Afghanistan

12 January 2025
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai speaks during the "Girls' Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities" summit in Islamabad on Jan. 12.
Afghan women have been barred by the Taliban from working in many jobs and from most public places.
Afghanistan turmoil

Taliban orders NGOs in Afghanistan not to employ women or face closure

Government bars females from many jobs, public spaces, higher education

30 December 2024
Afghan Taliban officials, pictured in Paktika province, Afghanistan, in 2022: An attack on the province on Dec. 24 killed at least 46, the Taliban says.
26 December 2024
Pakistani security officials inspect the scene of a blast at a railway station in Quetta, the provincial capital of restive Balochistan province,  on Nov. 9. (Photo by EPA/Jiji)
Terrorism

Pakistan marks deadliest year in a decade as militant attacks soar

Government battling Islamist threat and separatist insurgency in restive province

19 December 2024
Cricketers from war-torn Afghanistan overcame huge odds to make the semifinals of the T20 World Cup this year.  
Tea Leaves

In South Asia, cricket is an improbable but effective leveler

Surprise success for smaller countries boosts pan-regional fan base

18 December 2024
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, shakes hands with Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi during a meeting in Moscow on Oct. 4.
Opinion

U.S. must act on Afghanistan to slow China's and Russia's gains

Beijing and Moscow are engaging with Taliban rulers for security, resources

31 October 2024
The Taliban says it is determined to find foreign investors willing to help it diversify its economy and profit from its mineral wealth, but Afghanistan exported no commodities to China last year.
Afghanistan turmoil

China to offer Taliban tariff-free trade, inches closer to regime

Afghanistan exported $64m worth of goods to China last year, mostly pine nuts

25 October 2024
Amir Khan Muttaqi, left, Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister, shakes hands with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow on Oct. 4. (Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via Reuters)
International relations

Russia to remove Taliban from terrorist list as IS threat rises

Moscow's move also comes as Putin seeks a counterbalance to the West

7 October 2024
Afghanistan's embassy in London is set to cease operations after its diplomats refused to work with the Taliban.
Afghanistan turmoil

Taliban locked in showdown with Afghanistan's old-guard diplomats

U.K. embassy set to close this week as militant group squeezes 'renegade' missions

26 September 2024
Women protesters in Kabul in 2022. The Taliban swept back to power in 2021 with their ultra-strict brand of Islam.
Afghanistan turmoil

Afghan women 'brace for worst' as Taliban tighten morality laws

Ban on women's voices in public blasted as 'intolerable' by U.N. rights chief

3 September 2024
A woman dresses her child at a hospital in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in March 2023. Since taking over in 2021, Taliban authorities have barred women from universities and most charity jobs, but they have made exemptions in the healthcare sector.
Opinion

U.N. must focus on improving lives of suffering Afghans

Dialogue may persuade Taliban to accept goals within its hard-line ideology

26 August 2024
A general view of Mes Aynak valley is seen some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Commodities

Taliban and Chinese partner restart copper project, reigniting worries

Pollution of nearby area, destruction of relics feared in Mes Aynak development

18 August 2024
Taliban patrol as a burqa-clad woman walks on a street in Kabul on Oct. 3, 2021. The militant group has enforced strict dress codes since retaking power three years ago.
Afghanistan turmoil

Taliban dress code tightens cord around Afghan women, and men

Western apparel makers forced to adapt after group's return three years ago

15 August 2024
Taliban fighters outside the Interior Ministry in Kabul in August 2021, after the militant group retook power in Afghanistan.
Your Week in Asia

Taliban takeover anniversary, Japan GDP, Greater China earnings

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

11 August 2024
Army soldiers stand amid the rubble, a day after explosions in the counter-terrorism office building in a town in Swat, Pakistan, in April 2023. 
Opinion

Pakistan should learn from Indonesia's counterterrorism strategy

Islamabad's overly militaristic approach is not working, and attacks are rising

3 July 2024
A Taliban delegation attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 5. Russia has been exploring closer ties with the Afghan regime.
Afghanistan turmoil

