Teenagers from four big Chinese regions outshone their contemporaries in Western nations in a keenly watched survey of education capabilities published yesterday, which also showed no improvement trend in developed countries over the past two decades.

Novelist Milan Kundera has regained Czech citizenship which he had lost after leaving Communist-ruled Czechoslovakia for France in the 1970s, Czech media said yesterday.

India’s Vikram lunar lander, which crashed on its final approach to the Moon’s surface in September, has been found thanks in part to the sleuthing efforts of an amateur space enthusiast.

Nato must address the “security implications” of China’s rise as a military power, the head of the alliance said yesterday, but insisted he did not want to make an adversary of Beijing.

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was a “victim” of the multi-million dollar 1MDB scandal that saw state coffers drained on his watch, his lawyer said yesterday, as the ex-premier gave evidence in his own fraud trial.

Typhoon Kammuri killed at least two people in the Philippines yesterday as it tore roofs of houses and forced the international airport in Manila to shut down.

Sri Lanka’s new president suspended parliament for a month from yesterday ahead of snap elections he wants to call in March to consolidate his sweeping victory.

India's Vikram lunar lander, which crashed on its final approach to the Moon's surface in September, has been found thanks in part to the sleuthing efforts of an amateur space enthusiast.

Typhoon Kammuri lashes the Philippines with fierce winds and heavy rain, as hundreds of thousands took refuge in shelters and the capital Manila shut down its international airport over safety concerns.

At least 17 people from four families in India were buried alive as they were sleeping yesterday when heavy rains caused a large wall to collapse on their homes, police said.

Regime air strikes yesterday killed 15 civilians in Syria’s last major opposition bastion, where deadly clashes between regime forces and armed groups have escalated in the past two days, a monitor said.

Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan led a chorus of angry and impassioned voices in parliament yesterday amid nationwide shock over the horrific rape and murder of a young veterinarian in Telangana.

Fourteen people were killed in an attack Sunday on a church in eastern Burkina Faso where places of worship have suffered a string of Islamist assaults this year, the regional government said.

Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories has cost the economy of the Palestinians more than $2.5 billion a year for the past two decades, a UN report said yesterday.

Saudi Arabian authorities have released 11 citizens who were detained for several days last month for questioning over suspected links to foreign entities, a Saudi official told Reuters.

The Indian Navy has welcomed its first woman pilot, with Sub Lieutenant Shivangi taking control of an aircraft in another significant milestone for the country’s armed forces.

A legal fight over a New York City handgun ordinance that could give the US Supreme Court’s conservative majority a chance to expand gun rights went before the nine justices yesterday in one of the most closely watched cases of their current term.

China suspended US warship visits and sanctioned American NGOs yesterday in retaliation for the passage of a bill backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Brazil’s negotiators already face a tough job at United Nations climate talks, given anger at President Jair Bolsonaro’s stance on the Amazon, but it has become doubly difficult as they are in the dark on their own government’s aims.

US Congressional leader Nancy Pelosi told a UN climate conference yesterday that the world could still count on the United States in the fight against global warming despite Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement.