Droupadi Murmu, a tribal politician, was sworn in as India's new president on Monday. The 64-year-old former teacher comes from Odisha (Orissa) state and has had a stint as a state governor. Ms Murmu is the country's first tribal leader in the top post. "My elevation

Four democracy activists have been executed by Myanmar's military in what is believed to be the first use of capital punishment in decades. Former lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw, writer and activist Ko Jimmy, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw were accused of committing "terror

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to address the Arab League on a visit to Egypt, where it has its headquarters in the capital Cairo. He wants to rally support for Moscow as it counters international anger over the war in Ukraine. Mr Lavrov held talks in Cairo with his

More than 6,000 people living outside the Yosemite National Park in California have been ordered to evacuate amid a fast-moving wildfire as drought and high temperatures continue to fuel dangerous blazes in the western United States. Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday declared a state

Iran’s intelligence ministry has announced the arrest of a network of agents linked to Israel’s Mossad who entered Iran to carry out attacks against “sensitive” sites, state media reported. The suspects entered Iran from northern Iraq, but were arrested before

Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa just hours after Moscow and Kyiv signed deals to allow grain exports to resume from there. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry denounced Saturday’s airstrikes as “spit in the face” of Turkey and the United

A Saudi man who allegedly helped a Jewish Israeli journalist enter the holy city of Mecca has been arrested, police in the kingdom have said, after a backlash on social media. The journalist, Gil Tamary of Israel’s Channel 13, posted on Twitter a video of himself on Monday

Ukraine and Russia have signed "mirror" deals which will allow Kyiv to resume exports of grain through the Black Sea. The agreement will allow millions of tonnes of grain, currently trapped in Ukraine by the war, to be exported. The world shortage of Ukrainian grain since

Dinesh Gunawardena has been sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new prime minister, just hours after soldiers and police cleared an anti-government protest site in Colombo. Gunawardena, a veteran member of the ruling Sri Lanka People’s Front and an ally of the Rajapaksa political

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to rule on Myanmar’s preliminary objections to a genocide case brought over the military’s brutal 2017 crackdown on the mostly Muslim Rohingya. The court heard arguments on the objections in February, and ICJ President Judge

The military in Sri Lanka has taken control of the presidential secretariat in the capital after “brutally assaulting” the protesters. Soldiers also destroyed tents at the adjacent GotaGoGama protest site, arrested several protest leaders and cordoned off the area together

India has got its first tribal President as Droupadi Murmu, the NDA's choice, scooped up over 50 per cent of the total vote value after three rounds of counting.  Opposition's Yashwant Sinha is far behind. Droupadi Murmu has crossed the halfway mark after three rounds

A year-and-a-half after he was appointed as Italy's unelected head of a unity government, Mario Draghi resigned as prime minister. He told President Sergio Mattarella he was standing down after three parties in his government refused to back him in a confidence vote the night

The world's oldest male panda in captivity has died in an amusement park zoo in Hong Kong on Thursday. The panda, called An An, was euthanized at the age of 35 - the equivalent of a human living till 105. Officials at Ocean Park say the decision was reached after he showed

Sri Lanka's Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as president, amid hopes that he will pull the country out of its economic suffering. The 73-year-old took his oath at the tightly-guarded parliament complex on Thursday. Mr Wickremesinghe - the former prime minister - is seen

Ethnic clashes in Sudan’s Blue Nile state in a deadly land dispute killed 105 people and wounded 291, the state’s health minister said, providing a new toll Wednesday. Fighting broke out in the southern state on the borders with Ethiopia and South Sudan on July 11 between

An Israeli reporter slipped into the Islamic holy city of Mecca during a trip to Saudi Arabia, sparking controversy on social media and illustrating the sensitivities of closer ties between the two countries. The journalist for Israel’s Channel 13 TV news, Gil Tamary, published a

Sri Lanka’s prime minister, Ranil Wickeremesinghe, has won a parliamentary vote electing him as president, a result that is likely to frustrate protesters who have been calling for weeks for him to resign. Wickremesinghe, who has been prime minister six times but never president,

Sri Lanka’s Parliament is voting by secret ballot Wednesday for a new president to lead the country out of the deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis that toppled the previous leader and has left simmering tensions in the island nation. Prime Minister and Acting

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told Russia’s President Vladimir Putin that had he not started the war in Ukraine, NATO, the “dangerous creature”, would have done it eventually. “War is a violent and difficult issue and the Islamic