An international rights watchdog accused Israel on Tuesday of pursuing policies of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians - and against its own Arab minority - that amount to crimes against humanity.

France announced today it would send oxygen generation plants, ventilators, and other medical supplies to support India's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, as the first shipment of vital medical supplies from Britain reached New Delhi.

The Brazilian health regulator Anvisa rejected importing the Russian-made Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine requested by state governors battling a deadly second wave of the virus that is battering Latin America's largest nation.

A prominent ethnic insurgent group captured and burned down a military base in eastern Myanmar near the Thai border early Tuesday morning, an official from the group said.

The United States will start to share up to 60 million doses of AstraZeneca Plc's coronavirus vaccine with other countries as soon as the next few weeks, the White House said on Monday.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha was fined 6,000 baht ($190) on Monday for breaching rules aimed at containing the coronavirus by not wearing a face mask, the governor of Bangkok said.

Nasa’s mini helicopter Ingenuity on Sunday successfully completed its third flight on Mars, moving farther and faster than ever before, with a peak speed of 6.6 feet per second.

Thailand’s prime minister was fined for not wearing a mask yesterday after new Covid-19 restrictions came into force to try to halt the country’s spiralling outbreak.

Military expenditure worldwide rose to nearly $2 trillion in 2020, defying the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers said yesterday.

Iran’s top diplomat complained in a leaked recording that the elite Revolutionary Guards had more influence in foreign affairs and the country’s nuclear dossier than him, in remarks that shine a light on ties between the government and the powerful force.

Activists opposed to Myanmar’s military junta called on people to stop paying electricity bills and agricultural loans from yesterday, and to keep their children away from school, scorning the top general’s pledge at a regional summit to end the post-coup crisis.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday said Pakistan would be happy to talk out differences and resolve outstanding issues through dialogue if India was willing to revisit the unilateral decisions it took on Aug 5, 2019.

The commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, US Army General Scott Miller, on Sunday said an orderly withdrawal of foreign forces and the handing over of military bases and equipment to the Afghan forces had begun.

A majority of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s performance during his first 100 days in office, three new polls found Sunday. Overall, the polls showed a range of 52-58 percent of US adults who say they approve of the job Biden is doing, compared with 39-42 percent who say they disapprove.

The European Commission said on Monday it had launched legal action against AstraZeneca for not respecting its contract for the supply of Covid-19 vaccines and for not having a "reliable" plan to ensure timely deliveries.

India’s government has decided to leave the import of Covid-19 vaccines to state authorities and companies, two government officials told Reuters, a decision that may slow acquisitions of shots as a second wave of the pandemic rips through the country.

Activists opposed to Myanmar's military junta called on people to stop paying electricity bills and agricultural loans from Monday and to keep their children away from school, raising new doubts about a bid by a regional bloc to end a post-coup crisis.

As India reels under an alarming surge of Covid-19 cases, the country's armed forces are recalling all their medical personnel who have retired or taken pre-mature retirement in the last two years to work in Covid-19 facilities for civilians near their present place of residence.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today cast her vote at a polling booth in south Kolkata's Bhabanipur assembly constituency.

The Madras High Court today slammed the Election Commission of India for allowing political rallies to be conducted amid the raging coronavirus pandemic in the country, and observed that the polls body officers should probably be “booked on murder charges”.