Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attacked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for seeking en bloc votes of Muslims for Trinamool Congress and said that had his party made a similar appeal to Hindus, it would have been censored by the Election Commission.

Russia and India are discussing the possibility of “additional” production of Russian military equipment in India, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference on Tuesday while on a visit to New Delhi.

A Singaporean blogger said he had crowdfunded almost $100,000 that he was ordered to pay as damages for defaming the prime minister by sharing an article on Facebook.

Turkey yesterday detained 10 retired admirals after a letter signed by more than 100 of them warned against a possible threat to a treaty governing the use of Turkey’s key waterways.

Jordan’s estranged Prince Hamza said in a voice recording released yesterday that he would disobey orders by the army not to communicate with the outside world after he was put under house arrest and accused of trying to destabilise the country.

Palestinian election officials announced Sunday that 36 candidate lists had been approved to run in legislative elections set for next month, the first Palestinian polls in 15 years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday gave final approval to legislation allowing him to hold office for two additional six-year terms, giving himself the possibility to stay in power until 2036.

The man behind Vietnam’s successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, was formally sworn in as president in Hanoi yesterday.

Israeli prosecutors yesterday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of treating favours as “currency” at the opening of a corruption trial which, along with an inconclusive election, has clouded his prospects of remaining in office.

Protesters in Myanmar clapped together yesterday in the latest show of dissent against the military junta, as a regional bloc prepared for talks on the crisis that has killed nearly 600 people.

Ahead of the third phase of assembly elections in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday expressed confidence in her chances to win the assembly election. She said, “I will win Bengal on one leg and in the future, will get victory in Delhi on two legs.”

Facing the first elections they have ever been able to vote in, young Palestinians are demanding reforms in the parliamentary and presidential polls later this year.

Jordan’s estranged Prince Hamza said in a voice recording released on Monday that he would disobey orders by the army not to communicate with the outside world after he was put under house arrest and accused of trying to destabilise the country.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed his thanks to Dhaka for making “excellent arrangements” during his two-day state visit, from March 26.

Millions of Christians around the world celebrated a second Easter under coronavirus restrictions yesterday, as dramatic spikes in cases have forced reimposition of deeply unpopular restrictions across Europe.

Jordan yesterday said it had foiled a plot to “destabilise” the kingdom involving a half-brother of King Abdullah II and arrested at least 16 suspects.

As Myanmar descends into chaos, smartphone warriors in the anti-coup movement are seeking revenge online against the junta, hounding people with family ties to the military as a form of “social punishment”.

Twenty-two Indian police and paramilitary forces were killed and 30 others wounded in a gun battle with Maoist rebels in a central Indian state, police said yesterday, in the deadliest ambush of its kind in four years.

At least 44 people were killed after flash floods and landslides swept an island in Indonesia’s easternmost province yesterday morning, rescue officials said, adding they expected the toll to rise.

Pope Francis yesterday urged countries in his Easter message to quicken distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, particularly to the world’s poor, and called armed conflict and military spending during a pandemic “scandalous”.