*News and analysis

Afghan security forces are engaged in a gun battle with militants, who have attacked the Interior Ministry building in the capital, Kabul. A bomb went off  at a checkpoint leading to the building on Wednesday, and then four assailants started shooting, a security source was cited by AFP as saying. ...

North, South Korean Leaders Hold Second Meeting in Demilitarized Zone – Reports South Korea’s presidential office said Saturday that the country’s president Moon Jae-in held a meeting with his North Korea’s counterpart Kim Jong-un at the demilitarized zone. “The two leaders exchanged their opinions candidly to implement the April 27 Panmunjom ...

Germany and China have agreed to further deepen bilateral cooperation in various fields amid trade threats from US President Donald Trump. The two countries reached the consensus during talks between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was on an official visit to China. “China’s door is ...

Both friends and foes of the US criticized Washington’s relocation of its embassy in the occupied territories from Tel Aviv to al-Quds. Palestine To begin with, Britain reiterated that the administration of Prime Minister Theresa May had no plans to move its mission to al-Quds and still disagree with the ...

Pakistani police have detained the father and brother of an Italian woman of Pakistani descent who was strangled in a suspected “honor killing” case. Irfan Sulehri, a senior police officer in Gujrat district of Punjab province, said on Thursday that police had arrested her father, Ghulam Mustafa, and her brother, ...

Ten aid workers detained in South Sudan last week were released after the rebel group holding them confirmed their identities as representatives of relief agencies, the rebels said on Monday. Lam Paul Gabriel, a spokesman for the rebel group, the SPLM-IO, said that its fighters detained the aid workers on ...

Tokyo police enhanced security measures ahead of the Wednesday summit that will bring together the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, local media reported. According to the NHK broadcaster, Japan deployed additional police forces to the Haneda airport in order to ensure security of the transport facility. Meanwhile, there ...

Pakistan’s environmental protection agency is installing air quality monitors and warning factories to add pollution filters after a panel of the country’s top judges ordered the government to detail its efforts to control worsening air pollution. The court ruling earlier this month followed a lawsuit by a Karachi man challenging ...

TEHRAN, Mar. 30 (MNA) – Films selected from 13 countries will compete in the Eastern Vista (Panorama of Films from Asian and Islamic Countries) category at 2018 Fajr International Film Festival (FIFF36). The organizers have named the countries which will take part in this year’s strand as: China, Vietnam, Republic of ...

TEHRAN, Mar. 25 (MNA) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi in a statement condemned recent terrorist attacks in France, Afghanistan and Egypt and expressed sympathy with the bereaved families of victims of the deadly terrorist attacks. The widespread geographical scope of the horrific incidents shows that terrorism is a ...