Water may have been brought to Earth by asteroids from the outer edges of the solar system, scientists said after analysing rare samples collected on a six-year Japanese space mission.

Sri Lanka's former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa will return to the island nation next week after fleeing in July amid mass protests, local broadcaster Newsfirst reported on Wednesday, citing a former ambassador.

Explosions and fires ripped through at least 17 locations in southern Thailand on Wednesday, authorities said, in what appeared to be multiple coordinated attacks that injured seven people.

China is scrambling to alleviate power shortages and bring more water to the drought-hit basin of the Yangtze river as it battles a record-breaking heatwave by deploying relief funds, seeding clouds and developing new sources of supply.

The United States and Western countries may not appreciate India buying Russian oil but they have accepted it as New Delhi has not been defensive about its stand, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

The Indian Home Ministry today said Rohingya refugees in New Delhi would be kept at a detention centre till they are deported, refuting central Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's statement made earlier promising flats and security to members of the Muslim minority community members from Myanmar.

Afghan university students will have to attend more compulsory Islamic studies classes, education officials said yesterday while giving little sign that secondary schools for girls would reopen.

At least 20 people were killed and six more were injured when a bus caught fire after colliding with an oil tanker in Pakistan yesterday, police said. The passengers were a couple of hours into a long journey when their vehicle crashed on the outskirts of the central city of Multan.

The UN’s new special envoy for Myanmar began her first trip to the country yesterday, a day after a junta court sentenced ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to six more years in jail for corruption.

A Chinese research vessel bristling with antennas and communication gear docked at Sri Lanka’s Chinese-run port of Hambantota yesterday despite concerns from India and the United States about its alleged spying activities.

At least 20 people were killed and six injured when a passenger bus collided with an oil tanker on the Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5) of Pakistan early today, officials said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the two countries will “expand the comprehensive and constructive

The Taliban marked a year in power yesterday with small-scale celebrations by the group’s fighters as Afghanistan struggles with rising poverty, drought, malnutrition and fading hope among women that they will have a decisive role in the country’s future.

As India marked 75 years of its independence from more than two centuries of British rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday flagged corruption and nepotism among the biggest two challenges today saying graft is eating into the country like termites.

A Myanmar junta court jailed Aung San Suu Kyi for six years for corruption yesterday, a source close to the case said, taking the ousted leader’s prison time to 17 years.

The death toll from an explosion at a bustling market in the Armenian capital Yerevan rose to six yesterday as search operations continued for people believed trapped under rubble.

China staged fresh military drills around Taiwan yesterday, slamming a new visit by United States lawmakers to the island days after a similar trip by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi triggered a furious response from Beijing.

On June 11 this year, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the headquarters of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe). It was a significant step in the operationalization of reforms launched by the Government of India to promote private sector participation in India’s space sector, providing access to space assets, data and facilities, which were hitherto entirely with the government entity, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Myanmar’s ruling junta has moved to restrict political parties from meeting foreigners or international organisations ahead of an election expected next year.

Indian administered Kashmir yesterday sacked four government employees, citing their involvement in activities “prejudicial to the interests of the security of the state”.