Six members of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s honour guard were wounded yesterday when a rocket struck his palace compound, two officials told AFP.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday slapped down Donald Trump’s talk of an out-of-control coronavirus “surge” in New Zealand as “patently wrong”.

A recently discovered transcript of an interview with a British intelligence officer who played a leading role in the 1953 coup that restored powers to the shah of Iran claims that Britain was the driving force behind the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh.

Attacks on Gaza continued for the seventh straight night as Israeli warplanes targeted Hamas observation posts in what the Israeli army said was a response to Palestinian fire balloon attacks across the border.

An increasingly common mutation of the novel coronavirus found in Europe, North America and parts of Asia may be more infectious but appears less deadly, according to a prominent infectious diseases doctor.

Canada’s finance minister Bill Morneau announced his resignation Monday, on the heels of an ethics scandal and amid a reported split with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over pandemic spending.

Israel would oppose any US F-35 warplane sales to the United Arab Emirates despite forging relations with the Gulf power, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, citing a need to maintain Israeli military superiority in the region.

The United Arab Emirates extends an amnesty period, waiving the fines of expats whose visas expired before March 1.

Israel’s president has invited the United Arab Emirates’ de facto leader to visit Jerusalem, praising his role in achieving a “noble and courageous” deal to normalise relations between Israel and the UAE.

The UAE’s decision to normalise ties with Israel could propel Saudi Arabia to deepen its furtive relations with the Jewish state as Riyadh seeks to entice investments to fund an ambitious economic transformation, analysts say.

The death toll from a landslide in Nepal has risen to 19 after eight more bodies were pulled out from a mud-covered village in north-central Nepal, police said yesterday.

At least 16 people were killed in an attack on Sunday by the Islamist group al Shabaab on a seaside hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, according to government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar Omar.

Israeli security guards have shot and wounded a deaf Palestinian who was not able to hear the orders to stop at an occupied West Bank checkpoint.

The health condition of former President Pranab Mukherjee continued to remain critical yesterday morning, said the Army Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi adding that his vital and clinical parameters are stable.

Afghan authorities and the Taliban have hit an impasse over the planned release of hundreds of insurgents after opposition from some foreign governments, officials said yesterday, apparently stalling peace talks.

Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, said yesterday he would be willing to hand over power after a referendum, in an apparent bid to pacify mass protests and strikes that pose the biggest challenge to his 26 years in office.

Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir have ordered the restoration of high-speed 4G internet services in two of the disputed Himalayan region’s 20 districts on a “trial basis” from Sunday night, more than a year after they were suspended.

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will arrive in Bangladesh tomorrow in the first high level official visit from India since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, The Times Of India reported.

The Visva Bharati University in West Bengal’s Santiniketan has been closed indefinitely following violent protests by students and locals against the authority’s decision to construct a boundary wall around the venue for Poush Mela, a key annual cultural event of the institution held every winter.

Legendary Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj died following a cardiac arrest at his home in New Jersey, his daughter Durga Jasraj said. He was 90.