AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in Pakistan, the health minister said today, making it the first coronavirus vaccine to get the green light for use in the South Asian country.

Myanmar police scuffled on Saturday with dozens of followers of Buddhist nationalist monk Ashin Wirathu at a demonstration calling for him to be put on trial more than two months after he handed himself in to face sedition charges.

As India today began vaccinating its people against coronavirus, those receiving Bharat Biotech's Covaxin were asked to sign consent forms which held out the assurance of compensation and treatment if any adverse effect was noticed linked to the jab.

Pakistani authorities sacked a local police chief and 11 other policemen for failing to protect a Hindu temple that was set on fire and demolished last month by a mob led by hundreds of supporters of a radical Islamist party, police said Friday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the start of pan-India rollout of Covid-19 vaccination drive tomorrow (Saturday) via video conferencing in what his office termed as the world’s largest inoculation programme.

An estimated three lakh healthcare workers will be given the coronavirus vaccine at 2,934 sites across India on the first day of the massive nationwide vaccination drive on January 16, official sources said today.

India today approved the procurement of 73 indigenously-manufactured Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk-1A fighter planes and ten LCA Tejas Mk-1 for training purposes at a cost of Rs 45,696 crores.

Bangladesh will import 60,000 metric tonnes of diesel from India in the current year 2021 under a government-to-government contract.

Almost a year to the day, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China will hold another tripartite secretary-level meeting on Rohingya repatriation in Dhaka on January 19.

A police officer was shot dead in northwestern Pakistan yesterday when a polio vaccination team he was escorting was attacked in a drive-by shooting.

The police chiefs of Bangladesh and India today decided to establish designated nodal points for enhancing joint work against terrorist entities, including global terrorist groups as well as other fugitives.

The Indian government today placed an order with Serum Institute of India (SII) to purchase the first tranche of 11 million doses of the Covishield vaccine at 210 rupees each, official sources said.

Three Hong Kong democracy supporters were jailed for up to five and a half years yesterday for their involvement in a protest at the city’s airport where a mainland Chinese state media reporter was tied up and assaulted.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday accused Hazara Shia protesters of blackmailing him, as they refused for a sixth day to bury the bodies of miners killed in a brutal attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

A Pakistani court yesterday sentenced a militant leader accused of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks to five years in jail for terror financing.

India today said it sees international cooperation in the fight against Covid-19 particularly with its neighbours as “its duty.”

Bangladesh has reiterated the importance of resolving outstanding bilateral issues with Pakistan, including an official apology from Pakistan for the genocide it committed during Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971.

Nepal’s top court today will begin hearings on petitions challenging Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s sudden decision to dissolve the parliament, a move that has triggered public outrage and has been labelled unconstitutional.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Doraiswami says in a tweet that the country’s “cherished partner Bangladesh” has no cause for alarm over receiving the Covid-19 vaccine on time because India always prioritises its neighbours.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on Sunday that killed 11 miners from Pakistan’s minority Shi’ite Hazaras in Baluchistan province.