Media Coverage

A huge explosion has ripped through a crowded mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, killing 21 people, police say. Another 33 people were injured, Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran added. Wednesday's blast occurred during evening prayers. The mosque's imam Amir Muhammad Kabuli is reported to be...

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has told the UN rights chief that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh must return home to Myanmar, from where they had fled waves of violent persecution. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet...

The Taliban imposed several limitations on women’s freedoms since returning to power. While the new regime has not directly fired female government employees such as Samar, it has restricted women from entering the workplaces, paying them a significantly reduced salary to stay at home, many working...

Bangladesh has sought cooperation from China to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. China had used its influence in Myanmar to broker a November 2017 agreement to repatriate about 700,000 Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar in August that...

Nepal’s government says it will hold a parliamentary election on November 20 amid concerns over high inflation and depleted foreign exchange reserves that have led to rising food and energy prices. Education Minister Debendra Paudel on Thursday confirmed that a cabinet meeting had approved the date...

Newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday the Philippines has no plan to rejoin the International Criminal Court, a decision that supports his predecessor’s stance but rejects the wishes of human rights activists. Former President Rodrigo Duterte withdrew the Philippines from The...

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25, outlined lofty plans for the country under his administration, yet was silent on matters concerning the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The newly-elected president made no mention...

Recent execution of four prisoners drove people to revive the protests in Myanmar. Phyo Zeya Thaw, a rapper and former lawmaker from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, and the prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu, known as Jimmy, were among those killed. They had been sentenced under anti-terror laws in...

Nepal risks letting wartime atrocities committed during the Himalayan kingdom’s Maoist rebellion go unpunished with long-delayed reforms to its transitional justice laws, rights groups have said. Both security forces and former rebels have been accused of carrying out torture, killings, rapes and...

The United Nations’ highest court has rejected Myanmar’s attempts to halt a case accusing it of genocide against the country’s Rohingya minority, paving the way for evidence of atrocities to be heard. The international court of justice rejected all preliminary objections raised by Myanmar, which is...