AFP, India: India's top court is expected to hear a final challenge Tuesday to a colonial-era ban on gay sex, a case closely watched by rights campaigners in the world's biggest democracy.  The Supreme Court's three most senior judges will review a 2013 decision to reimpose the ban…

AFP, British: A British tourist has been trampled to death by an elephant on the Thai tourist island of Koh Samui, police said Tuesday, the latest deadly attack by animals used to entertain holidaymakers. The man, identified by police as Gareth Crowe, 36, was riding on the animal's back with his…

AFP, France: French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced Tuesday that it had begun research and development into a vaccine against the mosquito-borne Zika virus, blamed for causing a surge in brain-damaged babies. The company said the success of its Sanofi Pasteur vaccines division in developing a…

The United States and Italy warned Tuesday that the Islamic State group is expanding its reach, threatening to seize Libya and launch attacks in western countries, reports AFP. Representatives from the 23 countries of the US-led coalition battling the jihadists' self-declared "caliphate"…

AFP, Syria: Syrian government forces have taken several key villages north of the city of Aleppo as they press an advance that could break a long-running rebel siege of two Shiite villages. On Tuesday, Syrian state news agency SANA said government troops backed by pro-regime militants had "restored…

AFP, China: Tens of thousands of Lunar New Year travellers in China were stranded Tuesday at a station in Guangzhou, state media said, after snow and…

AFP, Pakistan: A Pakistan International Airlines employee was shot dead Tuesday and several more were wounded after clashes broke out between law enforcement agencies and workers protesting the planned privatisation of the national carrier, hospital officials said. Police and paramilitary rangers deployed…