More than 600 people have been executed by Iran so far this year, already the highest figure in eight years with two months of 2023 to go, a rights group said Friday. There were nine executions in a single day in a prison outside Tehran this week, while two people face execution after

Nine terrorists were killed in a clearance operation after the Pakistan Army foiled a terrorist attack on the Mianwali Training Air Base of the Pakistan Air Force in the early hours of Saturday, the military’s media wing said. The development comes on the heels of a series of

At least 13 people have been killed in a blast outside Gaza City's biggest hospital, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says. BBC Verify has verified graphic videos showing badly injured and possibly dead people lying outside the hospital. The Israeli military has confirmed

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to Beijing on Saturday, a little over 50 years since his predecessor Gough Whitlam’s historic journey to China. But while Albanese may be following in the steps of Whitlam, who forged ties with China in 1972, he was careful

Summary A UN official has said there is increasingly little the organisation can do to protect Gazans trying to shelter from the fighting. "Let's be very clear, there is no place that is safe in Gaza right now," says Thomas White, of the UN agency for Palestinian

At least 128 people were killed in a strong 6.4 magnitude earthquake that originated in Nepal's Jajarkot district Friday midnight. The earthquake had its epicentre at the Jajarkot district's Lamidanda. Eighty people were killed and more than 140 people sustained injuries in the

At least 32 people have been killed in a fire that tore through a drug rehabilitation centre in northern Iran, authorities have said. The blaze erupted early on Friday in Langarud, a city in the Caspian Sea province of Gilan north of Tehran. Esmail Sadeghi, a provincial chief

Pakistan will hold their delayed national elections on February 8, 2024, the electoral commission said Thursday. The announcement was made following a meeting between President Arif Alvi and members of the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP). "It was unanimously decided that the

Bahrain has recalled its ambassador to Israel and suspended economic ties with Tel Aviv, the country’s parliament announced on Thursday. The statement published on the Bahraini parliament website confirmed that the Israeli ambassador had left Bahrain, while Bahrain called back

Nearly half the countries across the world are seeing a decline in the robustness of their democracy, an international think tank said on Thursday. In its annual report, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) said that 85 out of 173 countries surveyed

The boss and three other officials of an Indonesian firm whose cough syrup was linked to the deaths of over 200 children have been sentenced to jail. They were handed two-year prison sentences and fined 1bn Indonesian rupiah ($63,029; £51,7130) each. The firm, Afi Farma, was

Extremists in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 37 villagers in two different attacks, residents said Wednesday, highlighting once again how deadly islamic extremist rebels have remained in their 14-year insurgency in the hard-hit region. The extremists targeted villagers in Yobe

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier apologised for colonial-era killings in Tanzania during Germany’s rule and vowed to raise awareness of the atrocities in his country, in a step towards “communal healing” of the bloody past. “I would like to ask for

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says Israeli attacks on Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp may be “disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes”. Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, Gaza’s only medical facility serving cancer

Russia bombarded 118 Ukrainian towns and villages in 24 hours, more than on any other day this year, says Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. He said 10 of Ukraine's 27 regions had come under attack and the onslaught had caused deaths and injuries. Many of the communities

Summary More than 400 people have left Gaza as the Rafah crossing to Egypt opens to civilians for the first time in more than three weeks. 335 foreign passport holders and 76 injured Gazans have been able to leave so far, Palestinian officials say. British and US passport holders

A woman has suffered "life-threatening injuries" after police fired at her for making threats at a Paris train station. The 38-year-old Muslim woman was completely veiled and shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest"). She reportedly made threats that she

Myanmar officials have met with Rohingya refugee families in Bangladesh to discuss their repatriation to Myanmar. The officials travelled to Bangladesh on Tuesday to meet with refugees amid a new repatriation plan brokered by China.  The push is part of a pilot repatriation

Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza interrupted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Senate hearing on Tuesday. Numerous people stood in the crowd and repeatedly yelled "Ceasefire now!" Secretary Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified about

The Gaza Strip is now a graveyard for thousands of children, the United Nations has said, as it warned of the prospect of more dying of dehydration amid Israel’s war on the besieged enclave. The Israeli army has widened its air and ground attacks on Gaza – including houses