Asia Pacific

The Taliban captured the strategic border crossing between Spin Boldak at the border and Pakistan on Wednesday, and continued to make big gains since foreign forces intensified their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Interior Ministry denied that the rebels had taken the area even when social media was flooded with…

France on Tuesday urged all its citizens in Afghanistan to leave the country due to security concerns, the French embassy in Kabul said, as the Taliban continued a blowing offensive while foreign forces completed their withdrawal. "The government will set up a special flight on the morning of July 17, departing from Kabul, to…

The Taliban on Tuesday warned Turkey against extending its troop presence in Afghanistan as US-led forces leave the country, insisting the decision was "reprehensible". "The decision ... is poorly recommended, a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity and of our national interests," the group said in a statement,…

The Tokyo Olympics start in less than two weeks, and it has been decided that most events will be held behind closed doors. For foreign athletes and journalists, it is about quarantine, even if you are 100% vaccinated. For the Japanese, of whom only 16.8% are, the goal is to minimize the risk of contamination and an explosion in the number of cases of Covid-19 in the country. The decision to refrain from spectators is a first in Olympic history. There will therefore be no one in almost all the venues for the Olympic Games…

For seven months, Indonesian activist Melati Wijsen went on an epic journey around the world with French author Flore Vasseur to meet young activists fighting for climate and social justice. She spoke to FRANCE 24 about their travels and the passion that drives her activist comrades. .

Several countries around Asia and the Pacific that are experiencing their first major waves of the coronavirus rushed to impose severe restrictions, a year and a half into a pandemic that many initially did well. Against the rapidly increasing number of infections in recent months, authorities in countries such as Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam announced or…

French judges have begun investigating allegations that four major fashion groups have benefited from forced labor in their supply chains. The multinational companies are accused of using cotton from China's Xinjiang region, where it is believed that at least one million Uighur Muslims are detained and subjected to forced labor. The case is based on allegations by a number of parties, including human…

The Taliban claimed on Friday that they control 85 percent of Afghanistan after seizing important border crossings with Iran and Turkmenistan, part of a sweeping offensive launched as US troops withdraw from the war-torn nation. Hours after President Joe Biden issued a strong defense of the US withdrawal, the Taliban said its fighters had seized the two major…

The Olympic flame arrived in Tokyo on Friday, but with the public staying away at a low-key welcoming ceremony due to fears of coronavirus, the day after a "heartbreaking" announcement that spectators would be banned from most gaming events. On a rainy morning exactly two weeks before the inauguration of the biggest sporting…