaders to unite to eliminate nuclear weapons, just as they are united against the coronavirus.

India’s Supreme Court yesterday said the allegations of Pegasus-related snooping are serious if the reports on it are true.

Hundreds of extra police and troops were deployed in the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir yesterday as separatist groups called for a shutdown to mark a “black day” on the second anniversary of New Delhi imposing direct rule.

Mauritius has denied a report that it has allowed India to build a military base on the remote island of Agalega, with a government official telling AFP that no such agreement exists between the two nations.

Dozens of people attacked a Hindu temple in central Pakistan over blasphemy allegations, police said yesterday, in the latest incident of religious-fueled violence targeting a minority group in the Islamic republic.

When unbridled oppression is unleashed & gross injustice heaped there is no other choice but to resist to exist. Mehbooba Mufti, Former Kashmir CM, ahead of 2nd anniversary of New Delhi imposed direct rule on Indian Kashmir

Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, who has refused to leave his post despite being fired after the February coup, has alerted the world body to a “reported massacre” by the military junta.

A Myanmar militia force fighting the army in a central part of the country and residents have found at least 40 bodies in jungle areas in recent weeks, including some showing signs of torture, said a militia member and Myanmar's U.N. envoy.

Pakistan deployed paramilitary forces in a central town on Thursday to check communal unrest after a mob ransacked and set fire to a Hindu temple.

Troops patrolled the streets on Thursday in Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir, where many shops were shut to mark the second year since the Himalayan region was stripped of its autonomy.

Russia will deploy four Tu-22M3 supersonic strategic bombers in drills near the Afghan border in Uzbekistan, Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying on Thursday.

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday defied mounting pressure to quit, saying he retained majority support among lawmakers and would prove it when the southeast Asian nation’s parliament reconvened next month. 

India is sending a naval task force to the South China Sea this month to expand security ties with friendly countries, officials said yesterday, signalling its intent to play a bigger role in regional efforts to counter China.