An Iranian flag flys outside the Vienna International Centre hosting the United Nations headquarters and the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on July 3, 2014. (JOE KLAMAR / AFP) TEHRAN – Iran will not stop parts of its current nuclear activities until the United States lifts anti-Iran sanctions and returns to the 2015 nuclear […]
In this picture taken on April 7, 2021 residents check through debris near damaged homes in Waiwerang village of East Flores following torrential rains from Tropical Cyclone Seroja. (ALFRED IKE WURIN / AFP) JAKARTA – Indonesia’s weather agency warned on Friday that a second tropical cyclone in the space of a week could trigger floods […]
South Korea President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech at an unveiling event of the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet prototype at the Korea Aerospace Industries headquarters in the southern city of Sacheon on April 9, 2021. (PHOTO / YONHAP / AFP) SEOUL – South Korea on Friday unveiled the first prototype of the KF-X fighter jet […]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a cabinet meeting in Teheran on April 7, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) WASHINGTON/VIENNA－The United States is prepared to remove sanctions on Iran to resume compliance with the Iran nuclear deal, including those that are inconsistent with the 2015 pact, the US State Department said on Wednesday, without providing details. […]
With the successor to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong now out of the picture, the race to become the country’s next leader is suddenly wide open. Lee on Thursday signaled the process could take several years, and the party aimed to have a successor in place by the next election due in 2025. The […]
This handout photo taken on April 9, 2021 and provided by South Korean Foreign Ministry shows the South Korean-flagged tanker 'Hankuk Chemi' departing the Iranian port of Rajai near Bandar Abbas. (HANDOUT / SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP) SEOUL – South Korea's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Iran released a South Korean oil […]
A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency on April 7, 2021 shows President Hassan Rouhani speaking during a cabinet meeting in the capital Tehran. (IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP) TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday accused the United States of blocking Iran's access to 10 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by pressuring the […]
In this Feb 19, 2020 photo, Heng Swee Keat, Singapore's deputy prime minister and finance minister, speaks during a meeting in Singapore. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) Singapore Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat stepped aside as the designated successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, a surprise move that will likely push back a long-telegraphed power transition […]
A medical worker shows a vial of China's Sinovac COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at the Ministry of Information in Phnom Penh on April 1, 2021. (TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP) KABUL / SYDNEY / TOKYO / COLOMBO / DUBAI / MANILA / HANOI – Indonesia is in talks with China on getting as many as 100 million […]
This this file photo released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 17, 2020 shows what the agency says is a Syrian air defenses repelling an Israeli missile in the surroundings of the capital Damascus. (STRINGER / SANA / AFP) DAMASCUS – The Israeli strikes after midnight have destroyed a weapon depot […]
In this Nov 20, 2018 photo, Yemeni fighters, loyal to the Shi'ite Houthi movement, secure a rally marking the birth anniversary of Islam's Prophet Mohammad in the capital Sanaa. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) SANAA – Yemen's Houthi group claimed responsibility for a fresh explosive-laden drone attack at the King Khalid Airbase in southwestern Saudi Arabia […]
This picture taken and released by the Vietnam News Agency on March 24, 2021 shows Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, chairwoman of the Vietnam National Assembly, addressing the opening session of the National Assembly's spring session in Hanoi. (PHOTO / STR / VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY / AFP) HANOI – The 14th National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam, […]
This video frame grab taken from footage released by The Turkish Presidency on April 6, 2021, shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) receiving EU Council President Charles Michel (center) and President of EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen (left) at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. (PHOTO / AFP / TURKISH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE) ANKARA […]
In this Jan 5, 2017 photo, gas flares burn from pipes aboard an offshore oil platform in the Persian Gulf's Salman Oil Field, operated by the National Iranian Offshore Oil Co, near Lavan island, Iran. (ALI MOHAMMADI / BLOOMBERG) India’s state-run oil refiners are ready to snap up Iranian crude the moment US sanctions are […]
One of the countries most vulnerable to climate change has also been revealed as a major contributor of methane, a greenhouse gas that’s about 80 times more potent in its first two decades in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. The 12 highest methane emission rates detected this year by Kayrros SAS have occurred over Bangladesh, […]
