It is one of the biggest birthday celebrations in the world: millions of Sikhs mark yesterday the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of their religion, the Guru Nanak.

Jammu and Kashmir yesterday marked 100 days since India stripped the region of its autonomy and imposed a strict communications blackout, with local journalists protesting the Internet blackout.

The government has commuted the death sentence of Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana who was convicted in 2007 for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.

Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan speaks at a commemoration meeting held in honour of the late C K Menon, a long-time Doha-based entrepreneur and renowned philanthropist, at his hometown Thrissur on Sunday.

Maharashtra was plunged into political uncertainty yesterday after the central government imposed direct rule on the state after weeks of deadlock over who would form its government following fiercely fought elections.

French President Emmanuel Macron has lamented an “unprecedented crisis” in the global political system and urged new alliances to solve the world’s problems, in a call backed by Chinese and EU leaders.

Powerful rainstorms hit Italy yesterday, with the worst affected areas in the south and Venice, where there was widespread flooding.

Spain’s Socialists and the far-left Unidas Podemos party agreed on the basis of a coalition government yesterday, just two days after a parliamentary election delivered a highly fragmented parliament.

French, Spanish and Catalan police intervened yesterday to clear a motorway border crossing to Spain that had been blocked for more than 24 hours by Catalan pro-independence activists.

Nigel Farage’s decision to unilaterally stand down more than half the Brexit Party’s candidates has prompted fury from some of the hopefuls, with one candidate saying he only learned the news when a passing driver asked him why he was still campaigning.

Fires raged across a swathe of Australia’s east coast yesterday, destroying some homes and shrouding Sydney in smoke from a blaze authorities fear they will be unable to control until next week.

Hundreds of inmates at Sri Lanka’s biggest high-security prison staged a second day of protests yesterday, demanding their freedom after the president pardoned a well-connected man convicted of brutally murdering a Swedish teenager.