Chinese state media has slammed a conspiracy theory over the helicopter crash that killed India's Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others. ....

While Covid cases in South Africa driven by the super mutant Omicron variant have surged 255 per cent in the last week, the infections are showing milder symptoms than seen in the last three waves, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). ....

A newly-approved eye drop could change the lives of millions of Americans with age-related blurred near vision, a condition affecting mostly people 40 and older, CBS News reported. ....

New Zealand plans to ban young people from ever buying cigarettes in their lifetime in one of the world's toughest crackdowns on the tobacco industry, arguing that other efforts to extinguish smoking were taking too long. ....

At least 49 migrants were killed after a trailer truck overturned in southern Mexico, authorities have said. ....

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been ranked 43rd in the Forbes magazine's list of 100 Most Powerful Women in the world. ....

The value of the Pakistani rupee has fallen by 30.5 per cent against the US dollar over the last three years and four months under the Imran Khan-led government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). ....

At a meeting of Catholic and Protestant leaders in Pakistan, the senior clergy agreed to tighten surveillance and take additional security measures, especially during Sunday services. With the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, there are serious concerns of extremist incidents aimed at minority communities, especially the Christians as Christmas draws near. ....

Indian-origin Anil Menon, a lieutenant colonel with the US Air Force and SpaceX's first flight surgeon, has been selected by NASA among the 10 new astronauts who could fly to the Moon someday. ....

Early data on the Omicron Covid-19 variant is "a bit encouraging" and does not indicate a great degree of danger, says Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert. ....