Sri Lanka’s beleaguered prime minister came under increased pressure to step down on Satu­rday, as a cabinet minister and other senior party members backed street protests calling for resignations over a worsening economic crisis. Media minister Nalaka Godahewa announced his support for the thousands outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office who are demanding he and other مزید پڑھیں

Russia said Friday it would fight to take control over all east and south of Ukraine but Kyiv pledged to save the country, as the UN documented dozens of civilians killed in one town. Ukraine s government, emboldened by an influx of Western weaponry, said its beleaguered forces were still holding out inside a sprawling مزید پڑھیں

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday claimed the “liberation” of the flattened city of Mariupol after nearly two months of fighting, demanding its trapped Ukrainian defenders be sealed into their underground last stand. The fate of the besieged port has become totemic as Russia battles to complete a land bridge covering territories already under its مزید پڑھیں

An explosion at a Shi’ite mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday killed or wounded at least 20 people, a local Taliban commander said. “A blast happened in 2nd district inside a mosque, more than 20 dead and injured,” Mohammad Asif Wazeri, the spokesman for the Taliban commander in Mazar-i-Sharif told Reuters. Zia مزید پڑھیں

Russia said on Wednesday it had conducted a first test launch of its Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new addition to its nuclear arsenal which President Vladimir Putin said would give Moscow’s enemies something to think about. Putin was shown on television being told by the military that the missile had been launched from Plesetsk مزید پڑھیں

Ukraine called Wednesday for urgent negotiations with Russia in Mariupol, which appeared close to falling after weeks of siege, as Vladimir Putin flexed his military muscle with the test launch of a new, nuclear capable ICBM. Washington downplayed the test of the intercontinental ballistic missile and said it had been notified in advance, but Putin مزید پڑھیں

Gun salutes will ring out Thursday to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s 96th birthday, although the monarch herself was expected to mark the occasion with little fanfare. It has been a troubled year for Britain’s royal family, with concerns over the queen’s health and questions over the future of the monarchy. Read more: First killing by police مزید پڑھیں

Sri Lanka police shot dead a protester and wounded 24 others on Tuesday in the first fatal clash with residents demonstrating against the government over a crippling economic crisis. The South Asian country is in the grip of its most painful economic downturn since independence in 1948, with regular blackouts and severe shortages of fuel مزید پڑھیں

Russia on Tuesday called on Ukrainian forces to “immediately” lay down arms and issued a new ultimatum for the defenders of the besieged port city of Mariupol to give up. The Russian defence ministry s warning came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced late on Monday the start of a new offensive by Moscow that مزید پڑھیں

At least six people were killed and 11 wounded on Tuesday by two bomb blasts at a boys’ school in the Afghan capital. Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran told AFP that Tuesday’s blasts at the Abdul Rahim Shahid school were caused by improvised explosive devices and left at least six people killed and 11 wounded. مزید پڑھیں