Asia & Pacific

The agitating teachers have claimed that in the last 12 years, the current dispensation in the northeastern state of Assam has arbitrarily stopped paying more than 12,000 teachers in state-run schools. They have claimed that 3,000 such teachers have retired while 91 have committed suicide.

On July 23, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his third State of the Nation address, highlighting the country’s “re-energized” relations with China, which have resulted in an “unprecedented level of cooperation” between the two nations.

While India's Narendra Modi-led government has time and again invoked a “secrecy clause” for not revealing the actual price at which the country is purchasing 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, the main opposition Congress Party has claimed no such clause exists in the India-France contract.

With elections just round the corner, mob lynching and mob violence has become an Achilles heel for the Narendra Modi-led government in India, as such incidences continue to occur across the country.

Iran has been providing Indian refiners with almost free shipping and extended credit period on oil sales. However, earlier this month, Iran’s ambassador to India had warned about the revocation of such privileges in case the latter decides to cut purchases.

The two advanced Dhruv choppers were gifted to the Maldives by India along with a 48-member crew for operation and maintenance. However, with relations between the two countries having deteriorated in the recent past, Male had asked New Delhi to take them back.

China is hoping huge, new, smart unmanned submarines will help give its naval fleet an edge in crucial waterways like the South China Sea and the western Pacific.

TOKYO (Sputnik) - The Japanese Defense Ministry plans to increase expenditures for deployment of a US land-based missile defense systems, Aegis Ashore by 20-30 percent up to 250 billion yen ($2.2 billion), The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported citing military sources on Sunday.

The United States has not recorded "a complete shutdown" of nuclear materials' production in North Korea, US Forces Korea Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks said.

“Trump 2020” and “Keep America Great” hats and flags manufactured in China are allegedly being held up at US customs due to the trade war between the US and China.

Passengers on multiple Air India flights flying out of Newark Liberty International Airport in the US state of New Jersey have complained about being bitten by bed bugs mid-air in the past week.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – At least 10 people were killed and 12 others are still missing due to the floods in northern and central Vietnam, the VnExpress newspaper reported on Saturday.

The UK and Australia are ramping up their defense cooperation in the Pacific and the South China Sea.

A secret letter has been leaked, sent by the office of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to the CIA begging for US help if the then-upcoming May 2018 elections went sour for his ruling coalition. Radio Sputnik spoke with Nile Bowie, a writer and journalist who covers Singapore and Malaysia for the Asia Times, about the revelations.

The option is back on the agenda after last year the federal government tried to tighten English language requirements and make sure that potential residents demonstrated a commitment to "Australian values."

Cherry is so far the smallest premature baby to have survived in India. She was just 25 weeks into gestation when she was taken out of her mother’s womb and kept in a ventilator.

WhatsApp has suggested that it will limit the number of times a message can be forwarded per day after the Indian government condemned the social media giant for its inability to curb fake news. India is WhatsApp’s biggest market with around 250 million registered users.

The Sri Lanka government has proposed to transfer 70 percent ownership of the loss-making Mattala International Airport to India. The airport is less than 30 kilometers away from Hambantota Port, in which China holds a 70 percent stake.

The last time the two neighbors faced each other in a football tournament was 21 years ago in 1997 in the Nehru Cup in Kochi, India. 17 matches were played between the two countries before that in which China beat India 12 times and the remaining matches ended in a draw.

The gift will be made during the upcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Rwanda where India plans to soon set up a mission, India’s Ministry of External Affairs announced on Friday.