Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government included hefty spending on roads, airports and other infrastructure in an annual budget presented to Parliament on Tuesday, looking to spur growth and improve its popularity just ahead of key state elections.
The budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts on April 1, calls for $533 billion in spending, up from $477 billion in the current year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in presenting it to lawmakers.

German beer sales dropped another 2.2% last year, with the coronavirus pandemic again weighing on brewers after sales tumbled 5.5% in 2020, official figures showed Tuesday.
Lockdowns that shut restaurants and bars for parts of the past two years have added to a long-term downward trend fueled by health concerns and other factors.

Uganda and a group of investors on Tuesday announced their decision to finally proceed with oil production following years of setbacks that threatened the East African country's efforts to become an oil exporter.
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation and the French energy conglomerate TotalEnergies said Tuesday that the investment in Uganda would be more than $10 billion.

The actress Whoopi Goldberg has apologized for saying the Holocaust was not about race, comments that caused a backlash.
She made the initial comments on ABC's ''The View"' program on Monday morning. Her apology came in a tweet hours later.

Chinese people rang in the Lunar New Year on Tuesday despite pandemic restrictions, as small crowds gathered at temples to offer traditional prayers for the Year of the Tiger.
At the Lama Temple in Beijing, dozens of people bowed in prayer before the ornate west gate of the Tibetan Buddhist site that was shut because of pandemic restrictions.

Washington is "fully committed" to working with Japan to confront growing regional tensions, the new U.S. ambassador to Tokyo, Rahm Emanuel, said Tuesday.
Emanuel was speaking at a meeting with Japanese Foreign Miniser Yoshimasa Hayashi, where the two discussed issues including North Korea's missile advancement and China's increasingly assertive actions in the Asia Pacific.

A nationwide strike in Myanmar on Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of the army's seizure of power, as sporadic protests and violence across the country raised further international concern over the ongoing struggle for power.
Photos and video on social media showed that a countrywide "silent strike" had emptied out streets in Myanmar's largest city of Yangon and other towns as people stayed home and businesses shut their doors in a show of opposition to army rule.

A gas leak has killed a family of seven in their Cairo home, Egyptian authorities said.
According to a police statement, the tragedy took place on Monday in the Sharabia neighborhood of the Egyptian capital where the family — the parents and five siblings, aged 13 to 26 — died of suffocation.

A first-half goal from Takumi Minamino set Japan on the way to beating Saudi Arabia 2-0 at Saitama Stadium on Tuesday and keeping the host on course for a seventh successive World Cup appearance.
Minamino's goal from close range after 31 minutes was created by Junya Ito. The Belgian-based winger then added the second soon after the restart with a fierce shot from the edge of the area to seal a first defeat for the Saudis in Asia Group B qualifying.

Israeli police on Tuesday demolished the east Jerusalem home of a Palestinian militant who killed an Israeli man and wounded four others in a November shooting in Jerusalem's Old City.
Fadi Abu Shkhaidem shot Eliyahu Kay, a 26-year-old immigrant from South Africa, and wounded two police officers and two other bystanders in November's incident near Jerusalem's flashpoint holy site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. He was fatally shot by police at the scene.
