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One of China’s most senior judges has been stripped of Party membership and removed from all public positions after being accused of corruption. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Xi Xiaoming had severely violated political discipline and not ruled according to law. Mr Xi was one of nine Supreme Court deputy judges. He could now face criminal charges for ...

India’s central bank has cut its key interest rate for the fourth time this year, and by more than expected. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reduced its repo rate to 6.75% from 7.25%, with economists having forecast it would trim rates to 7%. The repo rate is the level at which the central bank lends to commercial banks. The ...

Afghan forces have begun an operation to retake the city of Kunduz, after suffering a major military reverse when it was seized by the Taliban on Monday. The president said security forces were “retaking government buildings” and inflicting “heavy casualties”. The US said it had carried out an air strike on the city early on Tuesday. The Taliban had forced ...

Russia is considering whether to follow the US and its allies in conducting air strikes against Islamic State (IS) targets, President Vladimir Putin says. Mr Putin spoke after meeting Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). But the meeting, and the leaders’ speeches at the UNGA, also highlighted splits about how to end the Syrian war. ...

Officials from several countries have said that more than 1,000 people died in last week’s stampede near Mecca during the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The last figure given by the Saudi authorities was 769. However, a Nigerian official told the BBC that more than 1,000 bodies had been taken from the disaster site to morgues in the city of Jeddah. Indian, ...

An American man suspected of killing a South Korean college student in 1997 protested his innocence as he arrived in Seoul under guard on Wednesday after being extradited from the United States. Arthur Patterson, 35, is expected to face trial on charges that he killed Jo Jung-Pil, who was stabbed multiple times with a knife in a fast-food restaurant toilet ...

US aerospace giant Boeing has reached deals with Chinese firms to sell 300 aircraft and set up a completion centre in China, state media and its local partner said Wednesday, as President Xi Jinping began a visit to the United States. The massive order, which was not immediately confirmed by Boeing, demonstrates the vital importance of the Chinese market despite ...

 The United States has warned that the toughest crackdown in years on Chinese activists threatens to cloud the high-profile state visit by President Xi Jinping. Yet human rights is unlikely to dominate the agenda when Xi is welcomed at the White House on Friday. As China emerges as an economic and military rival that Washington both competes and cooperates with, ...

The passport of Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani suspended by the government on Tuesday to prevent him from flying to New York for an event where he was likely to have spoken against India. The government action came after reports that the hardline Hurriyat faction leader was planning to travel to New York to attend the annual meeting of ...

At least 38 Islamic State group fighters were killed in air strikes by the Damascus regime against three jihadist-held towns in central Syria, a monitoring group said on Tuesday. Monday’s strikes hit Palmyra and two other towns in Homs province, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.