The Prevention of Vice Manual of the Taliban discourages people from "helping, befriending... infidels". ....

Indian-origin Akilan Sankaran has won the top prize in the nation's leading science competition with a computer programme using "antiprime numbers" that can accelerate everyday processes. ....

China has restricted smaller cities in the country from building "super high-rise buildings", as part of a larger bid to crackdown on vanity projects, the BBC reported ....

Heihe, a major port city in China's Heilongjiang province bordering Russia in the north, was urgently put under a lockdown on Thursday after one confirmed Covid-19 case was found, Global Times reported. ....

A number of women took to the streets of Kabul on Tuesday to protest against the closed schools for girls and accused the international community of being silent about what is going on in Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported. ....

The Chinese border city of Ejin Banner and Lanzhou in Gansu Province have been placed under a lockdown on Monday in view of a rise in domestic Covid-19 cases, reported the Global Times. ....

Israel has lifted an official travel warning for trips to Morocco which has been in effect for the past 10 years. ....

An Indian armed forces contingent and bands of both army and navy will participate in "Bangladesh Victory Day Celebrations" in Dhaka on December 16, it was announced on Monday. ....

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, members of the Transitional Sovereignty Council's civilian component and several other ministers have been placed under house arrest by joint military forces amid reports of a coup, the Ministry of Information and Communications said on Monday. ....

Russia has reported 37,678 Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, the highest daily count, taking the national tally to 8,205,983, the official monitoring and response center said on Saturday. ....