India reported 24,492 new coronavirus cases yesterday, the sixth straight day of more than 20,000 infections, as curbs to try to stop the spread of Covid-19 were expanded in parts of the country that have recorded a surge.

Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying university staff in northeastern Afghanistan yesterday killing the driver and a student, officials said, as attacks on civilians continued, while peace talks between the government and the Taliban remained stalled.

Israel yesterday said it had discovered pieces of a biblical scroll dating back some 2,000 years, describing the find as one of the most significant since the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Sri Lankan government insisted yesterday that preventing Muslim women from wearing a burqa or niqab was a national security move, as it faced protests over the decision.

India has indicated that it disfavours economic sanctions against Myanmar in the wake of the military coup there, saying “people on the ground should not suffer.”

The UN yesterday decried surging deaths in Myanmar since the February 1 coup, warning that detained protesters were facing torture and hundreds had disappeared.

Shaking and clutching his T-shirt, Myanmar soldier Kyaw recalled the violence he said he was told to use on people in his own community -- orders that triggered his escape to India.

The families of dozens of people killed in clashes between Myanmar security forces and anti-coup protesters prepared to hold funerals after candle-lit vigils took place overnight in defiance of a curfew.

Iranian authorities have charged French tourist Benjamin Briere, arrested 10 months ago, with espionage and “propaganda against the system”, one of his lawyers told Reuters.

Icelanders are yearning for some undisturbed shut-eye after tremors from tens of thousands of earthquakes have rattled their sleep for weeks in what scientists call an unprecedented seismic event, which might well end in a spectacular volcanic eruption.

US Representative Deb Haaland has been confirmed as Secretary of the Interior, becoming the first Native American to lead a cabinet agency and securing a central role in President Joe Biden’s sweeping plans to fight climate change.

Protesters angry at men’s violence against women and heavy-handed policing in the wake of the murder of Londoner Sarah Everard protested outside police headquarters, parliament and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office.

More than 400 people from Myanmar, many of them policemen, have crossed into neighbouring India since late February, an Indian police officer said, as Myanmar security forces seek to crush pro-democracy demonstrators after the coup.

The United States should act quickly to revive Iran’s nuclear deal, because once Iran’s presidential election period kicks off it is unlikely much will happen until later this year, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said yesterday.

A ban on girls singing in public imposed by education officials in the Afghan capital last week has been overturned after a social media campaign that included local women uploading videos of themselves belting out their favourite songs.

Taiwan’s de facto embassy in Myanmar has advised Taiwanese companies operating in the country to fly the island’s flag and hang signs stating they are from Taiwan to avoid being confused with China, after Chinese-financed factories were set ablaze.

US President Joe Biden sidestepped questions Sunday on whether New York Governor Andrew Cuomo should resign over sexual misconduct allegations, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the state leader should “look inside his heart” to decide if he can govern.

Hamas elected a woman to its political bureau for the first time ever, the Palestinian Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip said Sunday.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin arrived in Tokyo yesterday on their first overseas trip, looking to rally key Asian allies as a bulwark to China.

The World Health Organization said yesterday that a fund it launched a year ago to draw donations from regular people and companies towards battling the pandemic had raised nearly $250 million.