Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed was in a “critical” condition yesterday following an assassination attempt, doctors said.

Scotland’s main pro-independence party enjoyed early successes yesterday in crucial Scottish parliament election results which could determine the future of the United Kingdom, although its leader cautioned the result remained “on a knife edge”.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused nearly 6.9 million deaths across the world, more than double the number officially recorded, a new analysis from the University of Washington, DC’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimated.

Lobbying by Poland and Hungary has led to the removal of the phrase "gender equality" from a draft declaration on advancing social cohesion that the EU is due to publish on Friday, according to diplomats and documents seen by Reuters.

Most debris from a large Chinese rocket expected to plunge back through the atmosphere this weekend will be burned up on reentry and is highly unlikely to cause any harm, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said today.

Firefighters in London were tackling a blaze at a 19-storey block of flats in the east of the city on Friday, with parts of the 8th, 9th and 10th floors all on fire, the Fire Brigade said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan begins a two-day visit on Friday to Saudi Arabia, a traditionally close ally said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday called on Russia to cease “reckless and aggressive actions” against Ukraine, saying that Moscow has kept “significant forces” near the border.

Sri Lanka yesterday became the latest of India’s neighbours to seal its borders with the South Asian giant as it battles a record coronavirus surge.

More than 200 civil society groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, called on the UN Security Council on Wednesday to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar to help protect civilians peacefully protesting a military coup.

The Taliban have captured Afghanistan’s second-biggest dam after months of fierce fighting in their former bastion of Kandahar, the insurgents and officials said yesterday.

Britain and France sent navy and coastal patrol ships to waters near the Channel island of Jersey yesterday as tensions spiralled between the two neighbours over post-Brexit fishing rights.

SpaceX managed to land its prototype Starship rocket at its Texas base without blowing it up on Wednesday, the first time it has succeeded in doing so in five attempts.

Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed was injured in a blast outside his home today, local media reported.

At least 25 people, including at least one police officer, were killed in Rio de Janeiro today in a shootout during a police raid targeting drug traffickers in the city's Jacarezinho neighborhood, according to civil police.

Germany today rejected a US proposal to waive patent protection for Covid-19 vaccines, saying the greatest constraints on production were not intellectual property but increasing capacity and ensuring quality.

Chandana Bauri, wife of a daily wage earner, grabbed spotlight and social media attention in West Bengal after announcement of the assembly polls result on May 2.

Remnants of a large Chinese rocket launched last week are expected to plunge back through the atmosphere this weekend in an uncontrolled re-entry being tracked by US Space Command, the US military said on Wednesday.

More than 200 civil society groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, called on the UN Security Council yesterday to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar to help protect civilians peacefully protesting a military coup.

Saudi Arabia is considering barring overseas pilgrims from the annual haj for the second year running as Covid-19 cases rise globally and worries