Hundreds of thousands of people attended final pre-election rallies in Taiwan yesterday ahead of critical presidential and parliamentary polls, as China’s defence ministry warned it would “smash any Taiwan independence plots”.

More than seven years after an Indian Air Force An-32 aircraft with 29 personnel on board went missing over the Bay of Bengal, its wreckage was found in the sea about 310km off Chennai, the India Defence Ministry said yesterday.

The past 12 months marked a grim year of suppression of human rights, with world leaders ignoring violations in Sudan and Gaza, and against marginalised groups like the Uyghurs, a monitor said Thursday.

Israel’s latest attacks on Gaza have killed at least 151 people, including 11 in a single house, Palestinian health officials said yesterday, while the UN humanitarian office accused Israel of blocking its efforts to send aid to the north.

US and British warplanes, ships and submarines launched dozens of air strikes across Yemen overnight in retaliation against Iran-backed Houthi forces for attacks on Red Sea shipping.

Global economic growth will remain “resilient” this year after a stronger-than-expected 2023, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday, but work is needed to boost global growth rates above an anemic three percent range in the medium term.

American and British air strikes on targets in rebel-held Yemen killed five people and wounded six, the Iran-backed Houthi forces said on Friday

Oil prices surged four percent on Friday after US and UK forces launched strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels following their attacks on ships in the Red Sea, fuelling worries about a wider conflict in the crude-rich region.

Russia on Friday condemned strikes by the United States and Britain targeting Huthi rebels in Yemen as an "escalation" with "destructive objectives"

Trade between China and Russia hit a record high in 2023, official data from Beijing showed on Friday, as commerce with the United States fell for the first time in four years on the back of geopolitical tensions

Heavy US and British air strikes pounded targets in rebel-held Yemen early on Friday after weeks of disruptive attacks on Red Sea shipping by Iran-backed Huthi forces

Myanmar’s leader met with the special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), state media said yesterday, with the regional bloc seeking to find a diplomatic solution to the country’s conflict.

Papua New Guinea’s prime minister declared a state of emergency yesterday, suspending government and police officials after 16 people were killed in rioting in the Pacific island nation.

An earthquake hit northeastern Afghanistan yesterday, shaking buildings from the capital Kabul to Islamabad in neighbouring Pakistan.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday that a ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine would not lead to political dialogue, and would only benefit Moscow.

Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey yesterday in what appeared to be a retaliation for the seizure last year of the same vessel by Tehran’s arch foe the United States, Iranian media reported.

Brunei’s polo-playing Prince Abdul Mateen, one of Asia’s most eligible bachelors, married his commoner fiancee yesterday as part of a lavish 10-day celebration in the oil-rich sultanate.

Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of India’s West Bengal state, yesterday hit out at the controversial ‘one nation, one election’ idea, labelling it “a design to subvert the basic structure of the Constitution” and create a system to allow “autocracy (in) a democratic garb to enter the national public arena”.

The World Health Organization pleaded with Israel to allow the WHO and other UN agencies access to deliver aid within the Gaza Strip, branding the humanitarian situation “indescribable”.

Israel yesterday faced accusations at the World Court of genocide in its offensive in Gaza, as the first residents returned to scenes of total devastation in northern areas where Israeli forces have begun withdrawing this week.