A Japanese comedian’s nonsense tune that became an Internet sensation after Justin Bieber recommended it has entered the Guinness World Records as the shortest song to break into the Billboard Hot 100.

A global campaign to free the world’s “saddest polar bear” from a Chinese shopping centre has gathered 1mn signatures, rights groups said, as a new video of the wretched-looking creature sparked fresh outrage.

The world’s largest marine reserve aimed at protecting the pristine wilderness of Antarctica will be created after a “momentous” agreement was finally reached yesterday, with Russia dropping its long-held opposition.

Rohingya Muslims say Myanmar soldiers raped or sexually assaulted dozens of women in a remote village in the northwest of the country during the biggest upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority in four years.

Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn was to fly overseas last night and return home next month, three senior military sources with knowledge of the matter said, two weeks after the death of his father, the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

A spectacular cargo train derailment in Malaysia yesterday left cars piled up like toys, blocking two busy tracks and stranding thousands of travellers on the country’s busy rail network.

Ivory Coast heads to the polls tomorrow for a referendum on a new constitution their president insists will heal a nation beset by violent turmoil, but which the opposition says is anti-democratic.

South Africa and Burundi’s decision to quit the International Criminal Court (ICC) and an attack by Gambia against its supposed “Caucasian” justice are likely to embolden other African states to leave the world’s only permanent war crimes tribunal.

The United Nations has negotiated the release of nearly 900 children detained by Nigeria’s army and security forces after they have retaken land from Boko Haram militants, a senior official said.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign was yesterday hit by the FBI’s reopening of its investigation into her use of a private e-mail server while secretary of state, eroding a political boost from a strong US economic report.

US prosecutors yesterday said the sudden death of a former aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Washington hotel was an accident, and occurred after days of heavy drinking and successive falls.

Five Filipino fishermen released after being held hostage by Somali pirates for nearly five years broke down as they were reunited with their families yesterday, recounting beatings and abuse.