The slaughter of cattle will soon be banned in Sri Lanka, the government said yesterday, in a move widely viewed as a concession to increasingly influential Buddhists in the ruling party.

The provincial government in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has decided to purchase the ancestral houses of legendary Bollywood actors Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar to conserve the historic buildings which are in dilapidated condition and facing demolition threat.

Turkish prosecutors have filed a second indictment against six Saudi suspects over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, according to Turkey’s state news agency.

The global coronavirus death toll rose past a million, a grim statistic in a pandemic that has devastated the global economy, overloaded health systems and changed the way people live.

British and EU negotiators yesterday launched their last week of intense negotiations as the UK parliament is set to approve legislation that would violate terms of the divorce treaty.

There was “no poisoning” involved in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, a team of doctors from Delhi’s AIIMS has reportedly said in its report to the CBI.

A Dalit teenager allegedly raped by four upper-caste men died of her injuries yesterday, sparking outrage from Indian activists, politicians and Bollywood stars.

French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday promised to help with mediation in the political crisis in Belarus, but Russian Vladimir Putin lashed out at “unprecedented external pressure”.

A Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down an Armenian SU-25 warplane over Armenian territory, killing the pilot, an Armenian defence ministry spokeswoman said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today underscored the need for a well-coordinated global roadmap to face the Covid-19 crisis and urged the United Nations to continue to play its catalytic role in this regard.

Kuwait's ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has died, his office said in a statement read out on state television on Tuesday.

After handing Ion Aliman victory in the election for their local mayor, residents of a small village in southern Romania went to his grave to light candles for him.

Kuwait police have arrested a Bangladeshi expat for taking bribe from people in exchange of illegally allowing them to renew car licence with the ministry of interior of the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron has upped the pressure on Lebanon’s leaders to form a government in the wake of the Beirut port blast, saying their lack of progress represented a “collective betrayal”.

Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated sharply yesterday in and around the mountain territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and at least 30 people were killed in a second day of heavy clashes.

Pakistani anti-corruption officials arrested the country’s opposition leader yesterday, days after he vowed to help lead efforts to dislodge Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.

Japan’s government yesterday urged people to seek help if they were struggling to cope, following the death at the weekend of a popular actress.

South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in yesterday said military hotlines with Pyongyang should be restored to prevent unexpected incidents after it was revealed that North Korean troops had shot dead a South Korean fisheries official who had gone missing.

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei held a silent protest yesterday outside a London court to demand the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faces extradition to the United States.

Sri Lanka has shipped back to Britain container-loads of waste that the government said was brought into the island in violation of international laws governing the shipping of hazardous material.