CNN – Asia/Pacific

By Mohammed Tawfeeq, Nathan Hodge, Nilly Kohzad and Saleem Mehsud, CNN Fighting in Afghanistan’s last major holdout against Taliban rule continued through Friday after heavy clashes erupted overnight between Taliban fighters and an anti-Taliban group, according to Taliban sources. Panjshir Valley, a mountainous, inaccessible region north of Kabul, has a long history of resisting the

By Katie Hunt, CNN Geckos would definitely medal in a contest for nature’s best feet. The lizard’s sticky toes, covered in tiny hairs, mean it can climb across ceilings in a fantastic feat of evolution. But scientists say the lizards’ tails are just as extraordinary, with geckos performing a remarkable, if ungainly, maneuver that allows

By Rob Picheta, CNN The last American military flight left the airport and disappeared into the Kabul sky on Monday — and minutes later, the Taliban flooded the streets around the city’s last exit point, filling the night with celebratory gunfire. It was a decisive and humbling final chapter to the United States’ longest war,

CNN Editorial Research Here is a look at the life of Narendra Modi, prime minister of India. Personal Birth date: September 17, 1950 Birth place: Vadnagar, Gujarat, India Birth name: Narendra Damodardas Modi Father: Damodardas Modi Mother: Hiraba “Heeraben” Modi Marriage: Jashodaben (Chimanlal) Modi (1968-present, separated) Education: Delhi University, B.A., 1978; Gujarat University, M.A., 1983

By Jonny Hallam and Mick Krever, CNN The Taliban on Wednesday showed off dozens of American-made armored vehicles along with newly seized weapons at victory celebrations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. In videos posted on social media, the Taliban paraded hardware left behind by both Afghan and US forces after the withdrawal of

By Sheena McKenzie, CNN Taliban leaders declared victory over the United States from the tarmac of Kabul airport on Tuesday, hours after the withdrawal of the last American troops left Afghanistan in the grip of the militant group. The airport that in recent weeks had been the epicenter of a frantic Western evacuation mission was

By Ivana Kottasová, Joseph Ataman, Jo Shelley, Saskya Vandoorne, Madalena Araujo and Nilly Kohzad, CNN (CNN) — When the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan, tens of thousands of civilians decided to flee their homes. Translators, military contractors, public officials, journalists, human rights activists, employees of foreign NGOs and many others suddenly found themselves at risk. Many had

By Anna Coren and Jessie Yeung, CNN Abdul Rashid Shirzad was quiet and nervous on the taxi ride with his family to the Kabul airport, the last American-controlled enclave in the Afghan capital. “We hope to make it, and survive,” Shirzad, 34, a former interpreter for United States Special Forces, said in a video filmed

By Hannah Ritchie, CNN Afghan folk singer Fawad Andarabi was dragged from his home and killed by the Taliban in a restive mountain province north of Kabul on Friday, a local journalist told CNN, raising fears of a return to the militant group’s harsh rule of 20 years ago — including a clampdown on music.

By Nectar Gan and Steve George, CNN The crackdown came quickly and sweepingly, wiping out some of China’s biggest stars and fan clubs in a matter of days. Over the past week, China’s entertainment industry has become the latest to fall into the crosshairs of the ruling Communist Party, following Xi Jinping’s clampdown on political

By Joshua Berlinger, Will Ripley and Jake Kwon, CNN North Korea appears to have restarted operations at a power plant capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons, according to the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that clues, such as the discharge of cooling water, observed in early July indicated the

By Sandi Sidhu, Nick Paton Walsh, Tim Lister, Oren Liebermann, Laura Smith-Spark and Saskya Vandoorne, CNN Ten members of one family — including seven children — are dead after a US drone strike targeting a vehicle in a residential neighborhood of Kabul, a relative of the dead told CNN. The US carried out what it

By Emiko Jozuka and Chie Kobayashi, CNN Two people have died in Japan days after receiving doses from a batch of Moderna Covid-19 vaccines whose use was suspended Thursday following concerns over a contamination risk, the country’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Saturday. A causal link between the vaccine and the deaths has