This aerial photograph taken on June 24, 2021 shows the Taal volcano crater. (TED ALJIBE / AFP) MANILA – Authorities in the Philippines started evacuating thousands of people on Thursday after the alert status was raised on a restive volcano that spewed a one-kilometre high plume of gas and steam. The towns of Agoncillo and […]
This undated photo taken from the official Twitter account of Hope Mars Mission shows an artist's impression of the aurora phenomenon in the planet Mars. The United Arab Emirates’ Mars mission has captured the first images of the discrete aurora phenomenon in the red planet’s nightside atmosphere. Space Technology is a key part of the […]
A giant petition hung by women's rights activists with the hastag 'Olmekistemiyorum-Idontwanttodie' or 'I don't want to be-Idontwanttodie' shows a letter of complaint to the prosecutor to protest against Turkey's withdrawal from Istanbul Convention, in the Besiktas district of Istanbul on April 5, 2021. (OZAN KOSE / AFP) ANKARA – Turkey officially withdrew on Thursday […]
In this March 5, 2018 photo, a man places an Israeli flag at the site where new caravans belonging to Israeli settler families are being set up near the settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank on the outskirts of Hebron. Israel has withdrawn from a race against Germany and Belgium for two […]
South Korean Air Force pilots stand on an F-15K fighter jet during a preview of the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition at a military air base in Seongnam, south of Seoul, on Oct 14, 2019. (PHOTO / AFP) SEOUL – After a South Korean air force master sergeant accused a colleague of sex abuse […]
This picture taken on June 29, 2021 and released from the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 30, 2021 shows DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un attending an enlarged meeting of the 2nd Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee at the 8th congress of the Workers' Party of Korea at the Party […]
This photo taken on June 29, 2021 shows a Thai Lion Air hostess amongst passengers on a domestic flight from Bangkok to Phuket, before take-off at Don Muang Airport in Bangkok, days before the “Phuket Sandbox” tourism scheme that allows visits by people vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus is set to launch. (PHOTO / AFP) […]
This handout photo taken and released by Malaysia's Department of Information on Jan 31, 2019 shows the sixth Sultan of Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah Al-Musta'in Billah, (center) waving before taking the oath as the 16th King of Malaysia at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia on Jan […]
In this May 12, 2021 photo, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following the talks in Moscow, Russia. (MAXIM SHEMETOV, POOL VIA AP) NEW YORK – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to US President Joe Biden's administration to lift or waive all sanctions on Iran […]
In this file photo taken on May 10, 2013, soldiers of the German armed forces Bundeswehr listen to a speech of the visiting German Chancellor at the Bundeswehr base in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. (KAY NIETFELD / POOL / AFP) BERLIN – The German military late on Tuesday concluded its withdrawal from Afghanistan after almost two decades, […]
This handout photo taken on Sept 21, 2020 by the South Korean Defense Ministry and received on Sept 25 shows South Korean Special Army soldiers performing martial arts during a rehearsal of the 72nd Armed Forces Day ceremony at the headquarters of the Special Warfare Command in Icheon. (HANDOUT / SOUTH KOREAN DEFENCE MINISTRY / […]
TEHRAN – Iran's current administration is not in a rush to push for the negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement before the new government takes power in August, the spokesman for the outgoing Rouhani administration declared on Tuesday. "If what we have in mind is ensured, there will be no delay, but if it […]
In this photo Moderna vials sit on a table before they are loaded into syringes at a mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic, run by Hartford Healthcare at Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church's McGivney community center, in Bridgeport, Connecticut on April 20, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) WELLINGTON / JERUSALEM / YANGON / SINGAPORE / TEHRAN / JAKARTA / NEW DELHI / PHNOM PENH […]
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrives to attend the first weekly cabinet meeting of the new government in Jerusalem, on June 20, 2021. (EMMANUEL DUNAND / POOL / AFP) JERUSALEM – Israel's new foreign minister inaugurated its embassy in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday and offered an olive branch to other former adversaries, saying: […]
SEOUL – A former South Korean prosecutor-general launched on Tuesday a bid to become president in an election next year saying the administration of President Moon Jae-in was corrupt and had to be defeated. Moon is limited to just one term under the constitution. His liberal party has yet to nominate its candidate for the […]
