Asia News

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday he had given a "wish list" of military equipment to India during a visit this week, presenting a conundrum for New Delhi as it weighs whether arming the Afghan army is in its interests.

Hard-line Islamist students protested Wednesday in the Afghan capital demanding the repeal of a presidential decree for women's rights that they say is un-Islamic. It was the latest sign of a backlash against the legal protections passed in the 12 years since the toppling of the Taliban regime known for its harsh treatment of women.

"What separates me from someone in the streets of Kabul is such a thin line," says the Afghan-American author of "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns." "What I have is, in many ways, an undeserved gift." His amazing run continued Tuesday night as he appeared before an overflow crowd at the Barnes & Noble on Manhattan's Union Square.

A blast at an explosives plant in China has left 13 people dead and another 20 missing, state media said on Tuesday, compounding the country's poor industrial safety record.

A powerful roadside bomb has killed seven policemen in western Afghanistan as forces were engaged in a deadly battle with large groups of Taliban fighters who attacked police checkpoints in the south, officials have said.

Former Georgian prime minister Ivane Merabishvili was arrested on corruption charges on Tuesday in what the opposition said was a witch-hunt against members of the ousted administration of President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The leaders of India and China played down their recent border dispute and other tensions Monday, pledging to work together for regional stability and the economic growth of the world's two most populous nations.

The challenge is to transform such waste into food of higher functionality and added value.

A Chinese boat and 16 fishermen seized for ransom by armed North Koreans two weeks ago were released Tuesday, easing the latest irritant in relations between the neighboring allies.

Diplomas were awarded to 599 Drew University graduates Saturday on the school's campus in Madison.

Pakistan's presumptive prime minister called for peace talks with Taliban militants at war with the government Monday, potentially charting a course that could put him at odds with the country's powerful army.

Pakistan has taken a number of steps to prevent fertilizers made within its borders for agriculture from being used as explosives in roadside bombs that target American troops in Afghanistan, said a top U.S. military officer Monday.

Two car bombs killed at least three people and wounded dozens of others on Monday in Dagestan, a turbulent province in Russia's North Caucasus region where armed groups are waging an Islamist insurgency.

Police in central China have detained the 18-year-old organizer of a gay pride march in a sign of the government's nervousness over a growing civil society movement and demands for stronger individual rights.

My main goal in reading Khaled Hosseini's new book, "And the Mountains Echoed," was to avoid crying.

Mazar-I-Sharif, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber struck outside government buildings in northern Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 14 people, including a senior local politician, officials said.

A businesswoman in southern China has been sentenced to death on charges of defrauding investors as the government tightens controls on informal financing that is widely used by entrepreneurs.

With Afghan troops increasingly leading combat operations on the ground, the Afghan Air Force's fledgling helicopter fleet based in Kabul has learned new techniques to support them from the air.

North Korea fired a projectile into waters off its eastern coast Sunday, a day after launching three short-range missiles in the same area, officials said.

New Delhi: The festering boundary row figured prominently in talks between visiting Premier Li Keqiang and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here yesterday as the Chinese leader arrived in India on his maiden overseas tour since taking over in March.