Azerbaijan’s opposition leader Ali Karimli, a former secretary of state, goes on trial in Baku on Wednesday for an alleged "attempted coup". Karimli spoke to FRANCE 24 from prison, where he slammed the charges against him as "entirely fabricated and politically motivated" and warned that he risked assassination.

Pakistan on Wednesday launched deadly air strikes on Afghanistan after a period of relative calm following months of fighting at the beginning of the year. Pakistan's government said 26 "militants" were killed while Afghan authorities said at least 12 people, including children, died in provinces near the border.

Dozens of men on Tuesday took to the streets of the western Afghan city of Herat to protest the multiple arrests of women in recent days. The women were detained by the morality police for not properly adhering to the Taliban-ordered dress code, which requires them to fully cover themselves when in public. According to several protesters, security forces used sticks and whips to disperse them, and “even fired shots in the air”.

China said Tuesday that it “firmly opposed” the US decision to blacklist major Chinese companies including Alibaba and Baidu, after Washington accused them of aiding the Chinese military. Beijing warned against what it called the “unreasonable suppression” of Chinese firms and called on Washington to correct its decision.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said that China world not swerve from its commitment ​to safeguarding common interests with North Korea or waver in its support for Kim Jong Un during a rare summit between the two leaders in Pyongyang. The summit comes at a time when China's economy, strengthened by growing trade and military ties to Russia, could boost ⁠North Korea's confidence in talks.

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 31 people, toppling buildings and prompting tsunami warnings across parts of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, as authorities ordered coastal residents to evacuate and rescuers searched for victims amid strong aftershocks.

Hundreds of mostly young Indians gathered in New Dehli on Saturday for the first street protest organised by the Cockroach Janata Party – a movement which began as an online joke but has quickly gained momentum among Indian youth disillusioned with their education, employment and economic prospects. 

The Central Asian country of Turkmenistan is immensely proud of its horses. The ancient and endangered Akhal-Teke species has become a symbol of great national pride in a deeply isolated state where power is firmly concentrated, and are considered so beautiful that beauty pageants are held for them annually. The species and the culture surrounding them has even been listed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List.