Asia

Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will be joining Brics from 1 January next year, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has said. The debate over expanding the group – made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has topped the agenda at …

A girl cut off the power supply of her entire village to meet her boyfriend in the dark in Bihar Bettiah, India, reports said. The girl did it every time to meet her boyfriend under the cover of darkness but the affair finally came to light after the couple was …

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have dismissed a Human Rights Watch report detailing the systematic killing by border guards of hundreds of Ethiopian migrants on the Kingdom’s border with Yemen. A Saudi official said the report – based on interviews with survivors – was not reliable. The rights group said at …

Human Rights Watch has accused Saudi Arabian border guards of systematically killing hundreds of Ethiopian economic migrants trying to cross from war-torn Yemen, the BBC reported. The rights group said at least 655 people have been killed by guards since early last year. Some were shot, others killed or maimed …

Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet African heads of state on the sidelines of the BRICS summit next week “to advance China-Africa cooperation in the new era”, Reuters reported, citing China’s ambassador to South Africa. “The meeting will take place late on Thursday, the last day of the three-day summit,” …

An American national convicted of torturing and killing his Egyptian father was executed on Wednesday, the official Saudi news agency SPA reported. “Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef, of American nationality, was executed in the Riyadh region,” the agency added, quoting a press release from the interior ministry of the Saudi kingdom, …

At least 24 people have died in India, nine of them in a temple collapse, and dozens more missing, after heavy rains caused flooding and landslides, officials said on Monday. Several days of torrential rain destroyed bridges and buildings, washed away vehicles in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, …

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Johannesburg to attend a summit of the BRICS group of nations this month, the Indian government said on Thursday. BRICS’ current five members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are due to convene there on Aug. 22-24. China and …

The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group announced in an audio recording posted on Telegram, the death of its leader, Abu Al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurachi. According to initial reports, he was killed in clashes with the jihadist formation Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in northwestern Syria.

At least two people died on Monday in the Chinese capital Beijing, placed on maximum alert for floods and landslides, due to torrential rains which have been falling on the region since Friday. Rescue services found two bodies in waterways in Beijing’s Mentougou district, according to the People’s Daily (state …