VAN, Turkey -- A tipoff from Afghan army acquaintances prompted Ahmad* and his wife Fatima* to flee the capital Kabul hours before it fell to the Taliban. It marked the start of a perilous journey of more than 4,000 kms with their young daughter -- and a destination, the eastern Turkish city of Van, that is hardly the sanctuary they hoped.

The family does not regret their decision to leave Afghanistan. They say they had to go because of military connections that make them Taliban targets

TOKYO -- Mitsubishi Electric Chairman Masaki Sakuyama resigned Friday following a number of scandals over quality control, the company announced the same day, as he takes responsibility for the actions of the company's president from 2014 to 2018.

Sakuyama will assume a new role as a senior advisor to the company.

Former president Takeshi Sugiyama resigned in July over news that inspection results for train equipment had been faked as far back as the 1980s.

Mitsubishi Electric also said Sakuyama, who

NEW DELHI -- India's e-commerce scene is heating up as Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon kick off annual autumn festival sales on Oct. 3, offering steep discounts on products ranging from smartphones, to appliances to apparel. In all, sales are forecast to reach more than $9 billion.

Flipkart, a homegrown e-commerce platform, and Amazon's Indian arm each reportedly have market shares of over 30% in the country's online retail market. The top two players moved the

CANBERRA/SYDNEY (Reuters) -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday announced an 18-month ban on Australians travelling abroad will be lifted from next month, easing one of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions imposed globally.

Reopening the international border for citizens and permanent residents will be linked to the establishment of home quarantine in Australia's eight states and territories, Morrison said, meaning that some parts of the country will reopen sooner than others.

The first phase of the plan will focus on citizens and

BEIJING -- As power shortages plague China, provincial governments are beginning to approve rate hikes for electricity, mostly centering on supplies to factories, a move that is likely to raise production costs.

The southern province of Guangdong, the nation's economic powerhouse, approved peak-time rate hikes of up to 25% for electricity transmitted from state-owned power companies to factories and other businesses, starting Friday. The hike does not apply to ordinary households.

Peak hours for factory power usage are from 11 a

TOKYO -- Japan's Sumco will spend 228.7 billion yen ($2.05 billion) to step up production of state-of-the-art 300 mm silicon wafers for semiconductors, the company said Thursday, amid a persistent global chip shortage.

"With our existing manufacturing facilities, supply can't keep up with demand," Chairman Mayuki Hashimoto told a virtual news conference.

The investment will further bolster the competitiveness of Japan's chipmaking materials sector, which has

GUANGZHOU/SHANGHAI -- The future site of Sunshine Peninsula, a massive 5,000-unit condominium development in the suburbs of Guangzhou, was silent in late September.

About half the buildings had been completed up to only about their middle floors, leaving steel bars exposed to the elements. The other half remained vacant, windows gaping open without glass.

"Work's been stopped for the past half a month," a worker involved in handling materials for the project said gruffly. "I haven'

TOKYO -- Fumio Kishida, the newly elected leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is set to replace long-standing Finance Minister Taro Aso.

Former environment and Olympic minister Shunichi Suzuki will replace his brother-in-law Aso, who has served as both deputy prime minister and finance chief since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power in 2012.

Kishida will form a new cabinet on Monday after being formally elected as prime minister in an extraordinary Diet session the same day. The new

MANILA -- Philippine boxing star and senator Manny Pacquiao on Friday became the first contender to file their candidacy for next year's election to succeed President Rodrigo Duterte.

The country's election commission is accepting candidates for the May 2022 general elections through Oct. 8, but substitutions will be allowed until mid-November. A little over 18,000 positions -- from president to municipal council officers -- are up for grabs.

Ahead of the filing, the 42-year