Russia on Wednesday said it supports India's aspirations to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and also praised New Delhi's deft handling of the contentious issues at the G20 Summit as a "true triumph" of its foreign policy.

Abuja (Nigeria): At least 140 people were killed by gunmen who attacked remote villages over two days in north-central Nigeria's Plateau state, survivors and officials said Tuesday in the latest of such mass killings this year blamed on the West African nation's farmer-herder crisis.

An Israeli airstrike on Monday in a Damascus neighbourhood killed a high-ranking Iranian general, Iranian state media said.

The death toll from the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that jolted northwest China earlier this week has risen to 149 with two people still missing.

At least 68 people were killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza, health officials said Sunday, while the number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat over the weekend rose to 15.

Paris: A Nicaragua-bound flight carrying 303 passengers, mostly Indians, was allowed to resume its journey on Monday three days after they were detained by the French authorities at an airport near Paris over suspected "human trafficking", according to local media reports on Sunday.

New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged countries in South-East Asia to strengthen surveillance in view of the increasing cases of respiratory diseases, including due to COVID-19 and its new sub-variant JN.1, and influenza.

London: British Home Secretary James Cleverly was under fire Sunday for joking about date rape just hours after announcing plans to crack down on what he had dubbed a "perverse" offence.