Twelve people died and dozens were injured when a passenger plane carrying 100 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Kazakhstan's largest city and slammed into a house, officials say.

At least two dozen people died and 13 others were injured after a bus plunged into a ravine in Indonesia, police say.

A lot of talk is going on about unconventional and extravagant works of art created by artificial intelligence (AI) -- currently on display in various places across the nation.

Hong Kong riot police yesterday broke up a solidarity rally for China’s Uighurs -- with one officer drawing a pistol -- as the city’s pro-democracy movement likened their plight to that of the oppressed Muslim minority.

A Pakistani court yesterday sentenced a university professor to death for blasphemy under a law that critics say is often used to target minorities and liberal activists.

North Korea yesterday warned Washington would only aggravate tensions and “pay dearly” for criticising Pyongyang over human rights, with nuclear negotiations between the two deadlocked.

US President Donald Trump spoke on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and claimed progress on issues from trade to North Korea and Hong Kong, but China said Xi accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs. The two leaders spoke a week after their envoys sealed a “Phase 1” agreement aimed at ending an 18-month trade war that has rattled markets and raised tensions.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has criticised India’s new citizenship law, which is seen as discriminatory against Muslims and has sparked deadly protests across the South Asian country.

Donald Trump kicked off Christmas vacation on Friday after a series of legislative victories gave him one of his best weeks in office -- apart from becoming only the third US president ever impeached.

China yesterday urged the UN Security Council to unanimously back its joint proposal with Russia to ease sanctions on North Korea, warning that dialogue to resolve nuclear tensions must not regress.

Malaysia will this week host a summit of Muslim leaders billed as a forum to look at the Islamic world’s problems, but it will be closely watched for Middle East power plays and their stance on China’s Uighur minority.

China’s second aircraft carrier entered service yesterday, adding major firepower to its military ambitions as it faces tensions with self-ruled Taiwan as well as the US and regional neighbours around the disputed South China Sea.

India’s new citizenship law has stoked fears that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to remould the world’s largest democracy as a Hindu nation, undermining the secular and pluralist roots of the world’s biggest democracy.

Bangladesh has been ranked the top country among its South Asian neighbours by performing the best in bringing down gender gap, World Economic Forum says in its latest report.

Fourteen miners were killed in a coal and gas blast at a mine in southwest China, leaving two people still trapped underground, authorities say.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan terms the prevailing situation over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 as “volatile” and it has been created by BJP-RSS combine.

Sporadic violence breaks out in Nadia, North 24 Parganas and Howrah districts of India’s West Bengal state where protest grew against the amended Citizenship Act, police say.

After supporting BJP over the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a key party ally in Assam has now decided to oppose it. The AGP announced its decision on Saturday after a meeting of the senior party leaders. The party will approach the Supreme Court against the CAA according to media reports.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad suggests he may seek to stay in power after 2020.

The Nanavati Commission has given a clean chit to the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi-led government in the 2002 riots in the state where over 1,000 people, mostly of the minority community, were killed.