Taliban defy West at U.N. talks while China, Russia eye closer ties

Afghan mineral reserves, Islamic State threat open door to potential recognition

2 July 2024
Afghan cargo is loaded at Chabahar for shipment to India in 2019: Budding multilateral cooperation centers on the Iranian deep-water port.
Opinion

Pakistan's moves to further isolate Afghanistan are backfiring

Estrangement is driving the Taliban to work with Iran and India at Chabahar port

13 May 2024
"Not enough time, not enough support": Uzbekistan, a landlocked country slightly bigger than California, is facing the consequences of a history of poor irrigation, with rising salinity slashing the size of usable growing areas.
Asia Insight

Uzbek farmers battle to save cotton, wheat crops from mortal enemy: salt

Growing salinization crisis bites as cotton exports to Bangladesh skid 80% in 5 years

7 May 2024
In her artwork, Danish-Afghan artist Lida Afghan addresses the silencing of women in Afghanistan and the need to continue conversations about their human rights. (Courtesy of Lida Afghan)
Arts

Rescuing artists from the Taliban

International groups work to relocate persecuted cultural workers

21 April 2024
Russian officials have been speaking with Taliban leaders and working to remove the group from its terrorist list. (Source photos by AP and Reuters)
13 April 2024
An Afghan repairs a carpet in Kabul. Carpets are one of Afghanistan's primary items of exports to Pakistan.
International relations

Pakistan and Taliban to expand trade despite lingering tensions

Two countries agree on 'separation of business from politics'

5 April 2024
A Russian law enforcement officer near the burning Crocus City Hall concert venue following the attack on March 22.
Terrorism

Moscow attack reveals ISIS-K's widening strategy of deadly disruption

Afghanistan IS-offshoot blamed for Russia's deadliest terror attack in two decades

26 March 2024
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, far left, and top military officials attend a funeral on March 17 for officers killed in a militant attack.
International relations

Pakistan's strikes in Afghanistan hint at new government's hard line

Experts warn tackling Pakistani Taliban threat will be more difficult than ever

20 March 2024
Journalists attend a news conference in Kabul in January 2023.
Afghanistan turmoil

No pictures: Afghanistan journalists fear clampdown on visual reporting

Taliban official tells media personnel to focus on growing beards

27 February 2024
Afghan men under a billboard bearing the message: "Hijab is honor, not captivity" in Kabul. 
Politics

Afghan women scared to step out after Taliban arrests over hijab

Officials claim the detained broke code, but HRW says 'walls closing in' on girls

20 January 2024
An Afghan girl looks out from a car window near a refugee repatriation center in Nowshera, Pakistan: More than 500,000 refugees have so far been returned to Afghanistan. 
Opinion

Expelling Afghan refugees won't boost Pakistan's security

Mass repatriation is creating a recruitment opportunity for militant groups

14 January 2024
Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada poses for a portrait In this undated photo from an unknown location. (Source photos by AP and Reuters) 
Politics

Taliban supreme leader's existence remains a mystery

Some analysts say he's dead; spokesman says he simply refuses to be photographed

27 December 2023
Afghan children play cricket in a park in New Delhi. Cricket has become increasingly popular among young refugees since the World Cup. (Photo by Shefali Rafiq)
Life

For Afghan refugees, World Cup cricket wins are a beacon of hope

Mixed feelings remain over lack of women and ethnic minority participation

23 December 2023
The Hindu Kush Himalaya region, which stretches 3,500 kilometers and includes Earth's highest mountain range, is warming by 0.3 C per decade -- faster than the global average, according to the U.N.'s science body for climate change. (Illustration by Yoshiko Kawano)
Asia Insight

COP28 spotlights key climate battle: Saving Himalayan ice

From Afghanistan to China, vanishing glaciers risk floods and drought for billions

19 December 2023
The Afghan Taliban says China has accepted its choice for ambassador to Beijing with the release of this photo of an unidentified Taliban representative.
Afghanistan turmoil

Taliban says China has accepted its envoy to Beijing

Afghanistan 'last piece' of strategic puzzle as Beijing looks to shut out West

10 December 2023