Antananarivo: Madagascar's police minister and an air force mechanic succeeded in swimming for 12 hours to safety after their helicopter crashed in the Indian Ocean.

The death toll rose to more than 200 following the strongest typhoon to batter the Philippines this year, with 52 people still missing and several central towns and provinces grappling with downed communications and power outages and pleading for food and water, officials said Monday.

Manila: The governor of an island province in the central Philippines said Sunday at least 72 people died in the devastation wrought by Typhoon Rai in more than half of the towns that managed to contact him, bringing the death toll in the strongest typhoon to batter the country this year to at least 146.

London: Nations across Europe moved to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of COVID-19 infections spurred by the highly transmissible omicron variant, including a new nationwide lockdown introduced by the Dutch government.

At least 12 people were killed and an equal number injured here on Saturday when a massive blast, apparently triggered by a gas explosion in a sewage system, ripped through the premises of a private bank situated on it, according to media reports.

An Indian-origin couple was on Friday jailed by a Singapore court for repeat offences relating to the hiring of a maid despite being blacklisted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and obstructing justice, local media reported.

Washington: Senators gave final congressional approval Thursday to a bill barring imports from China's Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove they were produced without forced labour, overcoming initial hesitation from the White House and what supporters said was opposition from corporations.