Malé, Maldives – AFP The president-elect of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, has marked his victory with a pledge to end the foreign military presence in his small but strategically placed atoll nation. Muizzu, 45, addressing his first public rally after winning Saturday’s runoff election stopped short of naming India, the only foreig...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi left for China on Tuesday to attend the third meeting of the Trans-Himalayan Forum. According to the Afghan Foreign Ministry, the forum will discuss economic cooperation, regional connectivity, and climate changes in the countries around the Himalayan mountai...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Indonesia on Monday launched South Asia’s first high-speed train. “I declare ‘Whoosh’ is ready to be operated,” President Joko Widodo said about the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) train at a ceremony. “Whoosh” signifies the sound of a fast train and stands for “time-saving, optimal operat...
ISTANBUL (AA) – China and Syria have upgraded their bilateral relations to a “strategic partnership” during a summit meeting between Xi Jinping and his visiting Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, Beijing said. Hua Chunying, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said the establishment of the strategic partnership “will be a ...
Hangzhou, China — AFP Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began his first official trip to China in almost two decades, with Beijing saying the visit will take ties to a “new level” as the Arab leader seeks financial support to help rebuild the devastated country after a long, brutal civil war. China is one of only […]
Jakarta, Indonesia – – AFP Chinese Premier Li Qiang has met Indonesia’s president for talks, agreeing to boost cooperation and trade including expanding imports from Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, Chinese state media reported. Li met with Joko Widodo in the Indonesian capital Jakarta after leaders’ summits this...
NEW DELHI (AA) – India is set to host the G-20 summit in the capital New Delhi from Saturday. The summit will take place without Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Chinese president Xi Jinping. The summit will be held at the newly inaugurated Pragati Maidan conference center at the Bharat Mandapam culture corridor. At […]
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – The US and its allies are pressuring South Asian countries in the name of a so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy to promote their own interests in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday. Lavrov was speaking at a joint press briefing with his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen in the capital [&h...
Cairo, Egypt – AFP Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called Tuesday for measures to slow the birthrate in the Arab world’s most populous country, citing China’s one-child policy as an example. “We need 400,000 births per year,” said the leader of the country of 105 million inhabitants which recorded nearly ...
Niamey, Niger – AFP Niger’s military-appointed prime minister on Monday said he saw hopes of a deal “in the coming days” with the West African bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened to use force to restore civilian rule after a coup in July. He also said that “contacts” were underway over a “very swift̶...
