Chinese plane crashes with 132 on board, no sign of survivors

A China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 with 132 people on board crashed in mountains in southern China on a domestic flight on Monday after a sudden descent from cruising altitude. Media said there were no signs of survivors.

Ukraine defies Russian demand to surrender Mariupol

Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn on Monday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in a city under siege and already laid to waste by Russian bombardment, Reuters reported Monday.

China has fully militarized 3 islands in South China Sea: US

China has fully militarized at least 3 of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment and fighter jets in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby, a top US military commander said Sunday.

Mariupol school bombed, thousands deported from besieged city

The Russian military has bombed an art school in besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol where about 400 people had taken refuge, news agency AP quoted local authorities as saying, Sunday

Pakistan PM Imran Khan praises India amid no-confidence motion

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday praised India and its foreign policy, this at a time when he faces threats of being unseated amid no-confidence motion moved against him, the Hindustan Times reported Sunday.

US strategy for Indo-Pacific as ‘dangerous’ as NATO expansion: China

The US strategy for the Indo-Pacific is as “dangerous” as the eastward expansion of Nato in Europe, China’s vice foreign minister Le Yucheng said on Saturday issuing what appeared to be a veiled warning against the Quad grouping of countries.

Biden urges Xi to abandon Moscow over Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden sought to prevent Beijing giving new life to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a video call on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Moscow pressed on with bombardments that have taken the place of military advances.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe returns after 5-year arrest in Iran

The families of two British-Iranians who returned to the UK after years imprisoned in Tehran on Thursday spoke of their overwhelming relief and gratitude at finally being reunited.

Theatre sheltering over 1,000 civillians bombed in Ukraine

Ukraine accused Russia Thursday of bombing a theatre that was sheltering more than 1,000 civilians in the city of Mariupol, .

India criticises OIC invitation to Hurriyat leader

India on Thursday criticised the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) decision to invite Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Omar Farooq to a meeting being held in Pakistan next week. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a weekly media briefing sayingg it was tantamount to encouraging individuals and entities engaged in terrorism.

Russia and Ukraine looking for compromise in peace talks

New talk of compromise from both Moscow and Kyiv on a status for Ukraine outside of NATO lifted hope on Wednesday for a potential breakthrough after three weeks of war.

China registers over 1,000 new daily Covid cases

China reported 1,860 new local symptomatic Covid-19 cases on March. 15, posting over a thousand for a fourth consecutive day, with most new infections still concentrated in the northeast, official data showed on Wednesday.

Cleric calls for day-long bandh against HC order

The Muslim community in Karnataka will observe a day-long bandh on March 17 to protest against the high court ruling upholding the state government’s order prohibiting students from wearing religious attires, including hijab, in educational institutes, Maulana Sagir Ahmad Khan Rashadi, the ‘Ameer-e-Shariat Karnataka,’ said on Wednesday.

European leaders visit Kyiv, Zelensky hints at NATO compromise

Three European prime ministers headed to Kyiv by train on Tuesday for the first visit of its kind since war began, even as buildings there were ablaze and rescue workers were trying to pull survivors from the rubble of fresh Russian bombardment.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has had British passport returned: UK lawmaker

British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has had her British passport returned, British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq said on Tuesday.

Beijing wants US to ‘open biolabs’ to international experts

Washington should prove that the global network of biolabs funded by the Pentagon does not conduct nefarious research by subjecting the facilities to international scrutiny, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a daily briefing on Monday.

Chinese province with 24mn people sealed off over Covid outbreak

China March 14 (Hindustan Times)- China on Monday sealed off the northeastern province of Jilin with over 24 million people following a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, the first time an entire province has been cut off since the unprecedented lockdown of the central province of Hubei and its capital, Wuhan, in 2020, where the virus was first detected in late 2019.

World faces food crisis due to Ukraine war: Melnichenko

A global food crisis looms unless the war in Ukraine is stopped because fertilizer prices are soaring so fast that many farmers can no longer afford soil nutrients, Russian fertilizer and coal billionaire Andrei Melnichenko said on Monday.

Civilian targets hit as Russian forces near Kyiv

Russian strikes hit fresh civilian targets in central and eastern Ukraine on Friday, including a city previously considered a safe haven, as Moscow’s troops edged closer to the capital Kyiv.

Iran nuclear talks paused after Russian demands

The EU announced a pause Friday in the talks it is chairing on the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, days after fresh Russian demands complicated negotiations which had appeared close to completion.

HK leader urges vaccinations as COVID infections swamp city

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Friday that the city’s COVID-19 vaccination programme would focus on its elderly and children, as authorities battled to reduce a surge of coronavirus infections and climbing death rates.

Nuclear war fears -a Western creation: Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday he did not believe the conflict in Ukraine would spiral into a nuclear war.

Fresh efforts to evacuate Ukrainian civilians as new ceasefire agreed

Russia announced a new ceasefire in Ukraine on Wednesday to let civilians flee besieged cities while Ukrainian authorities said it would make a fresh attempt to evacuate stranded civilians through 6 “humanitarian corridors” amid reports of Russian forces breaching local ceasefire agreements for the third consecutive day.

Britain to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles

Britain is planning to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles to help it defend its skies from Russian invasion, defence minister Ben Wallace said, stressing that the technology fell within the definition of defensive weapons.

Russia tells US to await response to “economic war”

The Kremlin accused the United States on Wednesday of declaring an economic war on Russia that was sowing mayhem through energy markets, and put Washington on notice it was considering its response to a ban on Russian oil and energy.

Iran won’t back down on its ‘red lines’ in nuclear talks: Raisi

Iran will not back down on its red lines in nuclear talks with major powers, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday, after the European Union said the time had come for Washington and Tehran to take political decisions needed to reach an accord.

Ukrainians flee besieged cities as number of refugees hits 2 mn

Desperate civilians fled besieged Ukrainian cities on Tuesday after Russia offered “humanitarian corridors”, as the number of refugees leaving the country since Moscow’s invasion passed two million.

Rains drench Sydney, forcing snap evacuations

Flood warnings stretched across Australia’s east coast on Tuesday and tens of thousands of Sydney residents fled their homes as torrential rains again pummelled the country’s largest city, flooding several big suburbs.

Russia will stop ‘in a moment’ if Ukraine meets terms-Kremlin

Russia has told Ukraine it is ready to halt military operations “in a moment” if Kyiv meets a list of conditions, the Kremlin spokesman said on Monday.

China to provide Ukraine humanitarian aid, praises Russia ties

China’s Red Cross will provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine “as soon as possible”, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday, as he praised his country’s friendship with Russia as “rock solid”.