The death toll from a fire at an Indonesian nickel smelter has risen to 18 as of Tuesday from 13 on Sunday, local police said, while operations at the smelter remain suspended as authorities investigate the cause of the incident

India's navy will deploy guided missile destroyer ships in the Arabian Sea after an Israel-affiliated merchant vessel was struck off the Indian coast over the weekend, in an effort to "maintain a deterrent presence," it said late on Monday

A plane that had been grounded in France for days over concerns its roughly 300 mostly Indian passengers were part of a human trafficking scheme landed in Mumbai early Tuesday, flight tracking data showed

Israel on Monday said it was "intensifying the fighting" against Hamas in Gaza, where relentless strikes across the Palestinian territory exacerbated the dire conditions for civilians in the war's 12th week.

More than a hundred people have been killed in central Nigeria in a series of attacks on villages, local government officials said Monday

A senior general with Iran's Revolutionary Guards was killed Monday by an Israeli strike in Syria, the military force said, with Tehran vowing to make Israel “pay for this crime”

Turkish air strikes killed six civilians in Syria’s Kurdish-held northeast yesterday, a war monitor and local media said, as Ankara launched operations in Iraq and Syria following deadly attacks on its soldiers.

Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been moved to a penal colony in an Arctic region of northern Russia, his spokeswoman said yesterday after supporters lost touch with him for more than two weeks.

Chinese state media yesterday accused the Philippines of repeatedly infringing on China’s territory in the South China Sea, spreading false information and colluding with extraterritorial forces to cause trouble.

Fifty couples married yesterday in a joint ceremony in the Afghan capital -- a growing practice to reduce the astronomical cost of traditional weddings in the impoverished country.

Floods caused by intense rainfall have affected tens of thousands of people in Thailand’s deep south, officials said yesterday, with some roads and railway lines forced to close.

Russia launched 31 drones and 2 missiles at Ukraine overnight, mostly targeting the south of the country, with air defences destroying 28 drones and both missiles, the Ukrainian military said yesterday.

Japan’s SLIM space probe entered the Moon’s orbit yesterday in a major step towards the country’s first successful lunar landing, expected next month.

Russia yesterday accused Western countries of stirring up tensions in Serbia, a Moscow-friendly Balkan nation that has been rocked by protests over alleged fraud in elections held on December 17.

The World Health Organization said it led missions to barely functioning hospitals in northern Gaza at the weekend, describing growing desperation and starving people stripping an aid truck of supplies.

On a countryside road in battle-ravaged Sudan, the hum of a passing vehicle turns villagers’ blood cold, fearing the arrival of paramilitaries plundering their way south in their war against the army.

Pope Francis said in his Christmas message yesterday that children dying in wars, including in Gaza, are the “little Jesuses of today” and that Israeli strikes there were reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vowed to press on with the offensive in the Gaza Strip while Israeli strikes killed more than 100 people in the besieged enclave overnight.

Palestinians held by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip had suffered torture, two freed detainees and a medic said Sunday, a charged denied by the military.

The Indian army has launched an investigation into the deaths of three civilians allegedly in military custody in Jammy and Kashmir, and moved senior officers from the disputed area, a military official said yesterday.