The death toll from Sunday's plane crash in Lake Victoria in Tanzania has jumped to 19, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said, after the Precision Air flight with dozens of passengers aboard plunged into water while approaching the northwestern city of Bukoba.

The United States is privately encouraging Ukraine to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia, the Washington Post reported, as the State Department said Moscow was escalating the war and did not seriously wish to engage in peace talks.

At least 10 people have been shot in the area of Kensington and Allegheny in Philadelphia on Saturday night, a CBS affiliate news channel reported.

The biggest names in Democratic and Republican politics -- Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Donald Trump -- headed to Pennsylvania yesterday hoping to tip the balance in a closely contested midterm race that could determine control of the US Senate. 

Twitter sacked half of its 7,500-strong staff on Friday as new owner Elon Musk launched his major overhaul of the troubled company just a week after his blockbuster takeover.

Iranian students protested and shopkeepers went on strike yesterday despite a widening crackdown, according to reports on social media, as demonstrations that flared over Mahsa Amini’s death entered an eighth week.

Oleh, the commander of a Ukrainian mechanized infantry unit dug into trenches west of Kherson, is confident his Russian foes will be forced to abandon the strategic port by winter weather, logistical logjams and the threat of encirclement.

Just a month before the Group of Seven rich countries plan to cap the price of Russian oil, officials are racing to finalise details, leaving traders, shippers and insurers with questions about the price level and how it will work.

Russian police yesterday detained two people, including the suspected perpetrator, after a fire killed at least 13 people at a bar in the historic city of Kostroma.

Landslides and floods caused by heavy rains have killed at least seven people in the coastal state of Anzoategui in eastern Venezuela, regional authorities announced on Friday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz yesterday condemned threats to use atomic weapons in Ukraine, with Scholz warning that Russia risked “crossing a line” in the international community by resorting to nuclear force.

Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region yesterday, the latest sign of Russia’s retreat in one of the most bitterly contested areas in Ukraine.

Twitter Inc temporarily closed its offices yesterday after telling employees they would be informed by email later in the day about whether they are being laid off.

More than 200 elephants and hundreds of zebras and gnus have died in Kenya’s worst drought in four decades, the country’s tourism minister

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday dismissed a pledge from US leader Joe Biden to “free Iran” as the clerical regime faced a new upsurge in protests seven weeks into the anti-regime movement.

Veteran hawk Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday launched negotiations with his ultra-Orthodox and far-right allies on forming what could be the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, raising concerns at home and abroad.

Myanmar’s military has begun taking delivery of a batch of Russian-made combat jets, a monitoring group said yesterday, the latest hardware shipped from Moscow as rights campaigners accuse the junta of hitting civilians with air strikes.

South Korea’s military yesterday scrambled stealth jets after detecting the mobilisation of 180 North Korean warplanes, Seoul said, following a record-breaking blitz of missile tests by Pyongyang this week.

Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on his election win as final results confirmed the former premier's triumphant comeback at the head of a solidly right-wing alliance.

Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, departed yesterday for the Gulf state of Bahrain to foster ties with Islam in a trip overshadowed by criticism of human rights abuses.