Moscow has installed new commanders at the head of its Baltic and Pacific fleets, Russia’s Interfax and TASS news agencies have reported. The former head of Russia’s Baltic Fleet, Admiral Viktor Liina, is now in charge of the Pacific Fleet, the news agencies reported on

Deep-sea explorers have found the wreck of a Japanese transport ship which sank off the Philippines, killing nearly 1,000 Australian troops and civilians in World War Two. It was Australia's worst maritime disaster: a US submarine torpedoed the ship unaware that it was packed with

Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley has discussed the safety of US citizens in Sudan in a phone call with Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, as Washington considers the possible evacuation of its embassy amid fighting in

More than 400 people have been killed and over 3,500 others hurt in the fighting in Sudan, the World Health Organization said Friday. "Four hundred and thirteen people have died and 3,551 people have been injured," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters at a press

A Russian Sukhoi-34 supersonic warplane accidentally fired a weapon into the city of Belgorod near Ukraine late on Thursday, causing an explosion and injuring three people. Video footage from the site showed piles of concrete on the street, several damaged cars and a building with

Sudan’s paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has announced it will shortly begin a ceasefire despite continued heavy fighting with the army in the capital Khartoum. The RSF said in a statement it would observe a 72-hour ceasefire, which would come into effect at 6am

Saudi Arabia has declared that Eid Al Fitr will begin on Friday after experts sighted the new moon, the Saudi Press Agency has reported. The announcement on Thursday evening was made by the kingdom's Supreme Court calling for people to head out to try and sight the moon from

A court in India’s western state of Gujarat has rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s petition seeking a stay of conviction in a defamation case, increasing uncertainty over whether he will be able to contest an election due next year. Gandhi was convicted last month in a

About 2.4 million people in Thailand have sought hospital treatment for medical problems linked to air pollution since the start of the year, health officials said, as toxic smog chokes parts of the country. Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai were among the most polluted

Nine Pakistani Umrah pilgrims died and another four sustained injuries in a road accident in Saudi Arabia, 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Wednesday. According to Arab media, the accident occurred when Pakistani citizens were returning to Riyadh after performing Umrah.  The

At least 78 people have been killed in a crush at a school in the Yemeni capital Sanaa during a distribution of charity for Ramadan, officials say. Video footage on social media shows chaotic scenes after the incident in the Bab-al-Yemen area of the city. Reuters news agency reports

India has become the world’s most populous country, overtaking China. The latest data from the United Nations has revealed that India’s population is now 142.86 crore, compared to China’s 142.57 crore. With this development India has for the first time ranked at the

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said the country has finished building its first military spy satellite and gave the green light for its launch, state media said. The report of its completion comes on Wednesday, about a week after Pyongyang launched what it said was a new

The murder of a gangster-turned-politician has put the spotlight on killings of those in custody in India. Rights activists have raised questions over their deaths, and claim it has emboldened a climate of lawlessness. Live on television on Saturday night, former Indian politician Atiq

An investigation was under way Wednesday after a fire ripped through a hospital in China’s capital Beijing, killing 21 people, state media reported. Emergency response teams first received word just before 1 pm (0500 GMT) Tuesday that a fire had broken out at the Beijing

The United Nations is ready to take the “heartbreaking” decision to pull out of Afghanistan in May if it can’t persuade the Taliban to let local women work for the organization, the head of the UN Development Program said. UN officials are negotiating with the Afghan

Iran has officially invited Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz to visit the country, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday, after the two regional rivals agreed to end years of hostility following a China-brokered agreement in March. After years of bad

South Korea, the United States and Japan staged joint naval missile defense exercises on Monday to improve responses to North Korean threats, as Pyongyang accused Washington of ramping up "nuclear blackmail" with military drills. The three nations agreed at talks in

Two men have been arrested for allegedly operating a Chinese "secret police station," US prosecutors said on Monday. The center was allegedly located in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood. The two New York residents face charges of conspiring to act as an agent of

Fighting between the army and paramilitaries in Sudan has killed around 200 people and wounded 1,800, left hospitals damaged and medical supplies and food in short supply on Monday after three days of urban warfare. The European Union ambassador to Sudan was attacked in his home in