UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday appointed a former president of Kyrgyzstan as his new special envoy for Afghanistan. Roza Otunbayeva replaces Deborah Lyons, who stepped down in mid-June, the United Nations said in a statement. Otunbayeva served as Kyrgyz president during 2010-2011 and on three occasions as foreign minister. She was a member of parliament during 2007-2010 and served […]

Friday’s deadly bombing at a mosque in Afghanistan’s western Herat province has been condemned widely by individuals, governments and organizations. At least 18 people including a prominent cleric, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman Ansari, were killed in the explosion at Gazargah mosque in Herat city, where people gathered to offer congregational Friday prayers. 23 others were wounded, according to officials. The United Nations mission […]

Thousands of people attended the funeral Saturday of a popular Herat Imam, Mawlavi Mujeeb-ur-Rahman Ansari, who was killed in a suicide bombing at a mosque on Friday. Mawlavi Ansari was killed along with 19 others at the Guzargah Mosque, officials said. Mawlavi Fazil Rahman Ansari, the deceased’s brother, has replaced Mawlavi Mujeeb-ur-Rahman Ansari as the mosque’s imam. “Abdullah, who is […]

The Taliban celebrated the first anniversary of the withdrawal of US and allied troops from Afghanistan, including declaring Wednesday a national holiday. An official ceremony was held on Wednesday at Bagram Air Base, formerly the largest US military base in Afghanistan. The plane carrying the last US troops took off from Kabul airport at one minute before midnight on August […]

In the run-up to the 2015 presidential elections, All Progressives Congress (APC) party candidate Muhammadu Buhari’s unique selling point was his background as a former general and former military head of state. Many believed he had what it takes to combat the war on terror. As it happened, he went on to win that election, defeating the incumbent President Goodluck […]

There is an overwhelming boisterous ignorance that characterises Australia’s foreign policy approach to China. When Beijing was boxed and derided as emerging, weak and well-behaved, everyone supposedly got on. Washington remained the region’s patriarch and Australia its policing deputy. Everyone could get on plundering resources and making some ruddy cash along the way. Then, assumptions started being challenged: the cheeky […]

Russia-China Axis intensification in 2022 more significantly evident post-Ukraine with Russia and China ranged defiantly against virtually the entire world reminiscent of templates of Cold War 1.0 Grave security implications ensue for India consequently besides imposing on India the imperatives of reset of its foreign policy compass. India stares at geopolitical challenges wherein China, India’s implacable foe in 2022 is […]

How the International Community Turned Its Back Life under the Taliban is the worst women’s rights crisis on the planet. When the Taliban returned to power last August, they imposed immediate and brutal restrictions, the harshest of which were reserved for women. They quickly imposed a ban on girls’ secondary education, which remains in place despite domestic and international demands […]

How a Burst Real-Estate Bubble Threatens China’s Economy The Chinese real estate sector is teetering. The largest private Chinese developer has defaulted on its external bonds. Most developers are struggling to refinance their domestic bonds. Home prices have gone down for the last 11 months. New construction is down 45 percent. The most acute stress can be traced back to […]

One year after the transition of power in Afghanistan, the country faces a cascading humanitarian crisis. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has expanded its medical programs in Afghanistan to meet the growing needs.