Asia-Pacific

  Nearly 10,000 people have moved to shelters while at least 104 victims are confirmed to have died and 79 are unaccounted for in the aftermath of the disaster, triggered by heavy rain on Saturday. Scores have suffered injuries, including cuts and broken bones, while some 40 unidentified bodies would be buried in a mass grave on Thursday, officials said. Many…

  Nazarbayev, 78, announced his resignation in a televised address on Tuesday. Having been Kazakhstan’s president since the country’s independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, Nazarbayev said he wanted “a new generation of leaders” to assume power and “continue carrying out current reforms in the country.” In a ceremony also attended by Nazarbayev on Wednesday, Senate Chairman Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took the…

Thousands of Australians rally against racism and Islamophobia in Melbourne, days after the terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday. Protesters chanted anti-racist slogans as they filled the streets of Melbourne’s CBD on Tuesday and accused the government of fear-mongering against Muslims in Australia. “Whenever our politicians dog-whistle, whenever they attack Muslims, or whenever they lock up refugees, they’re…

  South Korea is one of Iran’s biggest Asian customers which won a six-month waiver in November from US sanctions but it resumed imports of Iranian oil in January after a four-month gap. Last month, Korean refiners imported $476 million worth of crude from Iran, more than four times the volumes posted in January, data from the Korea Customs Service…

South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo says there is still no sign that North Korea is preparing for an imminent missile launch as reported by US media outlets. Earlier this month, US news outlets cited reports by several American think-tanks and South Korean officials, warning that satellite images showed that North Korea was possibly making preparations for a missile or space launch…

  Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi said she had called ambassador Gary Quinlan to her office to convey the Muslim majority country’s “strong condemnation” of Queensland Senator Fraser Anning’s controversial comments. The 50 Muslims killed in Friday’s massacre in Christchurch included one Indonesian, while another was seriously injured. “Ambassador Quinlan conveyed his reassurance that the statement made by Senator Anning…

  More than three dozen people remain missing, while scores have been injured in the disaster, triggered by torrential rain and landslides. “The death toll could still go up with 43 people unaccounted for,” said national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. Rescuers battled mud, rocks and fallen trees in the hunt for survivors, as medical personnel treated the wounded…

  Dejpasand arrived in Beijing on Monday at the head of a high-ranking delegation to take part in the 17th meeting of the Iran-China joint economic commission. During the meeting to be held on Monday and Tuesday, officials of the two countries will discuss ways of boosting economic cooperation in various areas, including investment, commerce, banking, energy and agriculture. The Iranian minister is…

  “We always believe that Afghan people express the final opinion about all the country’s affairs,” Zarif said in a meeting with the Afghan special envoy for peace, Mohammad Omar Daudzai, in Tehran on Saturday. As the Afghans’ representative, the Kabul government then makes decisions about the country’s affairs, he added. Zarif also voiced Tehran’s support for the Afghans, saying,…

As tensions escalated last month between India and Pakistan across their borders in Kashmir, the two nuclear-armed neighbors threatened to fire a barrage of missiles at each other, sources say. Government sources in New Delhi and Islamabad said India at one stage threatened to fire at least six missiles at Pakistan which pledged to respond with its own missile strikes “three times…