The Philippines’ former president Fidel Ramos has quit his job as special envoy to China, aides said yesterday, but the government has yet to act on his resignation, weeks after the current Philippine leader visited Beijing.

Five suspected addicts were shot dead by masked gunmen while allegedly holding a drug-taking session inside a house in the Philippine capital, police said yesterday.

At least 12 Pakistani workers were killed and more than 50 injured yesterday after a huge blast ripped through an oil tanker at a ship-breaking yard, trapping others inside the vessel, local officials said.

Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan backed down from a threat to paralyse the capital yesterday, a move likely to ease tension that has spilled over into violence in the run-up to the planned protests.

Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Times Now and ET Now, announced yesterday he was quitting the Times Group, employees of the news channel said.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal yesterday said that his government and state will not accept the verdict of even the highest court on the issue of sharing river waters with neighbouring Haryana, and that Punjab was ready for “any sacrifice.”

Police in Madhya Pradesh are under pressure to explain the killing of eight terror suspects who escaped from a jail in Bhopal early on Monday, after footage emerged that appeared to show at least one of the men being shot while already incapacitated.

Celebrations held to mark Kerala’s foundation day were marred by controversy yesterday. A special assembly session was held to commemorate the 60th birthday of the coastal state.

More than 3,000 Bangladeshis, who went to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj this year with various private agencies, are yet to return home after performing the pilgrimage.

Bangladesh is considering buying Chevron Corp’s interest in three natural gas fields in the country, worth an estimated $2bn...

Sri Lanka yesterday announced that it will launch themed tourism development zones across the country to lure more tourists to visit the island nation.

A South African court was yesterday hearing a bid by President Jacob Zuma to block the publication of a potentially explosive report that probed his ties with a controversial and powerful Indian business family.