Pakistan is set to assume the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) for a one-year term following the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Bishkek, the Pakistan foreign ministry said at its weekly press briefing on Thursday.

Bishkek resident Joomart Kokumov suffered from multiple eye conditions that made it difficult for him to travel by bus on his own, as he could barely see the numbers on the buses. Through the China-Kyrgyzstan "Express Health-Bright Journey" program, Joomart received free eye surgery that

People visit an immersive digital exhibition in Surabaya, East Java Province, Indonesia, Aug. 27, 2026.

Hira Bahadur Dikshit, a resident of Dhungebazaar, a settlement swept away by the floods in northern Nepal, was still in shock as he looked at the devastated area that was once a bustling town.The flood, triggered by the collapse of a glacier on the Nepalese side at a higher elevation on Wednesday,

Nigerian police have warned that rushing the rescue operation for people abducted in Niger State could put the victims' lives at greater risk, as security agencies intensify efforts to locate and free them.

People try Chinese dishes at the China-Nigeria food festival in Abuja, Nigeria, on Aug. 27, 2026.

In the chaos of Hurricane Katrina, Charity Hospital in New Orleans became a scene of heartbreak and heroism, with doctors scrambling to keep patients alive without power or functioning medical equipment while floodwaters trapped them inside its darkened halls for days on end.The massive hospital, a

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who splashed her signature polka dots on paintings, sculptures and museum installations around the world, has died, her studio said Thursday. She was 97.Kusama died Aug. 14 at a hospital in Tokyo, Yayoi Kusama Studio said, without specifying the cause of death."

China on Friday once again called on Japan to speed up the disposal of chemical weapons abandoned in China following World War II.Responding to reports about a civilian exhibition in Yokohama focusing on Japan's wartime poison gas program, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Japan

Three Palestinians from the same family were killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.Eyewitnesses said an Israeli drone fired a missile at a group of farmers who were working in the town of al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis.Local

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says the federal government and state governors are working to reduce transport fares nationwide by taking advantage of lower fuel costs associated with compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric vehicles.Following discussions with the Nigeria Governors' Forum on

Sri Lanka is developing a specialized coral conservation center and laboratory complex in Nilaveli, Trincomalee, as part of a national program to protect the country's coastal and marine ecosystems, the Ministry of Environment said Thursday.Deputy Minister of Environment Anton Jayakody inspected

The Fijian government plans to increase support for securing water supplies in remote communities, with solar-powered water pumps being prioritized under a new 2 million Fijian dollars (around 905,680 U.S. dollars) funding initiative.The move came as Fiji prepares for the potential impacts of El

The number of births in Japan from January through June edged up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, marking the first year-on-year increase for the six-month period in 11 years, government data showed Friday.The total number, including births to foreign nationals in Japan, stood at 342,068, up 0.8

Icelanders will head to the polls on Saturday to decide whether the Nordic island nation should reopen accession negotiations with the European Union (EU), more than a decade after the talks were put on hold.The referendum comes as Iceland reconsiders its relationship with Europe amid domestic

China on Friday urged the Japanese government to speed up the disposal of abandoned chemical weapons left in China from World War II.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to a question about a recent exhibition on Japanese military poison