Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Sri Lanka yesterday seeking to advance Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative as the island nation tries to rescue itself from a foreign currency and debt crisis, partly due to infrastructure built with Chinese loans that don’t generate revenue. 

Colombian Victor Escobar became the first person in the Andean country with a non-terminal illness to die by legally regulated euthanasia late on Friday, his lawyer Luis Giraldo confirmed.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Sri Lanka on Sunday seeking to advance Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative as the island nation tries to rescue itself from a foreign currency and debt crisis, partly due to infrastructure built with Chinese loans that don’t generate revenue.

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 96, successfully underwent an "elective medical procedure" and is expected to be discharged in a few days, the National Heart Institute said on Sunday.

Indian police today arrested the alleged creator of “Sulli Deals” App, which targeted Muslim women, from the central Indian city of Indore.

The Indian government renewed permission for late Catholic nun Mother Teresa’s charity to receive foreign funds, weeks after rejecting it, the organisation said yesterday. 

The Taliban’s religious police have put up posters around the capital Kabul ordering Afghan women to cover up, an official said Friday, the latest in a string of creeping restrictions. 

Indian election commission yesterday announced dates for Assembly elections in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab, and Uttarakhand. The five states will vote over seven phases starting February 10, with counting of votes scheduled for March 10. 

At least 21 people died in an enormous traffic jam caused by tens of thousands of visitors thronging a Pakistani hill town to see unusually heavy snowfall, authorities said yesterday. 

At least 21 people died in an enormous traffic jam caused by tens of thousands of visitors thronging a Pakistani hill town to see unusually heavy snowfall, authorities said Saturday.

A building housing a canteen in Chongqing in China's southwest collapsed on Friday after an explosion suspected to have been caused by a gas leak, killing at least 16, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The Taliban yesterday appealed for emergency humanitarian aid without “political bias”, saying recent snow and flooding had worsened the plight of the Afghan people. 

Japan moved ahead with an expansion of support to US troops as the allies held top-level talks yesterday over tensions with China and North Korea. 

India’s daily Covid-19 cases jumped to 117,100 yesterday, a five-fold increase in a week, and on course to overtake its previous infection peak as the fast-spreading Omicron becoming the dominant coronavirus variant across the country. 

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad was admitted to hospital yesterday, the medical facility said, weeks after he was discharged following a check-up. 

A man in India got jabbed with a Covid-19 vaccine at least eight times last year, a health official said. Brahmdeo Mandal, 65, has claimed that he received 11 doses of the vaccine in Bihar state.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday met Myanmar’s military ruler Min Aung Hlaing amid criticism of the first visit by a head of government since the army seized power from an elected government last year. 

Kazakhstan’s president yesterday rejected calls for talks with protesters after days of unprecedented unrest, vowing to destroy “armed bandits” and authorising his forces to shoot to kill without warning. 

The alleged mastermind behind the creation of "Bulli Bai" app -- targeting Muslim women -- was suspended by his college, following arrest, an official of the institute said today.

In light of a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases across India, its commerce ministry has established help desks and control rooms to avoid any possible disruption in international trade during the pandemic surge.