This handout picture taken on November 21, 2020 and released by the Australian Prime Minister's Office shows Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison attending an online session of the 2020 Malaysian APEC summit from Canberra along with other APEC leaders from around the world on Nov 21, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP) SYDNEY – Australia will remove […]
In this handout photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. (RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE VIA AP) ISLAMABAD – Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, met his […]
This picture taken and released by the Vietnam News Agency on March 24, 2021 shows Vietnam's Communist Party general secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong addressing the National Assembly's spring session in Hanoi. (STR / VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY / AFP) HANOI – The 14th National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam, the country's top legislature, on Wednesday […]
Indonesian President Joko Widodo speaks during an interview on April 7, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) CANBERRA / SEOUL / JERUSALEM / DUBAI / BANGKOK / OSAKA – Indonesian President Joko Widodo slammed richer nations for vaccine nationalism that’s hampering the world’s supply of COVID-19 vaccines and prolonging the global pandemic. “We must give vaccine access […]
The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is seen from the coast of Futaba town in Fukushima prefecture on March 10, 2021, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake which triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster which killed over 18,000 people. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP) TOKYO […]
This Oct 1, 2020, satellite photo from Planet Labs Inc. shows the Iranian cargo ship MV Saviz in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. (PHOTO / PLANET LABS INC. VIA AP) VIENNA/DUBAI – Iran’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that an Iranian vessel, the Saviz, had been targeted in the Red Sea, a day […]
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak (center) arrives at Court of Appeal in Putrajaya, Malaysia, April 5, 2021. (VINCENT THIAN / AP) Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak said he was served with a bankruptcy notice by the Inland Revenue Board for failing to pay a tax bill totaling 1.74 billion ringgit (US$420 million). Former […]
In this Jan 5, 2021, photo provided by the DPRK government, leader Kim Jong-un attends a ruling party congress in Pyongyang, the DPRK. (KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY / KOREA NEWS SERVICE VIA AP) PYONGYANG – Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has urged party cell secretaries to work in a […]
Oh Se-hoon (right), a candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, poses with his supporter during a campaign for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election in Seoul on April 6, 2021. (JUNG YEON-JE / AFP) SEOUL – South Koreans went to the polls on Wednesday in a special election for key city offices that […]
Japan's Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Yoshihide Suga speaks during the annual party convention in Tokyo on March 21, 2021. (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO / POOL / AFP) TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said there was a chance he could call a snap general election before his current term as head […]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (center) meets with European Council President Charles Michel (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Ankara, Turkey, on April 6, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA) ANKARA – Top officials of the European Union on Tuesday expressed readiness to work on concrete agenda with Turkey to push forward economy […]
In this file photo taken on March 24, 2021, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, addresses supporters at the party campaign headquarters in Jerusalem after the end of voting in the fourth national election in two years. (EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP) JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got a new […]
People wait to cast their votes at a polling station during the third phase of assembly election in Gauhati, Assam, India, April 6, 2021. (ANUPAM NATH / AP) NEW DELHI – Voting for local elections is underway in India's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal, officials said Tuesday. The elections in these states […]
Rescuers search for victims at a village hit by a landslide in Ile Ape Timur on Lembata Island, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, April 5, 2021. (RICKO WAWO / AP) JAKARTA – Rescuers searched for dozens of people missing in remote islands of southeast Indonesia on Tuesday while expecting more casualties in the aftermath of […]
A worker in protective gear disinfects a street in Manila, the Philippines, on March 26, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) As hospitals in the Philippine capital reach capacity from a new surge of coronavirus cases, increasingly desperate Filipinos are stocking up on oxygen tanks and touting unapproved medications amid fears the health care system may collapse. […]