Asia

A Turkish court ruled on April 7 to suspend the trial in absentia of 26 Saudis accused in the gruesome killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and for the case to be transferred to Saudi Arabia.

Archaeologists deep in the Jordanian desert have discovered a 9,000-year-old ritualistic complex near what is thought to be the earliest known large human-built structure worldwide.

The Stone Age shrine site, excavated last year, was used by gazelle hunters and features carved stone figures, an altar and a miniature model of a large-scale hunting trap.

Dubai opened its Museum of the Future on Feb. 22, a spectacular structure it is touting as the world's most beautiful building.

The museum, a seven-storey hollow silver ellipse decorated with Arabic calligraphy of quotes from Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, and thousands of meters of LED lights, takes pride of place on Sheikh Zayed Road, the city's main highway.

The Ilyushin-62M, operated by the Belorussian private air carrier Rada Airlines, took off from Belgrade's international airport a few minutes after midnight on February 9, 2021, loaded with hundreds of Serbian-made 80mm rockets.

To date, more than 193,000 Syrians have become Turkish citizens, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has said, accusing Europe of overlooking the migration issue.

He noted that around 3.7 million Syrians live in Turkey under international protection and more than 700,000 Syrian children were born in the country.

Lebanon's Ministry of Culture handed over to Iraq on Feb. 6 337 ancient artifacts that had been on display in a Lebanese museum for years.

The items, which included clay tablets, were returned by Minister of Culture Mohammed Murtada to Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon during a ceremony held at the National Museum of Beirut.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 1 that his country does not want a war between Russia and Ukraine and hopes the issue will be resolved peacefully.

The US have stepped up exercises in the region as China presses its territorial claims over the South China Sea with Beijing also ramping up pressure on Taiwan

A monkey with ghostly white circles around its eyes is among 224 new species listed in the World Wildlife Fund's latest update on the greater Mekong region.

The conservation group's report, released on Jan. 26, highlights the need to protect the rich biodiversity and habitats in the region, which includes Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.

An 800-year-old minaret considered one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in Afghanistan was damaged by two earthquakes this week and is in danger of collapse, an official has said.