World

Former Indian president Pranab Mukherjee has died at the age of 84.  Mr Mukherjee had emergency surgery for a blood clot in his brain on 10 August and had also tested positive for coronavirus after the procedure. He was the 13th president of India from 2012 to 2017 and had a political career spanning five

If there are symbols of just how indebted the Syrian opposition forces are to Turkey, then the new army base in Aleppo Province for its elite Al Hamza division is evidence of this. The Turkish red crescent flag is given as much prominence as the Syrian opposition one. In the grand greeting rooms where commanders

India has seen a record 78,761 new coronavirus cases in the last day – the worst 24-hour spike ever recorded across the world in the pandemic. The country’s health ministry also reported 948 deaths, taking the total number of fatalities there to 63,498. India is one of the countries that has been worst affected by

At least 29 people are dead after a two-storey restaurant collapsed during a birthday party in China. A further 28 were injured, including seven of them seriously, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said. The building in Linfen city suddenly fell apart on Sunday but it is not yet clear what caused this. Image: Dozens of

It would be a “miracle” if this year’s Tour de France finishes, the head of the world governing body for competitive cycling has warned, after a surge in coronavirus cases prompted a rule change. There was an unusually subdued atmosphere as the race began in Nice on Saturday amid fears the 176 riders may not

Julio Mora and Waldramina Quinteros have been married longer than most people have been alive. He is aged 110 and she is 104 – and they’ve just been awarded the Guinness World Record for the world’s oldest married couple. Mr Mora was born on 10 March 1910 and Ms Quinteros on 16 October 1915. Combined,

The Italian coastguard has helped a rescue boat funded by British street artist Banksy after the vessel became stranded in the Mediterranean Sea. The boat was unable to move due to an overcrowded deck after picking up 219 migrants off the Libyan coast since Thursday. The crew said on Twitter they were close to declaring

In Wuhan, where everything began, life is back to normal. People crowd the streets, fill the restaurants and bars, swim in the Yangtze River for exercise. You would not know this is the same city that was devastated by a mystery disease which, back then, had no name, that endured the hardship of the world’s

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s symptoms are improving after his suspected poisoning, the German doctors treating him have said. The 44-year-old is stable and there is “no immediate danger to his life”, according to the Charite hospital in Berlin, although it “remains too early to gauge potential long-term effects”. Russian officials have rejected accusations from

While education has moved online worldwide, millions of children in poverty are missing out on school in India because they don’t have the technology to access it. “I want my school reopened and our teachers teaching us like before. I face a lot of problems as I don’t have a phone and am unable to

Before Shinzo Abe came to power in 2012, the entrance to the Japanese prime minister’s office may as well have been a revolving door.  From 1993 to 2012, there were 13 prime ministers (including Abe, in his year-long first term). Abe bucked that trend, remarkably. He became the country’s longest-serving prime minister earlier this month.

China has been accused of oppressing and breaching the human rights of the Uyghur people in its western Xinjiang province. There have been widespread reports of Uyghur people being held against their will in “re-education” centres, undergoing forced contraception and being subjected to a range of other restrictions. China says the claims are “baseless” and

BERLIN (Reuters) – It was still dark in Damascus as I walked down the stairs, my new life contained in a red suitcase. My mother stood next to the taxi door praying for my safety. My father was silent, certain that he would never see me again. L-R Ghada Zitouni, Riham Alkousaa and Isam Alkousaa

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ramped up verbal attacks on Spain’s Iberdrola (IBE.MC) on Wednesday, accusing the power generation company of mounting a media campaign against his government as well as unspecified acts of graft. FILE PHOTO: Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador holds a news conference at the National

FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto in the House of the Estates in Helsinki, Finland March 3, 2020. Lehtikuva/Markku Ulander via REUTERS MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Moscow would welcome efforts by Washington to use its

FILE PHOTO: Taxi drivers line-up in Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome where health workers conduct tests for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for taxi drivers on the drive-thru system in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 15, 2020. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/File Photo RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil set a daily record on Tuesday for new confirmed cases of the