BRUSSELS, Belgium - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will pay his third wartime visit to the Middle East this week, a US official said Monday, just as mediators announced an extension of a truce in Gaza. (US Secretary of State Antony Blinken) Blinken will also head this week to Dubai to...
ROME, Italy - Italy's cabinet on Monday adopted a decree aimed at boosting renewables, improving the country's energy security and supporting energy-intensive businesses. "We want to unlock the great potential of our country, to make it a reference point on renewables," Ecological Transition...
SYDNEY, Australia - A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off northern Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, with one witness saying the ground swayed "like you are on a boat". The epicentre was detected at an estimated depth of 12 kilometres (seven miles) at 8:46 am local...
DOHA, Qatar - A humanitarian pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas will extend by two days, mediator Qatar said Monday as an initial four-day truce in Gaza was set to expire. (Photo from AFP) "The State of Qatar announces that, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been...
SEOUL, South Korea -- The top diplomats of South Korea, Japan and China on Sunday reaffirmed the need to hold a trilateral summit at the "earliest" possible time, Seoul's foreign minister said following their first three-way meeting in more than four years. (L-R) Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko...
MOSCOW, Russia -- Russia said Sunday it had downed Ukrainian drones over four regions, including Moscow, as well as two Ukrainian missiles over the Azov Sea headed for Russia. Moscow said the drone attacks hit border regions and regions close to Moscow, the day after Kyiv reported what it...
ATHENS, Greece -- A major rescue operation was under way on Sunday for 13 people missing after a Comoros-flagged cargo ship sank in gale-force winds off the Greek Aegean island of Lesbos. Medical staffs carry on a stretcher a survivor from the Comoros-flagged cargo ship that has sunk off the island...
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A tanker linked to an Israel-affiliated company has been boarded off the coast of Yemen, the maritime security firm Ambrey said on Sunday following a series of incidents on the same shipping route. Ambrey said that "US naval forces are engaged in the situation" after...
SILKYARA TUNNEL, India -- India's military brought in specialised equipment Sunday as efforts to free 41 trapped workers entered a third week, with digging ongoing in three directions after repeated setbacks to the operation. The Indian air force said Sunday that they were "responding with...
GENEVA, Switzerland -- The World Health Organization on Saturday reported 12,569 mpox cases and 581 related deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year to November 12, the highest annual figure ever recorded. The infectious disease, formerly known as monkeypox, was first identified in...
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli fire hit one of its patrols in the country's south on Saturday, despite a Hamas-Israel truce largely quietening the Lebanon-Israel frontier. Lebanese farmer and minibus driver Abdallah Abdallah stands in front of his tractor...
DOHA, Qatar -- A total of 13 Israeli hostages are to be freed "tonight" for 39 Palestinian prisoners, in a delayed second exchange agreed as part of a temporary truce in Gaza, mediator Qatar said Saturday. Seven foreigners held in Gaza will also be released, it added. "After a delay, obstacles to...
