Britain yesterday moved to reassure the public over the safety of its coronavirus vaccine campaign, after deciding to offer alternatives to an AstraZeneca jab amid blood clot concerns.

Australian politicians will no longer be exempt from rules against sexual harassment at work, the conservative government announced yesterday as it tries to quell public anger over parliamentary sex abuse scandals.

Colombo police yesterday arrested the current “Mrs World” on charges of assault over an on-stage fracas in which she pulled the crown off the head of the new “Mrs Sri Lanka”.

Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said he was stepping aside as the country’s designated future leader to let a younger person take over when current premier Lee Hsien Loong retires, according to his letter published in local media yesterday.

Barcelona prosecutors have filed suit against energy giant Endesa for the deaths of hundreds of birds electrocuted by its high-wire power lines, court documents show.

EU lawmakers yesterday called for the bloc’s top two officials to explain a snowballing diplomatic scandal that saw Commission head Ursula von der Leyen left without a chair at talks with Turkey’s president.

A French documentary has cast fresh doubts over the world’s most expensive painting, the “Salvator Mundi” credited to Leonardo da Vinci, revealing a resulting diplomatic tussle between France and its Saudi owner.

India, South Korea and Thailand faced mounting coronavirus infections yesterday, undermining cautious hopes that Asia might be emerging from the worst of the pandemic as worries about safety threatened to delay vaccination drives.

China yesterday accused the United Kingdom of sheltering “wanted criminals” after prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law said he had been granted political asylum there.

President Joe Biden was yesterday scheduled to unveil his administration’s first steps to curb gun violence, including a plan to reduce the proliferation of “ghost guns,” after a slew of mass shootings have put pressure on him to act.

India today made it clear that there was no ban on the export of Covid-19 vaccines but the supply of the jabs would continue while prioritising India’s domestic requirements.

A group of climate and development activists in Bangladesh called on US President Joe Biden’s administration to take the leadership role in a global transition to a new clean-energy economy.

Anti-coup demonstrators in Myanmar fought back with handmade guns and firebombs against a crackdown by security forces in a town in the northwest but at least 11 of the protesters were killed, domestic media reported on Thursday.

India’s Supreme Court today ordered not to deport Rohingyas detained in Jammu to Myanmar without following the prescribed process.

Myanmar security forces have arrested Paing Takhon, a model and actor who had spoken out against the coup, as activists placed shoes filled with flowers in parts of Yangon to commemorate dead protesters.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern temporarily suspended entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, following a high number of positive coronavirus cases arriving from that country.

The Biden administration announced it would provide $235 million in US aid to the Palestinians, restarting funding for the United Nations agency supporting refugees and restoring other assistance cut off by then-President Donald Trump.

Myanmar’s ambassador to London told Reuters he was locked out of the embassy on Wednesday, with sources saying his deputy had shut him out of the building and taken charge on behalf of the military.

Troops in Myanmar opened fire on pro-democracy protesters, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, the latest victims of a campaign to crush opposition to the ruling military junta, activists and media said.

Diplomats from major powers met separately with Iran and the United States to discuss how to bring both back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal that Washington abandoned three years ago.