WASHINGTON: A senior US diplomat has said that the United States cannot hold direct talks with the Taliban as it’s doing with North Korea because there’s no comparison between the two situations. Instead, US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells urged the insurgents …

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led a sombre ceremony Sunday as Japan marked the seventh anniversary of a deadly earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated its northeastern coast and left around 18,500 people dead or missing. The magnitude 9.0 quake — which struck under the Pacific Ocean on March 11, …

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ally, Finance Minister Taro Aso, face mounting pressure over a suspected cronyism scandal as the finance ministry prepares to report on Monday that documents in the case were doctored. Abe, now in his sixth year in office, had hoped to put the …