The Israeli military took control of the vital Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, pushing into the southern Gazan town after a night of air strikes and as prospects for a ceasefire deal hung in the balance. The Palestinian militant group Hamas said late on Monday it had agree
Saudi Arabia has clarified that a Hajj visa strictly permits travel within the cities of Jeddah, Medina, and Mecca. In a regulations issued for 2024 pilgrimage season, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of the kingdom said a Hajj visa is not valid for work, residency, or travel outside the three citie
Sri Lanka has entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement with India's Adani Green Energy Ltd for two wind power stations developed by the company. Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy unit of the Adani Group, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, won the approval in February last year to inves
Prime Minister Narendra Modi voted early as India held the third phase of a massive general election on Tuesday, and called for a strong turnout although he warned of the scorching summer heat. The world's most populous nation began voting on April 19 in a seven-phase election in which nearly one
War veterans, party leaders and diplomats gathered in Vietnam's Dien Bien Phu province on Tuesday for an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the country's victory over French colonial forces, reports Reuters. The bloody, 56-day battle in the northwestern, remote valley ended on May 7, 1954,
Amid criticism over targeting minority Muslims for electoral gains, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he does not oppose Islam or Muslims. Modi also said he wants the community to think about their future growth. Recently, Narendra Modi and his party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), face
Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza. It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloo
Animated videos shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party targeting opposition Congress and the Muslim community have evoked complaints and outrage, as the political climate in India heats up midway through its six-week long election. The videos, shared by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Pa
A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's eastern Maluku province on Monday without triggering giant waves, the country's meteorology and geophysics agency said. The agency had initially reported the magnitude as 6.1 before revising it. The undersea earthquake occurred at 1:33 am Jakarta
For the first time since leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011, North Koreans were asked to take loyalty oaths on his birthday, a South Korean research institute said, amid other steps the country is taking to solidify his rule. The loyalty oaths, which Reuters could not independently verify, were
Hamas leaders held a second day of truce talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Sunday, with no apparent progress reported as the Islamist group maintained its demand that any agreement must end the war in Gaza, Palestinian officials said. One Palestinian official, close to the mediation effo
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Saturday that they are waiting for Canadian police to share information on arrest of three Indian men over last year’s murder of a Sikh activist. The Indian top diplomat made the comment a day after the arrest of three Indian men
Manipulated videos are taking centre stage as campaigning heats up in India's election, with fake clips involving two top aides of Prime Minister Narendra Modi triggering police investigations and the arrest of some workers of his rival Congress party. In what has been dubbed as India's
