India’s Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi has received a hero’s welcome at his BJP party’s headquarters in Delhi after securing the most decisive election victory in three decades. He was cheered by supporters after a victory parade from the airport. Current PM…
West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress put up a spectacular show, sweeping the Lok Sabha polls in the state to emerge as the fourth-largest party in the new Lok Sabha. The BJP signalled its rise as a force by eating into…
Rescuers are hunting desperately for scores of Turkish coal miners still missing after an explosion caused a pit to collapse, killing at least 238. Dozens escaped the pit in the western town of Soma, but officials say about 120 are…
At least 200 people have been left trapped underground after an explosion and fire at a coal mine in western Turkey that killed one miner, an official said Tuesday. Local administrator Mehmet Bahattin Atci said 20 people were rescued from…
The US has revealed it is flying manned surveillance missions over Nigeria to try to find more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. The US is also sharing commercial satellite imagery with the Nigerian government,…
Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi is set to become India’s next prime minister, exit polls showed on Monday, with his opposition party and its allies forecast to sweep to a parliamentary majority in the world’s biggest ever election. Indian elections are…
Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region have claimed a resounding victory in a “self-rule” referendum, saying 89% voted in favour. Results from a similar vote in the region of Luhansk are due shortly and are expected to show a…
India and Myanmar have signed a deal for ‘enhanced cooperation’ between their security agencies in combating militancy, narcotics smuggling and poaching of wildlife. The deal provides for coordinated patrol by the armed forces and coast guards of the two countries…
The CPI (M) Central Committee member and former Housing Minister of the State, Gautam Deb has alleged that Rajya Sabha MP of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Ahmed Hassan Imran, is a “frontman” for Jamat-e-Islami, Bangladesh (JIB). At a press conference…
The ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met on Sunday at a historic summit hosted for the first time by Myanmar — formerly known as Burma — in its remote showpiece capital Naypyidaw. Concerns over a stand-off in the…
The lawyer for a doctor accused of helping the US find Osama Bin Laden has told the BBC that he has quit the case after receiving frequent death threats. Lawyer Samiullah Afridi also cited US pressure on Pakistan for the…
President Vladimir Putin is making his first visit to Crimea since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in March. He told crowds marking the 1945 Soviet victory over the Nazis that Crimea had shown loyalty to a “historical truth” in choosing…
The African National Congress (ANC) has won a commanding victory in South Africa’s general election, partial results show. With about 80% of the results in, the ANC has 63% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) on 22%.…
Pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine are due to consider a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to delay referendums on autonomy. Separatist leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk say they will put the matter before “people’s councils”. The referendums are due…
The world’s largest beverage-maker, Coca-Cola, plans to remove a controversial ingredient from some of its US drinks brands by the end of this year, following an online petition. Brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, is found in Coca-Cola fruit and sports…
East Ukraine is braced for more unrest, as troops from Kiev prepare to continue “anti-terror” operations and pro-Russian gunmen reinforce barricades. Ukrainian soldiers advanced on several cities on Saturday to regain control of buildings seized by the gunmen. But in…
Security forces in northeast India found the bodies of nine Muslims on Saturday, raising the death toll to 31 in a spate of attacks by suspected tribal militants as a weeks-long general election re-opens ethnic divisions. The election has rekindled…
Suspected tribal rebels shot dead 11 Muslim settlers, including two women, in attacks in tea-growing Assam where tension is running high during an election, officials said on Friday. Police said they suspected the militants behind the overnight killings were members…
“Hungry for power” Narendra Modi has already assumed himself as the Prime Minister even before the results of Lok Sabha elections are out, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Thursday. In a scathing attack on the BJP prime ministerial nominee…
New Delhi – As polling for the Indian Lok Sabha elections nears conclusion, punters have started offering bets on what they are calling ‘the worst-case’ political scenario: a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the helm and…
BY Nathan Salant International search teams trying to figure out what happened to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 plan to check out a report from an Australian tech company that claims to have detected what could be a commercial airliner…
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announced his resignation on Sunday over the government’s poor response to the April 16 ferry disaster, in which it was first announced that everyone had been rescued. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine…
The G7 group of economic powers has agreed to intensify sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine. A G7 statement gave no detail of the sanctions, but US officials said they could announce measures by Monday. The West accuses…
All 15 crew members involved in the navigation of the ill-fated South Korean passenger ferry Sewol are now reportedly in custody, facing criminal negligence charges. The prosecution requested arrest warrants for four additional crew members. Eleven others, including the captain,…
US Secretary of State John Kerry has accused Russia of “distraction, deception and destabilisation” in eastern Ukraine. In a strongly worded statement, he called on Moscow to help defuse the crisis there or face further sanctions. Earlier, Russia called on…
The first contingent of US troops has landed in Poland for military exercises amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine. Some 150 soldiers, who landed in north-west Poland, are due to be followed in coming days by a further 450 troops. Separately,…
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has sacked the head of the army. A decree read out on state television announced that Gen James Hoth Mai would be removed with immediate effect. No reason was given. The country has been in turmoil…
A survivor of South Korea’s ferry disaster has described taking the agonising decision to save himself as the ship capsized and water washed away students he was trying to rescue. Lorry driver Eun-su Choi told the BBC: “We were trying…
The US Secretary of State has warned of further sanctions on Russia if it does not de-escalate tensions in Ukraine. In a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, John Kerry expressed “deep concern over the lack of positive…
The confirmed death toll from the South Korean ferry that capsized last week has passed 100, as divers recovered more bodies from the sunken hull. A total of 104 people are now known to have died, but another 198 are…