Asia News Wrap: Afghan minister killed in Kabul explosion, and more

Here are a few stories from around Asia you may have missed this week.

Afghan refugees minister assasinated 

Afghanistan’s acting minister for refugees, Khalil Rahman Haqqani, and six other people were killed in an explosion in the capital Kabul on Wednesday. A Taliban spokesperson said in a statement that the Islamic State militant group had killed Khalil Haqqani.

Khalil Haqqani became a minister in the Taliban's interim government after foreign forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. "We lost a very brave Mujahid (fighter),” his nephew Anas Haqqani told Reuters. "We will never forget him and his sacrifice.” The United Nations mission in Afghanistan on Thursday condemned the attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, that killed the minister and others.

Daycare for preschool children to be free in Tokyo

Tokyo’s city governor has announced that starting in September 2025, daycare will be free for all preschool children as part of efforts to boost Japan's low birth rate. The move is aimed at reducing families' financial burden by expanding a policy of free daycare for second-borns and subsequent children. 

"Japan is facing the crisis of a declining number of children, which isn't going away," Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said as she announced the plan this week. While many developed countries are struggling with low birth rates, the problem is particularly acute in Japan where the population has been declining for years.

Volcano erupts in Philippines, prompting evacuations

A volcano in central Philippines erupted for a second time this year, prompting emergency evacuations after it spewed a huge column of ash into the sky, authorities said on Monday. Mount Kanlaon, an active volcano straddling the Southeast Asian country's central provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental, sent an ash cloud up to 4,000 meters into the sky at about 3 p.m. 

The eruption affected 11,791 families, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. Mt. Kanlaon is one of two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines, which is located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common.

Thailand approves debt support measures 

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Wednesday her cabinet had approved debt support measures, including interest suspensions and reduced principal payments, to help tackle household debt. 

The measures will support retail borrowers and smaller businesses and solve debt problems more sustainably, she said at a press conference. The government is trying to ease Thailand's household debt burden, which it sees as a constraint on consumption and economic growth.

Syria gets caretaker PM after fall of Assad

Syria's new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister until March 1, with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad. In a brief address on state television, Mohammed al-Bashir, who previously ran an administration in a pocket of the northwest controlled by rebels, said he would lead the interim authority temporarily. 

The interim government plans to overhaul the country’s economy and embrace liberal market reforms, ending decades of state control, a leading business lobbyist told Reuters. “It will be a free-market system based on competition,” Bassel Hamwi, the head of the Damascus Chambers of Commerce, told the news agency after meeting with the interim economy minister.

(Cover: File: Afghanistan's then minister for refugees Khalil Haqqani (C) arrives to inspect a refugee camp near the Afghanistan-Pakistan Torkham border in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, November 2, 2023. /AFP)