Campaigners, Western diplomats and the UN's rights chief have all condemned the phased month-long vote, citing a ballot stacked with military allies and a stark crackdown on dissent.

A widespread power outage in San Francisco that led to Waymo robotaxis stalling and snarling traffic earlier this month has raised concerns about the readiness of autonomous vehicle operators to tackle major emergencies like earthquakes and floods.

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck some 32 km (20 miles) off Taiwan's northeastern coastal city of Yilan on Saturday, the island's weather administration said, with no immediate reports of major damage.

Despite the immigration crackdown in the US, Saudi Arabia has deported more Indians than America, according to data provided by the Foreign Ministry.

US technology giants are investing huge amounts of money into India as the country positions itself at the centre of the global hub for data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

China's cyber regulator on Saturday issued draft rules for public comment that would tighten oversight of artificial intelligence services designed to simulate human personalities and engage users in emotional interaction.

US strikes in Nigeria this week targeted Islamic State militants from the Sahel who were in the country to work with the Lakurawa jihadist group and "bandit" gangs, a spokesman for the Nigerian president told AFP Saturday.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defence systems had intercepted and destroyed 111 Ukrainian drones in three hours over six Russian regions, including eight over Moscow.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart for the United States on Sunday and meet with President Donald Trump in Florida a day later, an Israeli official told AFP.

Members of the Indian and Bangladeshi Hindu communities in London staged a protest outside the Bangladesh High Commission on Saturday against the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh.

A Chinese man abducted at the age of four reunited with his birth family after 21 years through DNA testing, chose to cut ties with the family that raised him.

Condoms will be unavailable in Bangladesh for at least a month next year due to a fund crunch and manpower shortage.

US President Donald Trump said he opposed US recognition of Somaliland in an interview with the New York Post published Friday, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would become the first country to recognise it.

Pakistan is facing a severe "brain drain" as a result of economic and political instability and limited opportunities, and thousands of doctors, engineers, and accountants have left the country over the past 2 years for work overseas.

When he was alive, a rectangular structure of tin sheets in a village 140 km from Bangladesh's capital Dhaka was what Dipu Chandra Das called home. It took NDTV's Ankit Tyagi nearly four hours to cover this distance in heavy traffic.

A Florida man killed his wife and critically injured his 13-year-old stepdaughter before taking his own life after an argument over watching "Monday Night Football."

BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman on Saturday completed the formalities to enlist himself on Bangladesh's voter list and obtain a national identity (NID) card, two days after his return from over 17 years of self-exile in London.

A massive crash involving 67 vehicles in snowy weather killed two people and injured 26 on an expressway in Japan late on Friday as the country kicked off its end-of-year holiday season.

The Indian Consulate in Toronto has opened a dedicated centre to provide support to women facing domestic violence, abuse and legal challenges.

A puppy was rescued early Thursday after it spent nearly 24 hours in the metro tunnels of Quito, Ecuador. The chase began Wednesday morning when the dog and a cat entered the subway tracks near the San Francisco station.