Ukrainian forces reported battlefield gains on Wednesday in a counterattack that could signal a shift in the momentum of the war, while Kyiv shut gas flows on a route through Russian-held territory, raising the spectre of an energy crisis in Europe.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday said he had agreed new deals with Sweden and Finland to bolster European security, pledging to support both countries’ armed forces should they come under attack.

Hong Kong’s national security police on Wednesday arrested Cardinal Joseph Zen, one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia, and four others who helped run a now-disbanded humanitarian fund for protesters, media reported.

Ukraine on Wednesday said Russia had halted gas supplies through a key transit hub in the east of the country, fuelling fears Moscow’s invasion could worsen an energy crisis in Europe.

China’s Yuan hit the lowest mark against the US dollar in the last 18 months on Tuesday, falling to 6.7134 against the USD, the lowest figure since October 30, 2020.

The Pakistani rupee slumped to an all-time low against the US dollar on Tuesday in the interbank market.

Ukraine said on Tuesday its forces had recaptured villages from Russian troops north and northeast of Kharkiv, pressing a counter-offensive that could signal a shift in the war’s momentum and jeopardise Russia’s main advance.

The son of the disgraced late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos vowed on Tuesday to work for all people after his stunning election victory, and told the world to judge him by his presidency, not his family’s past.

There is an even chance that global temperatures will temporarily breach the benchmark of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in one of the next 5 years, the United Nations warned Tuesday.

Vladimir Putin exhorted Russians to battle in a defiant Victory Day speech on Monday, but was silent about plans for any escalation in Ukraine, despite Western warnings he might use the event in Red Square to order a national mobilisation.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s tweet on Japan’s low birth rate on Monday triggered a flood of sarcasm and anger as the billionaire suggested that the island nation will “eventually cease to exist”.

Voting has begun in the Philippines, with millions queuing across the islands to choose their next president.

Amnesty International said on Friday there was compelling evidence that Russian troops had committed war crimes, including extrajudicial executions of civilians, when they occupied an area outside Ukraine’s capital in February and March.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will send a “doomsday” warning to the West when he leads celebrations on Monday marking the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany, Reuters reported Friday.

India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti, has accused the Netherlands of “patronizing” his country after the Dutch ambassador to the UK publicly scolded New Delhi for abstaining on UN General Assembly resolutions on

The Covid-19 pandemic killed 13.3 to 16.6 million people in 2020 and 2021, the WHO estimated Thursday -- up to triple the number of deaths attributed directly to the disease.

Scores of civilians, many of them women and children, remained trapped on Thursday in underground bunkers at a steel works, the last Ukrainian holdout in the ruined city of Mariupol.

The US has assisted Kiev’s forces in killing Russian generals by sharing intelligence on their location inside Ukraine, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing senior American officials.

Local and regional elections were being held across the UK on Thursday that could prove historic in Northern Ireland and heap further pressure on embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Russian Orthodox Church scolded Pope Francis on Wednesday for using the wrong tone after he urged Patriarch Kirill not to become the Kremlin’s “altar boy”, cautioning the Vatican that such remarks would hurt dialogue between the churches.

The mayor of the destroyed Ukrainian city of Mariupol said Wednesday that contact was lost with Ukrainian forces holed up in the Azovstal steel plant amid fierce battles with Russian troops.

India defended its continued purchases of Russian oil on Wednesday, saying they were part of its long-standing effort to diversify its supplies and arguing a sudden halt to imports would jack up world prices and hurt its consumers.

The UN and Red Cross said Tuesday 101 civilians were evacuated from the tunnels of the Azovstal plant in Ukraine’s battered city of Mariupol, but warned that others remain trapped.

Ukrainian authorities were hoping Monday to evacuate more civilians from the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, as Russia’s offensive in the east of Ukraine continued with “active and heavy” fighting.

Israel lambasted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday for claiming that Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins, saying it was an “unforgivable” falsehood that debased the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.

Two new sublineages of the Omicron coronavirus variant can dodge antibodies from earlier infection well enough to trigger a new wave, but are far less able to thrive in the blood of people vaccinated against COVID-19, South African scientists have fo

Turkish riot police detained dozens of protesters trying to reach Istanbul’s main Taksim Square for May Day demonstrations against economic hardship caused by raging inflation.

Around 50 Ukrainian civilians reached the relative safety of a temporary camp in Russian-held territory on Sunday after being evacuated from a ruined steelworks in Mariupol, where the United Nations said a “safe passage operation” was in progress

The body of a journalist from U.S.-backed broadcaster Radio Liberty was found in rubble in the Ukrainian capital, killed in a Russian missile attack during a visit by the U.N. secretary-general, Friday.

Pakistan issued a heat warning after the hottest March in 61 years while in parts of neighbouring India schools were shut and streets deserted as an intense heat wave on Friday showed no signs of abating.