US President-elect Joe Biden has chosen retired General Lloyd Austin as his defence secretary, US media report. Gen Austin, aged 67, will become the first African-American to lead the Pentagon. Gen Austin, who led US Central Command during the Obama administration, would need a

Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on its border with Myanmar in recent months, opening another front in the conflict between two nations already engaged in a deadly standoff in the Himalayas. Armed groups in Myanmar -- including the

The Sri Lankan authority on Sunday (December 6, 2020) arrested four people from the Marawila Thoduwawa area and seized Rs 2.5 billion worth of drugs originated from the Chinese-controlled Gwadar.  They were transporting heroin and crystal methamphetamine (ice) to the Sri Lankan

Even as China has tried to hide its activities in the Xinjiang region and is advocating its narratives of things, pressure has been mounting on China as dozens of countries have called on it publicly to respect the human rights of its Uighur Muslim minority.  Countries including

President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has tested positive for Covid-19 and is being treated in hospital. The president wrote in a tweet: "Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!" Mr Giuliani, who has led the Trump campaign's legal challenges to

US intelligence shows that China has conducted "human testing" on members of the People's Liberation Army in hope of developing soldiers with "biologically enhanced capabilities," the top US intelligence official said Friday. John Ratcliffe, the director of

The UK, France and Germany are among at least nine countries to issue statements this year rejecting Beijing's extensive claims in the South China Sea, as concerns about China's maritime expansionism spread beyond its immediate neighbors. China has claimed "historical

As calls for his government to step down louden, a rattled Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan ruled out the possibility of the government granting permission to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) for holding anti-government rallies and warned that police cases will be lodged against

Crucial negotiations to secure a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the EU are to resume later. UK chief Brexit negotiator Lord Frost will meet EU counterpart Michel Barnier in Brussels to try to bridge the two sides' "significant differences". A UK source told

US President Donald Trump has pressed the Republican governor of Georgia to help overturn Joe Biden's election victory in the state. In a series of tweets, he urged governor Brian Kemp to call a special session of the state legislature. It came before Mr Trump attended a

Abhedananda Home (School for specially-abled children) is the only school for the specially-abled children in Srinagar’s Solina area where they receive free education. With International Disability Day observed on Thursday, the specially-abled children from this

India has accused Pakistan of violating the spirit of a UN resolution it had itself sponsored by transferring the control of the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara to a non-Sikh body. "This act goes against Sikh religion and its preservation and protection," Ashish Sharma, a First

New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence, seeking expansion of road width in the Chardham highway project in Uttarakhand, told the Supreme Court that situation on the ground at the India-China border has changed significantly this year and it has become imperative that men and equipment should

At least 25 Taliban militants, including two commanders, were killed and eight others injured during a raid in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, the Army said on Saturday. “The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) launched an operation in Naway-i-Barakzai of

Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are volunteering to get their Covid-19 vaccines on camera to promote public confidence in the vaccine's safety once the US Food and Drug Administration authorizes one. The three most recent former presidents hope an

Azerbaijan has said that 2,783 of its soldiers were killed during its conflict with ethnic Armenian forces over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and that more than 100 of its troops were still missing. Azerbaijan had until Thursday not disclosed any of its military losses in the conflict

President Xi Jinping's government is promoting a less tolerant pan-Chinese identity that is pressing minorities into the mould of a new 'single nation-state', reports Asia Times. These so-called “vocational training programs”, made infamous by the Muslim Uighur

General Administration Department today constituted a Union Territory Level Monitoring Committee (UTLMC) and District Level Monitoring Committees (DLMC) for all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir for implementation of central schemes. In this regard, the GAD Commissioner Secretary Manoj

Iran has moved to stop UN inspections of its nuclear sites and step up uranium enrichment under a new law approved by its parliament. The bill would require the government to resume enriching uranium to 20% - well above the 3.67% agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal - if crippling

Chinese agents have stepped up their efforts to influence President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration, a US intelligence official has said. William Evanina, from the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said the Chinese were also focusing on people close to