Militants in Afghanistan set off a suicide blast on Wednesday morning and stormed a construction company near the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, killing at least four people, officials said. The attack began with a suicide bomber, who was on foot and who detonated his explosives at the gate of the company called MQ, according to Gen. Ghulam Sanayee… Read more »
A Taliban assault on checkpoints killed 22 troops, officials said Sunday, as at least 50 Afghan security forces surrendered to the militants and around 100 tried to flee to neighbouring Turkmenistan after heavy fighting in Afghanistan’s northwest. The battles mark the latest setbacks for the country’s battered security forces, who come under daily attack and have suffered staggering casualties in… Read more »
The United States has engaged in talks with the Taliban in hopes of reaching a peace agreement. They were hoping in reaching an agreement this past weekend but nothing came about. Both the United States and the Taliban have said that they want to end the war. They plan to resume peace talks later this month. Although they both want… Read more »
When India conducted an air strike in Pakistani territory, Pakistan didn’t just retaliate with force: it also banned Indian film and television. It’s an easy punishment, but may just hit the wrong target, as the BBC’s Ilyas Khan and Shumaila Jaffrey report. India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads since 1947, but their shared love of Bollywood has somehow survived… Read more »
Standing guard at the gate of a madrassa on the outskirts of Islamabad was a stern-looking young man, armed with what appeared to be a powerful automatic rifle, and missing one eye. Inside, one of those involved in running the religious school acknowledged it is “said to be run by Jaish-e-Mohammad” – the militant group which claimed responsibility for last… Read more »
A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer has been sentenced to a total of 38 years in jail and 148 lashes in Tehran, her family say. Nasrin Sotoudeh was charged with several national security-related offences, all of which she denies. Rights groups strongly criticised the “shocking” sentence against the award-winning human rights activist. Ms Sotoudeh is known for representing women who… Read more »
The longest round of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban has ended with ‘real strides’ being made but without an agreement on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on March 12. The conditions for peace have improved. Its clear all sides want to end the war. Despite ups and downs, we kept things… Read more »
The other day there was a helicopter crash in Nepal, and it killed 7 including a tourism minister. The minister was an activist for repairing pour airports in more remote areas of Nepal. This issue hit its peak when over 50 people were killed in a malaysian airline crash in Nepal last year. There have been several other crashes in… Read more »
The Russian nation, whether it be the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, or the current Russian Federation, has had strategic interests in the steppes to the east since the end of Mongol subjugation with the Great Stand on the Ugra River. It has been Russia’s near-constant goal to secure its eastern flank, the flank which had previously yielded access to the… Read more »
The Iranian government, often quick to employ nationalist and sectarian bluster to arouse support among its people, has run into a similar problem as the Russian Federation to their north; sanctions are absolutely wreaking havoc upon their fragile economies. For the Iranian government, this is an intolerable situation, as they are already in a precarious standing with their people, as… Read more »