Asia

    The 66th birthday of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be celebrated in Navsari district today will be a momentous event as the government of India is eyeing three Guinness world records and one national record targeted by organisers. The Indian prime minister visited Bangladesh in June 2015 when Dhaka and Delhi witnessed a record number of agreements being signed for a more close and cooperative relationship. Diplomatic sources in Dhaka and New Delhi said, Modi’s visit to Bangladesh last year and the sentiments he expressed in favour of a close and cooperative relationship between our two countries have endeared to the people of Bangladesh. We warmly wish him a very happy and memorable birthday at the helm of the largest democracy of the world. In a major initiative ...

    Both main contracts soared more than two dollars Thursday after the energy department said US inventories dropped 14.5 million barrels, the sharpest rate in 17 years. Oil prices retreated on Friday, taking a chunk out of the previous day’s rally as investors digested data suggesting last week’s plunge in US stockpiles was likely a one-off. Both main contracts soared more than two dollars Thursday after the energy department said US inventories dropped 14.5 million barrels, the sharpest rate in 17 years. But analysts said the decline was attributed to the suspension of imports and shutdown of some production due to Hurricane Hermine, which passed through the Gulf of Mexico in late August, and warned of a rebound next week. “The reason behind the enormous drawdown is transit...

    North Korea nuclear test: China also said that it would lodge a diplomatic protest with North Korea's embassy. China said it resolutely opposed North Korea’s nuclear test on Friday but is unlikely to follow up with strong action because its influence is limited and it believes the United States and South Korea share responsibility for growing tensions in the region. China also said that it would lodge a diplomatic protest with North Korea’s embassy following the nuclear test. China, Pyongyang’s main diplomatic ally, is key in any effort to rein in North Korea’s nuclear programme. But it has been infuriated by the isolated nation’s nuclear and missile tests and has signed up to increasingly tough United Nations sanctions. Read | North Korea leader Kim showed ‘maniacal reckl...

    A passage in the current edition of Wings of China, the publication distributed on Air China, Asia's third largest airline, warns “London is generally a safe place to travel, however precautions are needed when entering areas mainly populated by Indians, Pakistanis and black people. “We advise tourists not to go out alone at night, and females always to be accompanied by another person when travelling.” The phrase is repeated in both Mandarin and English in the magazine's feature on the capital. The "racist" article shocked one Chinese journalist, Haze Fan, on a flight in China so much she tweeted a picture of it to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan asking him what he thought. She said her Londoner fiancée “felt its rather insulting”. Now politicians are demanding an apology and ...

    The move may apply some balm in the strained bilateral relations between UK and Nepal. A British court has freed a Nepali army officer after four years that may apply some balm in the strained bilateral relations between the two countries. Col. Kumar Lama was arrested in January 2013 and tried by the British authorities invoking its worldwide jurisdiction in human rights violation cases. He was accused of torturing two people in detention in Nepal during the Maoist-led insurgency more than a decade ago. A crown court recently found that there was no sufficient ground to declare Col Lama guilty and decided not to pursue the case further. Col. Lama was on deputation to the United Nations in South Sudan and was arrested in UK where he had gone to join his family following a c...

    President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has expressed regret for calling Barack Obama a son of a whore a remark that led to the US leader cancelling their meeting during a regional summit in Laos. In a statement read by his spokesman, Duterte said the remark was not intended as a personal insult. “While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret that it came across as a personal attack on the US president,” Ernesto Abella quoted Duterte as saying. He added that a meeting with the US had been “mutually agreed upon to be moved to a later date”. Duterte called Obama a “son of a whore” following weeks of criticism from the US against extrajudicial killings in the Philippines’ bloody drug war. “S...

    The three missiles flew more than 600 miles and landed nearly 250 miles inside Japan's air defense zone, South Korean officials said. The White House quickly condemned the launches. North Korea fired off three missiles toward Japan on Monday in a show of force as President Obama met with world leaders at the G-20 summit in Hangzhou, China. "Today's reckless launches by North Korea pose threats to civil aviation and maritime commerce in the region," the White House said in a statement. "North Korea's continued development of its UN-proscribed nuclear and ballistic missile programs threatens the United States; our allies, Japan and the Republic of Korea; and our partners in the region." Pyongyang did not give any notice of the impending launch, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff ...

    British Prime Minister Theresa May is said to travel to the G20 summit in China today (3 September). This will be her first international conference since she entered Downing Street in July. She has reportedly been given a key speaking slot on Sunday (4 September) where she will talk about the global economy. In her talk she is expected to say that the UK continues to be "consistent and dependable" following the Brexit vote. An unnamed source cited by the Independent said, that May would tell world leaders attending the summit that the UK is "open for business and wanting a smooth and orderly departure". She is also expected to talk about the UK's view of the referendum vote and how it is preparing for the Brexit talks with the European Union (EU). G20 Hangzhou summit 2016...

    Theresa May has had a difficult start to the G20 summit as President Barack Obama said the UK would not be the priority for a US trade deal and Japan issued an unprecedented 15-page warning about the consequences of Brexit. The prime minister had been hoping to pitch the UK as a global leader in free trade during her first major outing on the world stage at the G20 summit in Hangzhou. However, she was immediately confronted with harsh warnings about the consequences of leaving the EU and diplomatic tensions with the Chinese over her concerns about their involvement in UK nuclear power. After her first bilateral meeting with Obama, May was warned that the US wanted to focus on trade negotiations with the EU and a bloc of pacific nations before considering a deal with the UK...

    An Indian high court has upheld a law allowing sex with a woman of 15 if she is married. The age at which a person can consent to sex in India is 18, aside from this exemption. The Ministry of Home Affairs said it did not make sense to change the law because of India's "social realities". India has the largest number of child brides in the world. Around half of girls in India are married before their 18th birthday, according to Girls Not Brides. The umbrella organisation, made up of more than 600 civil society groups, said fewer Indian girls are marrying before the age of 15 than in the past, but rates of marriage have increased for girls between 15 and 18. Critics say the exemption to the age of sexual consent encourages marriages involving girls under 18. But the governm...