LONDON: The late Iranian General Qassem Soleimani confronted Syria’s National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk in late 2019 after seeing Luna Al-Shibl leaving his office. Al-Majalla magazine claims its reporters reviewed a document containing the full Arabic transcript of their exchange. Soleimani reportedly asked, “Who is this?” and Mamlouk replied, “She is Louna Al-Shibl, the […]
Read MoreDAMASCUS: Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa vowed to usher in an era of justice and coexistence a year after the overthrow of Bashar Assad, with tens of thousands taking to the streets to mark the anniversary. Sharaa’s alliance launched a lightning offensive in late November last year and took Damascus on December 8, bringing a sudden […]
Read MoreBy Aidan Jones At least eight people have been killed in renewed fighting on the Thai-Cambodian border, officials said on Tuesday, as Bangkok accused Phnom Penh of launching cross-border rocket attacks despite a White House warning to end the bloodshed. The latest escalation has shattered a shaky US-steered truce that had largely held since late […]
Read MoreBy Vanessa Cai in Shanghai and Orange Wang One month after the Taiwan contingency remarks that set off the diplomatic firestorm with China, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan would “closely monitor” the situation and respond appropriately. Takaichi delivered these remarks during a session of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, on Tuesday morning. She was addressing […]
Read MoreRIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Qatar signed an agreement on Monday to build a high-speed rail link between the two countries. The announcement came after a meeting in Riyadh between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, held under the framework of the Saudi-Qatari Coordination Council. The train link, […]
Read MoreBy Bibek Bhandari Nepal’s anti-corruption watchdog has filed criminal charges against ex-ministers, senior bureaucrats and a Chinese state-owned construction giant accused of inflating costs and manipulating contracts at a multimillion-dollar infrastructure project. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Sunday charged 55 people, including five former tourism and finance ministers, 10 ex-government […]
Read MoreBy Biman Mukherji Two months before Bangladesh heads to the polls for the first time since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, the most established party still in the race, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is facing deep uncertainty as its two top figures are either gravely ill or stuck abroad. BNP chair Begum Khaleda […]
Read MoreBy Raissa Robles A former spokesman for Rodrigo Duterte has claimed that the International Criminal Court is preparing to arrest two of the ex-Philippine leader’s closest allies over his administration’s bloody war on drugs. Harry Roque told This Week in Asia that President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr intended to use such arrests to “destroy the [political] […]
Read MoreBy Naizak Mohamed resident Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, on Tuesday, has called for renewed regional cooperation among South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. He made the call in a message to the Secretary-General of SAARC, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the SAARC Charter. In his message, the President emphasized the urgent […]
Read MoreAfghanistan (MNN) — Another round of peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan failed last week. Yet both nations claim they will maintain their shaky ceasefire. Tensions have run high since the October 9 explosions in Kabul, with disputes over cross-border terrorist activities near the core of the conflict. On Friday, new clashes broke out in […]
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