By-polls for Bhabanipur, Jangipur, Samserganj constituencies in West Bengal took place yesterday.

Qatar and the EU’s top diplomats yesterday labelled a recent string of human rights abuses in Afghanistan “disappointing”, with Doha encouraging the Taliban to look to Qatar for how to run an Islamic system.

Armenia has detained on corruption charges the former defence minister who headed the country’s military during last year’s disastrous war with Azerbaijan, officials said yesterday.

Russia yesterday threatened to block YouTube and take other retaliatory measures, after the US video-sharing platform blocked the German-language channels of state broadcaster RT.

The stage is set for today’s assembly by-polls in south Kolkata’s high-profile Bhabanipur constituency where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is seeking the people’s mandate to enter the state legislature in order to retain her post.

The Taliban yesterday warned of consequences if the United States did not stop flying drones over Afghan airspace.

China's vast Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is in danger of losing momentum as opposition in targeted countries rises and debts mount, paving the way for rival schemes to squeeze Beijing out, a new study showed on Wednesday.

The Taliban on Wednesday warned of consequences if the United States did not stop flying drones over Afghan airspace.

Japan’s former foreign minister Fumio Kishida is set to be sworn in as Mr Yoshihide Suga’s successor as Prime Minister, after he won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s internal election on Wednesday (Sept 29).

A man was administered an anti-rabies shot instead of Covid-19 vaccine at a medical centre in a slum area under Thane district of the Indian state Maharashtra. A doctor and a nurse were suspended following the incident, a civic official said.

Women will no longer be allowed to attend classes or work at Kabul University “until an Islamic environment is created,” the school’s new Taliban-appointed chancellor announced Monday, in the latest move excluding Afghanistan’s women from public life.

The Philippines has approved Covid-19 jabs for children as young as 12, an aide to President Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday, as the country battles surging infections fuelled by the hyper-contagious Delta variant.

A 19-year-old Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist from Pakistani Punjab, captured in a massive army operation to stop infiltrations at Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri, has made big revelations to the army including details of his terror training in which the Pakistan Army was allegedly involved.

The Bhabanipur bypoll, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is Trinamool candidate, won’t be cancelled, the Calcutta High Court ruled yesterday, dismissing a plea against the bypoll. The court added that the bypoll will be held as planned own Thursday.

The Delhi riots of 2020 were planned and calculated to cause disruptions and were not triggered by any incident, the High Court said while refusing bail to one of the accused in the case yesterday.

An American brother and sister barred from exiting China since 2018 in an apparent bid to pressure their father to return and face criminal allegations have finally left the country, Beijing and Washington confirmed yesterday.

North Korea fired a missile towards the sea off its east coast yesterday, South Korea’s military said, as Pyongyang called on the United States and South Korea to scrap their “double standards” on weapons programmes to restart talks.

Japan will lift a coronavirus state of emergency in all regions on Thursday for the first time in nearly six months, as the number of new cases and deaths falls and the strain on the medical system eases, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said.

India has rolled out its first-ever national helpline for the elderly to help them resolve various mental, emotional, financial, legal, and physical challenges.

The Royal Navy said a British warship was sailing through the Taiwan Strait yesterday, a move that challenges Beijing’s claim to the sensitive waterway and marks a rare voyage by a non-US military vessel.