Asia

    Pakistan is experiencing a significant decrease in number of non-immigrant US visas issued to its nationals under the new administration despite not being on the list of US President Donald Trump's Muslim ban countries. An analysis of newly-released official figures shows non-immigrant visas granted to Pakistanis were down by 40 per cent in March and April this year compared to the monthly average in 2016.

    China, battling increased threats from cyber-terrorism and hacking, will adopt from Thursday a law that mandates strict data surveillance and storage for firms working in the country, the official Xinhua news agency said. The law, passed in November by the country's largely rubber-stamp parliament, bans online service providers from collecting and selling users' personal information, and gives users the right to have their information deleted, in cases of abuse. Those who violate the provisions and infringe on personal information will face hefty fines, the news agency said on Monday, without elaborating. Reuters reported this month that overseas business groups were pushing Chinese regulators to delay implementation of the law, saying the rules would severely hurt activit...

    In occupied Kashmir, Indian troops killed two elderly civilians along the Line of Control in Uri area of Kupwara district after dubbing them as mujahideen. Media reports and locals say that the slain men were civilians. The gravediggers were forced to quietly bury the deceased in the darkness of the night. The member of so-called Kashmir Assembly, Engineer Rasheed in a statement asked police to reveal the identity of the elderly men killed in Uri area by the troops. Meanwhile the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyet forum and other Hurriyet leaders and organizations paid tributes to Sabzar Ahmed Butt, Faizan Ahmed and other youth martyred by Indian troops on Saturday saying that these youth spilled their blood for the sacred cause of freedom. The statement said the continuous bloodshed wa...

    The first round of China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Practical Cooperation Dialogue was held in Beijing on Saturday, Radio Pakistan has reported. The Dialogue was co-chaired by Director General Mansoor Ahmad Khan of Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director General Xiao Qian from Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Director General Khalid Payenda of Afghan Ministry of Finance. The three sides exchanged in-depth views on trilateral cooperation in a friendly atmosphere and agreed to promote practical measures for cooperation. The three sides noted that trilateral cooperation among Pakistan, Afghanistan and China is conducive to peace, stability and development of Afghanistan and the region. The three countries appreciated the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and its bene...

    Chinese Foreign Ministry has strongly reacted over the report of the United Nations expressing concerns over the China Pakistan Economic Corridor Project. China has dismissed United Nations concerns on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chinese foreign ministry said. The report by UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (ESCAP), had warned that the CPEC could create tension with India and fuel political instability in the region. Describing the United Nations as a partner in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing on Thursday dismissed the report, saying this report was not specifically on the CPEC and had evaluated the BRI in a very positive way. The report, issued on Tuesday, said the CPEC could lead to further political instability in the region a...

    A female Muslim stand-up using humour to challenge prejudice against women and rising religious intolerance Wearing a red hijab and all-encompassing gown, Sakdiyah Maruf cuts an unusual figure in a dark, smokey Jakarta bar as she reels off taboo-breaking jokes to laughter from a rapt audience. She is a rare character in Indonesia -- a female Muslim stand-up using humour to challenge prejudice against women and rising religious intolerance. Despite resistance from those who believe a woman's place is not on stage cracking jokes, even within her own family, the 34-year-old has forged ahead and is winning fans at home and abroad. Comedian Sakdiyah Maruf sees an alarming trend in Indonesia of "more rigid and conservative practices of religion" which she believes tend to margin...

    Same-sex activists cheered, hugged and wept outside the parliament in Taipei as they celebrated the landmark decision Taiwan's top court ruled in favour of gay marriage Wednesday, a landmark decision that paves the way for the island to become the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex unions. Crowds of supporters cheered, hugged and wept as the court said that current laws preventing the practice "violated" the constitution's guarantees of freedom of marriage and equality. It gave the government two years to implement the ruling. Momentum has been growing behind the push for equal marriage rights, with Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen openly supporting the campaign. But there has also been anger among conservative groups, who have staged mass rallies against any change i...

    South Korea's military fired warning shots at a suspected drone from North Korea on Tuesday amid tension over Pyongyang's latest missile test which drew international condemnation and a warning from China. The identity of the object remained unclear, the military said, but Yonhap news agency said it was possibly a drone, more than 90 shots were fired in return and it disappeared from radar screens. The incursion came with tension already high on the Korean peninsula after the North's test-launch of a ballistic missile test on Sunday which Pyongyang said proved advances in its pursuit of building a nuclear-tipped weapon that can hit U.S. targets. The United States has been trying to persuade China, North Korea's lone major ally, to do more to rein in North Korea, which has ...

    Sensitivity to public criticism of royal affairs has heightened since Maha Vajiralongkorn took power. Authorities in Thailand appear to have backed down on a threat to block access to Facebook after it said the social media company agreed to remove illegal content, including posts critical of the monarchy. The government threatened Facebook with legal action last week unless it removed 131 illicit pages by 10am on Tuesday morning. Hours before the deadline, internet providers said they were under pressure to shut down access to Facebook in Thailand. The brinkmanship appeared to have worked, with the secretary general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission announcing after the deadline that Facebook was cooperating. We found Facebook did not block th...

    South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said there is a high possibility of war with North Korea, as he warned its recent missile launch is a serious threat to global peace. The reality is that there is a high possibility of a military conflict at the NLL (Northern Limit Line) and military demarcation line," Moon was quoted as saying by the presidential Blue House. We will sternly deal with the North, together with the international community, Mr Moon said during a visit to the Defence Ministry in Seoul, Younhap News Agency reported. He also said the the country's military was ready and capable of striking back should the North attack. North Korean defector: Kim Jong-Un would launch a nuclear attack if his rule was threatened North Korea launched a missile four days ago and...