DOHA, Qatar — When the Taliban met Sunday for the first time with Afghan officials, the delegates they faced formed a moving tableau of a new Afghanistan that has taken shape since the movement was toppled 18 years ago. Bloodshed and progress in those years have gone hand in hand, and many of the representatives […]

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Ever since taking office in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, in December, Nagekeo Regent Johanes Don Bosco Do has been receiving grim reports from residents living in coastal areas in the northern and southern parts of the regency. According to observations from local officials and residents, waves from the […]

China is facing growing criticism over its persecution of some Muslim minority groups, huge numbers of whom are allegedly being held in internment camps. In August 2018, a UN committee heard that up to one million Uighur Muslims and other Muslim groups could be being detained in the western Xinjiang region, where they’re said to […]

KANDY (REUTERS) – Sri Lanka’s most powerful Buddhist nationalist group rallied its hardline base on Sunday (July 7), saying they must aim to take democratic control of parliament to protect the community, amid heightened sectarian strains after the Easter attacks by Islamist bombers. The influential chief of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, […]

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of Hong Kong for the first time since the storming of parliament on 1 July. Protesters marched in an area popular with mainland Chinese tourists, in a bid to explain their concerns over a controversial extradition bill. Hong Kong enjoys rights and freedoms not […]

DHAKA (AFP) – Monsoon-triggered landslides in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh have killed one person and left more than 4,500 homeless, aid officials said on Sunday (July 7). About 35 centimetres of rain fell in 72 hours before the landslides started on Saturday in camps around Cox’s Bazar that house more than 900,000 of the […]

KABUL (REUTERS) – A Taleban attack on a government security compound in central Afghanistan on Sunday (July 7) killed at least eight security personnel, six civilians and wounded more than 180, officials said, as rival Afghan groups met in Qatar to discuss peace. Islamist Taleban fighters detonated a car bomb in Ghazni city near an […]

SINGAPORE – Fourteen local chefs whipped up their signature dishes on Sunday (July 7) to raise funds for a new initiative for underprivileged students. A total of $16,800 was raised through the Chefs For A Cause event, of which $13,440 will go to the School Life Fund @ South East. The South East Community Development […]

SINGAPORE – The Tampines Round Market and Food Centre has reopened after a two-month revamp, with improvements such as better ventilation and bird spikes to keep avian pests away. Child seats will be made available in a month’s time, and a new drop-off point is in the works as part of plans to improve traffic […]

JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Victims of the two recent pollution cases in the Malaysian state of Johor, and those who say their livelihoods were affected, will be filing a lawsuit on July 17 against 11 defendants, including the state government and the Johor Menteri Besar. The lawsuit will be filed at the […]