Tag: World news

India’s general election will take place in nine phases in April and May, the Election Commission has announced. Polling to elect a new Lok Sabha, or lower house, will be held from 7 April to 12 May. Votes will be…

Diplomatic efforts to ease tensions in Ukraine are gathering pace as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov prepare to hold crucial talks in Paris. The US wants independent observers in the flashpoint region of…

Russian President Vladimir Putin says there is no need yet to send Russian troops into Ukraine.

Egypt’s armed forces chief, Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, has said he cannot ignore calls by the majority for him to run for president.

Russia has vowed its troops will remain in Ukraine to protect Russian interests and citizens until the political situation has been “normalised”.

Russia’s G8 partners have condemned Moscow’s military build-up in Ukraine amid fresh diplomatic efforts to avert a dangerous escalation of the crisis. The world’s seven major industrialised powers also suspended preparations for the G8 summit in Sochi in June. Meanwhile, European…

Ukraine has ordered a full military mobilisation in response to Russia’s build-up of its forces in Crimea.

The Kunming city government later said that evidence from the scene pointed to separatists from Xinjiang as being behind the attack.

Seven policemen have been killed by suspected Maoist rebels in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, police say.

Ukraine’s ex-President Viktor Yanukovych has made his first public appearance since being ousted last week, telling a news conference in Russia he would fight for his country.

Ukraine’s security forces have been put on alert after government buildings in the Russian-majority Crimea region were seized by armed men. The Russian flag had been raised over both buildings in the capital, Simferopol. The local government has said it…

Ukraine’s acting interior minister has said the elite Berkut police unit, blamed for the deaths of protesters, has been disbanded.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said Ukraine is not caught in a battle between East and West. Mr Kerry said it was not a zero-sum game and called for all nations to work together to bring stability to Ukraine.…

A rights group says it has evidence of Myanmar’s government discriminating against Muslim Rohingya, restricting their movements and family size.

Pakistan’s military have launched air strikes against suspected militant hideouts in the north-west, killing at least 30 people, officials say.

Egypt’s interim Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi has unexpectedly announced the resignation of his government.

Ukraine has issued a warrant for the arrest of ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, the interim interior minister has announced.

Parliament in Ukraine has named its speaker as interim president. Oleksandr Turchynov takes charge following the dismissal of President Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday. Mr Turchynov told MPs they had until Tuesday to form a new unity government. Parliament also voted…

Pope Francis has appointed 19 new cardinals at a ceremony in Rome – the first such appointments of his papacy.

Ukrainian President Yanukovych has said he has no intention of quitting and has described events in the capital Kiev events as a “coup”.

The Kiev offices of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych are unguarded, with opposition protesters apparently in full control of the government district, say BBC correspondents. The BBC’s Kevin Bishop says he was able to enter the complex unchallenged.  Opposition leaders say…

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition protesters have agreed to an early presidential poll before the end of the year.

US President Barack Obama will meet exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Friday, US officials say.

At least 17 protesters have been killed in renewed clashes with police in central Kiev after a truce agreed on Wednesday broke down, eyewitnesses say.

The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to deal with air pollution.

Hundreds of North and South Korean relatives are seeing each other for the first time in decades, at a reunion for families separated by the Korean War. More than 100 mostly elderly South Koreans arrived in the North on Thursday…

Police in the Ukrainian capital Kiev have launched a fresh attack on anti-government protesters as the death toll in renewed clashes has climbed to 26.

Three people have been killed and dozens injured in violence that erupted as Thai police began clearing protest sites in the capital, Bangkok.

Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has appeared in a Pakistani court for the first time on treason charges.

India’s Supreme Court has commuted the death sentences of three men convicted of plotting the 1991 assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.