Asia

Indian police have arrested more than 500 people ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on a hotly disputed religious site in the holy city of Ayodhya, media reports said, with authorities fearing the verdict could trigger unrest. The decision on the future of the site claimed by both Hindus and Muslims is due by November […]

by Andrew BEATTY Australian firefighters warned they were in “uncharted territory” as they struggled to contain more than a dozen out-of-control bushfires across the east of the country on Friday. Around a hundred blazes pockmarked the New South Wales and Queensland countryside, around 17 of them remained dangerous and uncontained late Friday. “We have never […]

An Indian-origin British journalist critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lost his Indian overseas citizenship, a move campaigners said underlined the government’s hostility to a free press. The home ministry said Thursday that Aatish Taseer had “concealed the fact that his late father was of Pakistani origin” and was therefore ineligible for Overseas Citizenship […]

The vocal critic that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has named to a lead role in his deadly drug war called on Friday for revamping the crackdown and ending its “senseless” killing. Opposition leader Leni Robredo has regularly attacked Duterte’s internationally condemned initiative, prompting the president to appoint her this week to a post supervising it. […]

Beijing on Thursday criticised as “fictitious” a report by British politicians claiming there was “alarming evidence” of Chinese interference on university campuses. The report, which was released Tuesday, cited examples where Beijing-linked organisations appeared to suppress freedom of speech at institutions of higher education. One academic told lawmakers he saw Confucius Institute officials confiscating papers […]

More than 80 farmers have been arrested in northern India for starting fires that contributed to the recent pollution crisis in New Delhi and other cities, officials said Thursday. Each winter the post-harvest burning of crop stubble covers swaths of the region in toxic smog, which combines with car and factory emissions to turn Delhi […]

The wife of slain Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi revealed “a lot of information” about the jihadist group’s “inner workings” after she was captured last year, a Turkish official said. The official said that Baghdadi’s spouse identified herself as Rania Mahmoud but was in fact Asma Fawzi Muhammad Al-Qubaysi. She was said to be […]

The US Justice Department has charged three people, including two Saudis, with spying on Twitter users critical of the kingdom’s royal family. The trio worked to unmask the ownership details behind dissident Twitter accounts on behalf of someone prosecutors designated “Royal Family Member-1”, which The Washington Post reported was Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the […]

by Tuwaedaniya MERINGING with Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI in Bangkok At least fifteen people were gunned down in an ambush by suspected Muslim militants in Thailand’s violence-wracked south, an army spokesman said on Wednesday, one of the bloodiest days in the 15-year insurgency. Thailand’s three southernmost provinces have been in the grip of a conflict that has […]

President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that Iran would resume uranium enrichment at an underground plant south of Tehran in its latest step back from a troubled 2015 agreement with major powers. The suspension of all enrichment at the Fordow plant in the mountains near the Shiite holy city of Qom was one of the restrictions […]

Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed a “high degree of trust” in Hong Kong’s unpopular leader Carrie Lam as the two met after months of increasingly violent protests in the semi-autonomous city. Xi’s show of support follows speculation that Beijing was preparing to remove Lam as city authorities struggle to contain pro-democracy demonstrations that have rocked […]

by Amir HAVASI With anti-American slogans and effigies mocking President Donald Trump, thousands rallied outside the former US embassy in Tehran on Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis. Amid renewed tensions with Washington, state television showed rallies taking place in several other cities four decades after revolutionary students stormed the […]

The US Department of the Interior has grounded its fleet of Chinese-made drones as it conducts a review of the program. Nick Goodwin, an Interior Department spokesman, did not provide a reason for the decision but it comes amid US security concerns over Chinese electronics. Goodwin said the review had been ordered by Interior Department […]

Filipinos poured into cemeteries by the millions on Friday for a rite to remember their dead, blending expressions of grief and faith in Catholic-majority Philippines with a party-like ambiance. Vendors hawked cartoon-themed balloons and police seized karaoke machines at graveyard checkpoints, while inside families swept tombs clean and prayed before candles as part of All […]

by Poornima Weerasekara with Jerome Taylor in Hong Kong China warned Friday it would not tolerate any challenge to Hong Kong’s governing system, as it laid out plans to boost patriotism in the city and change how its leader is chosen or removed after months of pro-democracy protests. Beijing also said it would brook no […]