Residents were urged yesterday to evacuate a besieged Afghan city as the army prepared a major offensive against Taliban insurgents after three days of heavy fighting. 

An estimated 4.7 million fewer girls are expected to be born globally in the next 10 years because of sex-selective practices in countries with a cultural preference for male offspring, a trend that could undermine social cohesion in the long term, research showed yesterday.  

A missing Belarusian activist has been found hanged in a park in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, police said on Tuesday, adding they had opened a murder probe. Shishov headed the Belarusian House in Ukraine, an NGO helping his compatriots flee repression in Belarus.

Saudi Arabia has intensified a crackdown on dissidents and rights activists after a respite that coincided with the country’s G20 presidency last year, Amnesty International said yesterday.

1914 - WWI: Britain declares war on Germany.

We will seek to lift the tyrannical sanctions imposed by America. But we will not tie the ... economy to the will of foreigners.” Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s incoming president

The United States has promised to lead a “collective response” against Iran in retaliation for a deadly attack on an Israeli-linked tanker, as Tehran denied blame and warned against “adventurism.” 

Iranian-backed forces are believed to have seized an oil tanker in the Gulf off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, three maritime security sources said, after Britain's maritime trade agency reported a "potential hijack" in the area on Tuesday.

The District of Columbia's police department on Monday said two more police officers who responded to the January 6 riot at the US Capitol have died by suicide, bringing to four the number of known suicides by officers who guarded the building that day.

A Belarusian activist living in exile in Ukraine was found hanged in a park near his home in Kyiv early on Tuesday, and Ukrainian police said they had launched a murder case.

An estimated 4.7 million fewer girls are expected to be born globally in the next 10 years because of sex-selective practices in countries with a cultural preference for male offspring, a trend that could undermine social cohesion in the long term, research showed on Tuesday.

The divorce between Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, cofounders of one of the world’s largest private charitable foundations, was finalized on Monday, a court document showed.

Eviction protections expired Sunday for millions of Americans who could face homelessness within days, triggering a scramble to unlock billions in stalled rental aid and recriminations in Washington.

The top Republican in the US House of Representatives faced calls to apologize or resign Sunday after joking about hitting speaker Nancy Pelosi with a gavel.

Israel’s Supreme Court yesterday delayed a decision in the case of Palestinian families facing expulsion by Israeli settlers in annexed east Jerusalem, an issue that exploded into armed conflict in May.

German politician Christian Schmidt yesterday took over as the top international envoy in Bosnia despite opposition from Russia and Bosnian Serbs who consider him “illegal” and say they won’t work with him.

French intelligence investigators have confirmed that Pegasus spyware has been found on the phones of three journalists, including a senior member of staff at the country’s international television station France 24.

The top infectious disease expert in the United States has warned that the country will experience more “pain and suffering in the future” as coronavirus infections are surging, especially in parts of the country where large segments of the population remain unvaccinated.

Tunisian security forces have arrested two MPs from an Islamist party opposed to a power grab by President Kais Saied, their party said Sunday.

1914 - Germany declared war on France at the start of World War One.