Dozens of people were killed in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in northern India yesterday, police sources and a Reuters witness said, as tens of millions gathered to take a dip in sacred river waters on the most auspicious day of a six-week Hindu festival.

Japan saw a record number of suicides among school pupils in 2024, health ministry data showed yesterday.

At least 75 Rohingya refugees arrived by boat at a tourist beach in western Indonesia yesterday, but were stopped by authorities from disembarking, local officials said.

At least 30 people were killed and 60 injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela, in Prayagraj, formerly Allahabad, in India's Uttar Pradesh state, a senior official confirmed

Deadly crowd incidents are frequent occurrence at Indian religious festivals, including the Kumbh Mela

Pakistan criminalised online disinformation yesterday, passing legislation that enshrines punishments of up to three years in prison, a decision journalists say is designed to crack down on dissent.

India yesterday unequivocally criticised the incident of firing by the Sri Lankan Navy that injured five Indian fishermen near Delft Island.

Militants in an explosive-laden vehicle were thwarted in their attempt to overrun a Pakistani security post near the border with Afghanistan, the army said yesterday.

Chinese firm DeepSeek's artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple Store's download charts, stunning industry insiders and analysts with its ability to match its US competitors

India and China yesterday announced they have agreed to resume direct air services after about five years, indicating a thaw in relations between the two neighbours after a military clash on their unresolved border across the Himalayas in 2020

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump spoke in a phone call yesterday, Modi said in a post on X, the first conversation between the two leaders since Trump’s inauguration last week.

India and China have agreed to resume direct air services between the two countries, New Delhi said in a statement yesterday after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s closest political ally has pledged to rid the capital of “illegal’ immigrants if his party wins looming elections, in a forceful appeal to his party’s Hindu constituency.

An Indian state announced yesterday it had begun implementing a common civil code to replace religious laws, stoking fear among minority Muslims of a looming nationwide rollout by the Hindu-nationalist ruling party.

South Korea’s prosecutors yesterday indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading an insurrection with his short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3, the main opposition party said.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto looked on as guest of honour at India’s annual military and cultural parade in New Delhi held to mark the country’s 76th Republic Day yesterday.

With new reports of North Korean troops captured as POWs in Ukraine, as resident Zelensky puts it, there is now "irrefutable evidence" that North Korea has been involved in Russia's war against Ukraine

Afghanistan’s Taliban government said yesterday an arrest warrant sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its leaders was “politically motivated”.

At least eight people were killed and seven injured in a blast at an ordnance factory in the western Indian state of Maharashtra yesterday, a senior federal minister said.

Sri Lanka has revoked a power purchase agreement with Indian conglomerate Adani Group following allegations of corruption, energy ministry sources in Colombo said yesterday.