China yesterday pledged to inject $233 million into a new fund to protect biodiversity in developing countries during a key UN conservation summit, despite disagreements among major donors on the initiative.

At least 28 people were killed and more than a dozen injured yesterday after a packed passenger bus plunged off a road in a hilly region in northwestern Nepal, officials said.

The navies of Quad countries -- the US, India, Japan, and Australia -- began the second phase of a maritime exercise in the Bay of Bengal today as the chief of American naval operations arrived in New Delhi on a five-day visit.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa admitted his government is “not delivering” as shortages persist of food, medicines and other essential items because of a dire foreign exchange squeeze.

A key UN summit tasked with protecting biodiversity opened in China and online yesterday, as countries meet to protect ecosystems and prevent mass extinction weeks before the COP26 climate conference.

The United States said on Sunday the first face-to-face meeting between senior US and Taliban officials since the hardline group retook power in Afghanistan was "candid and professional" and that the US side reiterated that the Taliban would be judged on their actions, not just their words.

The Taliban have warned the United States not to “destabilise” the regime during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal, as a deadly sectarian bombing raised further questions about their grip on power. 

Hundreds of people in restive Indian-administered Kashmir have been detained by police investigating a spate of targeted killings by suspected rebels, officials told AFP yesterday.

Abdul Qadeer Khan, lionised at home as the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb despite admitting he was at the centre of a nuclear proliferation ring, died yesterday at age 85.

Nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan passed away in Islamabad on Sunday morning at the age of 85.

The International Criminal Court on Friday said it cannot rule on a prosecutor’s request to resume a war crimes investigation of Afghanistan until it can decide who represents the country in international bodies.

The European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS) has observed that the Pandora Papers reflect a deep-seated malaise in South Asia, Pakistan in particular.

Strolling casually with their machine guns in hand, Halimi and hundreds of fellow Taliban fighters enjoyed a rare day off with a visit to a popular waterside amusement park in Kabul.

The world should urgently provide promised aid to Afghanistan, the UN refugee agency said on Saturday, warning that a lack of resources is hampering efforts to avert an economic crisis that could push fresh flows of refugees to its neighbours and beyond.

A US delegation will meet with senior Taliban representatives in Doha on Saturday and Sunday in their first face-to-face meeting at a senior level since Washington pulled its troops from Afghanistan and the hardline group took over the country, two senior administration officials told Reuters.

Taiwan does not seek military confrontation. It hopes for a peaceful, stable, predictable and mutually-beneficial coexistence with its neighbours. But Taiwan will also do whatever it takes to defend its freedom and democratic way of life.

The Sri Lankan government yesterday ended price controls on essential foods in a bid to end black market trading as food shortages worsen amid a foreign currency crisis.

A suicide bomb attack on worshippers at a Shia mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz killed at least 55 people yesterday, in the bloodiest assault since US forces left the country.

A blast went off Friday at a mosque packed with Shiite Muslim worshippers in northern Afghanistan, killing or wounding at least 100 people, a Taliban police official said.

Indian and Chinese military were engaged in a brief face-off in Tawang sector of north eastern Indian state Arunachal Pradesh last week, the Indian media reported today.