The Maldives has banned young people born on or after 1 January 2007 from smoking tobacco, becoming the only country in the world to enforce a nationwide generational tobacco prohibition. The archipelago's health ministry announced on Saturday that it would be illegal for younger generations to us
Seven people died in an avalanche in central Nepal on Monday while attempting to climb a mountain, police said. A team of 15 people, with five foreign climbers and 10 Nepali mountain guides, was hit by the avalanche at the base camp of Yalung Ri Peak in Dolakha district, reports Xinhua. "Seven bo
A truck loaded with concrete stone chips rammed into a passenger bus in southern India early Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring about two dozens, local authorities said. The state-run transport bus was carrying around 70 passengers en route to Hyderabad city in southern Telangana stat
At least 12 devotees, most of them women and children, have died in a stampede at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, India, during the observance of Ekadashi. According to NDTV, the stampede occurred early Friday when a massive crowd gathered at the Kasibug
A fire broke out at Petronas Tower 3 in Kuala Lumpur city of Malaysia, on Saturday Malaysian news outlets reported that the fire involved a restaurant in one of the building’s upper floors, with images and videos uploaded online showing thick smoke billowing from the top of the building. Ma
Police in India’s Mumbai have rescued 17 children from a hostage situation at a local studio, where a man was killed in an exchange of gunfire during a rescue operation. According to a report by NDTV, the incident occurred on Thursday in Powai, a neighbourhood in Mumbai, when the suspect, id
Afghanistan and Pakistan will restart peace talks in Istanbul, three sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, a day after Islamabad said the discussions had failed. Two of the sources stated that the nations had agreed to recommence talks at the request of the host nation, Turkey. Nego
One person was killed on India's eastern coast after Cyclone Montha made landfall around midnight, with heavy rain and gusty winds also damaging crops and utility poles, officials said on Wednesday. India's weather department has forecast extremely heavy rain on Wednesday for the coastal states of
Three soldiers were killed and five others injured when unidentified militants ambushed a security patrol in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early Tuesday, official sources said. The attack took place around 4:00 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Monday) when a joint search party of the p
Heavy rains have caused major flooding in central Vietnam, with rivers swelling and inundating homes and farmland, and submerging tourist destinations including the historic cities of Hue and Hoi An. By late Monday, rainfall in the central city of Hue reached 1,085.8 millimeters (42 inches) within
Political parties in military-ruled Myanmar began election campaigning Tuesday, two months ahead of a December vote widely viewed as an attempt to legitimize the military’s 2021 coup, despite ongoing civil conflict that will prevent voting in many regions. The campaign launch came a day afte
Two workers were killed and another injured in an explosion at the recently reopened Polymetals Resources-owned Endeavor silver, zinc and lead mine in Australia on Tuesday, forcing the temporary suspension of operations. Emergency services were called to the remote mining town of Cobar in the stat
The cyclonic storm Montha, brewing over the Bay of Bengal, is likely to cross the coast of India’s Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday evening or night, according to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD). The BMD issued a special weather bulletin on Monday afternoon with the latest update on