This Dec 30, 2019 image from security camera video shows Michael L. Taylor, center, and George-Antoine Zayek at passport control at Istanbul Airport in Turkey. (PHOTO / AP) Helping Carlos Ghosn escape trial in Japan was a mistake, one that he deeply regrets, said the Americans who helped the former Nissan Motor Co. chairman flee […]
Health workers conduct investigation to trace chains of infection to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Suva, Fiji, May 26, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA) For much of the time since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the island nations of the Pacific were considered among the luckier places in the world as they managed to keep […]
In this image grab taken from a broadcast by Syria TV on June 28, 2021, smoke billows from a facility used by Iran-backed groups following US air strikes on the Syrian-Iraqi border. US air strikes against Iran-backed armed groups on the Syrian-Iraqi border killed at least seven fighters overnight into Monday and sparks immediate calls […]
US President Joe Biden and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (left) hold a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, June 28, 2021. (SAUL LOEB / AFP) WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden on Monday discussed bilateral relations and regional issues with visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Biden, at the beginning […]
Transportation workers wear face masks and shields to help curb the spread of the coronavirus while waiting for the AstraZeneca vaccine during a mass vaccination campaign for public transport workers at the Kampung Rambutan Bus Terminal in Jakarta, Indonesia on June 10, 2021. (ACHMAD IBRAHIM / AP) CANBERRA / DHAKA / PHNOM PENH / NEW DELHI […]
Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint near the a US military base in Bagram, some 50 km north of Kabul on April 29, 2021. (WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP) KABUL – Taliban militants have taken over a district, launched attacks on checkpoints and cemented control over a border trade crossing, officials said […]
A view shows traffic on Azadi street in Iran's capital Tehran on April 20, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) TEHRAN – The Iranian spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday urged the parties in the Vienna talks to make their decisions on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint […]
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to staff at the US State Department during the first visit of US President Joe Biden (left) in Washington, DC, Feb 4, 2021. (SAUL LOEB / AFP) WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that 10,000 Islamic State fighters continue to be held in […]
US Army mobile equipment sits in a field in Yeoncheon, the Republic of Korea, near the border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, on June 17, 2020. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / FILE / AP) SEOUL – The Republic of Korea approved plans on Monday to pursue a US$2.6-billion artillery interception system, similar to Israel's "Iron […]
A Palestinian girl with a national flag painted on her face plays amidst the rubble of buildings destroyed by last month's Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave, on June 19, 2021. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) GAZA – Reconstruction of Gaza after last month’s fighting […]
In this May 11, 2021 photo, union flags fly in Parliament Square in London. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) LONDON – Britain and Singapore will on Monday start negotiations on a new digital trade agreement that could remove barriers, part of London's push to become what it calls a "global tech powerhouse" post-Brexit. Since completing its […]
A man walks through an inner-city park in Melbourne on June 3, 2021 as the coronavirus lockdown of Australia's second-biggest city is extended by another seven days, authorities announced as they attempt to stamp out a cluster of cases in Melbourne. (William WEST / AFP) SYDNEY – The coronavirus-induced border closures and lockdowns in Australia […]
A woman gets inoculated with a dose of the Covishield vaccine against the COVID-19 coronavirus at a drive-in vaccination facility in Mumbai on June 26, 2021. (PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP) The emergence of a more contagious Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 is causing increasing concern in some Indian states and many other countries. WHO is […]
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks as he chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, on June 27, 2021. (MAYA ALLERUZZO / POOL / AFP) As Israel transitions to an altered political landscape under a new leader, the country's relationship with its long-term ally the United States has been receiving much attention as observers speculate […]
In this Oct 26, 2010 file photo, a worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr. (MEHR NEWS AGENCY/MAJID ASGARIPOUR/AP) DUBAI – The speaker of Iran's parliament said on Sunday Tehran will never hand over images from inside of some […]