US seizes 36 Iranian websites including state-run media

This image taken from the seized website presstv.com announces that the site was seized by US authorities on June 22, 2021 US law enforcement seized control of the websites of two Iranian state-controlled news groups, Press TV and Al-Alam, and of the Al-Masirah TV channel of Yemen's Houthis, statements posted on the websites showed on […]

Tokyo governor resting due to fatigue, reportedly hospitalized

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (on screen) and Tamayo Marukawa, minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, speak during a five-party meeting at Harumi Island Triton Square Tower Y in Tokyo on June 21, 2021. (RODRIGO REYES MARIN / POOL / AFP) MANILA / ISTANBUL / JERUSALEM / SINGAPORE / YANGON / TEHRAN / KUWAIT CITY / HANOI / SYDNEY / NEW […]

Taliban besiege key Afghan city with US troops set to exit

An Afghan army Humvee patrols in Kunduz city, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, June 21, 2021. Taliban fighters took control of a key district in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province Monday and encircled Kunduz, the provincial capital, police said. (ABDULLAH SAHIL/AP) Civilians in Afghanistan have taken up arms to push back against the Taliban as the militants […]

Row erupts as Kuwait parliament approves budget in tense session

Kuwaiti MPs hold a parliamentary session at the Gulf emirate's National Assembly in Kuwait City on June 22, 2021. (YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP) KUWAIT – Kuwait's parliament approved the 2021-22 state budget in a tense session that managed to temporarily break a deadlock with the government that has blocked reforms in the Gulf state. But […]

Iran says US criticism of election is meddling

A view shows traffic on Azadi street in Iran's capital Tehran on April 20, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) DUBAI – Iran accused the United States on Tuesday of interference for saying its presidential election on Friday was neither free nor fair, Iranian state media reported. A US State Department spokesman said on Monday the United […]

DPRK ridicules US hopes for talks as allies rethink approach

In this March 2, 2019 photo, Kim Yo-jong, sister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) top leader Kim Jong-un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam. (JORGE SILVA / POOL / AP) SEOUL – A senior Democratic People’s Republic of Korea official ridiculed American hopes for talks on […]

US gesture to DPRK seen falling short

(From left) US special representative for DPRK issues Sung Kim, the Republic of Korea (ROK)' special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs Noh Kyu-duk and head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Takehiro Funakoshi pose for a photo during their trilateral meeting at a hotel in Seoul, ROK, June […]

Indonesia vaccine deal with China viewed as vital for region

A health worker administers a shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to a man during a mass vaccination program in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 21, 2021. (DITA ALANGKARA / AP) Expanding the partnership between China and Indonesia on vaccine production is crucial to Southeast Asia's battle against the pandemic, public health experts said. Indonesia is currently […]

Iran to prioritize improving ties with Gulf neighbors, says Raisi

Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi is pictured during his first press conference since his election on the weekend in Tehran, on June 21, 2021. (ATTA KENARE / AFP) DUBAI – President-elect Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday Iran's foreign policy priority would be improving ties with Gulf Arab neighbors, while calling on Saudi Arabia to halt its […]

India’s vaccinations hit record with free COVID-19 shots

A member of the transgender community gets inoculated with the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a hospital in Mumbai on June 20, 2021. (SUJIT JAISWAL / AFP) NEW DELHI / KABUL / SYDNEY / HANOI / COLOMBO / PHNOM PENH / KUALA LUMPUR / JAKARTA / BISHKEK / ULAN BATOR / BANGKOK / DHAKA / VIENTIANE / TEHRAN / YANGON / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / SINGAPORE […]

Qatar receives new Saudi ambassador as the two mend ties

A general view taken on Feb 28, 2020 shows the skyline of the Qatari capital, Doha. (PHOTO / AFP) DUBAI – Qatar's foreign minister on Monday received Saudi Arabia's new ambassador to Doha, the first to be reinstated by Arab states that had agreed to end a row with Qatar earlier this year, state news […]

Armenia’s acting PM keeps power despite war defeat

A woman wearing a face mask walks past campaign banners of acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan, on June 16, 2021. (KAREN MINASYAN / AFP) MOSCOW – Armenia's acting prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has kept power in a parliamentary election despite being widely blamed for a military defeat last year in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. […]

Iran’s Bushehr nuke plant temporarily shuts down

This handout image supplied by the  Iran International Photo Agency shows a view of the reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant as the first fuel is loaded, on August 21, 2010 in Bushehr, southern Iran. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) TEHRAN – A "technical failure" led to the shutdown of the Bushehr nuclear power […]

Barnaby Joyce back as Australia deputy leader after ballot

Member for New England Barnaby Joyce in the House of Representatives at Parliament House on Feb 04, 2021 in Canberra, Australia. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG) Barnaby Joyce is Australia’s deputy prime minister for a second time after he was selected as leader of the Nationals, the junior partner in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s coalition government. The […]

Armenia holds parliamentary polls dominated by war defeat

Armenia's acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan casts his ballot at a polling station during early parliamentary elections in Yerevan on June 20, 2021.  (KAREN MINASYAN / AFP) Armenia holds parliamentary elections Sunday after a campaign dominated by bitter divisions over last year’s war defeat to Azerbaijan and the fate of the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. […]

Iran says documents needed to revive nuclear deal ready

In this file photo taken on Feb 4, 2006, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is mobbed by reporters as he proceeds to the 42nd Munich Conference on Security Policy in Munich. (JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP) Iran said all the documents required in order to finalize an agreement with the US and other world powers […]

Biden to host Israeli president on June 28

Outgoing Israeli President Reuvin Rivlin (center) is flanked by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (left) and alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid during a photo with the new coalition government, at the President's residence in Jerusalem, on June 14, 2021. (EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP) WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden will host Israeli President […]

Iran elects Raisi as nuclear talks enter critical phase

A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency on June 19, 2021, shows outgoing President Hassan Rouhani (left) taking in part in a press conference with President-elect Ebrahim Raisi (right) during his visit to congratulate the ultraconservative cleric on winning the presidential election. Ebrahim Raisi was declared the winner Saturday of Iran's presidential election. (STRINGER […]

Saudi air defenses intercept 17 Houthi armed drones

A picture taken on November 16, 2015 shows a Saudi air traffic controller sitting in the control tower at the Khamis Mushayt military airbase, some 880 km from the capital Riyadh, as the Saudi army conducts operations over Yemen. (FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP) DUBAI – Saudi Arabian air defenses late on Saturday destroyed six armed […]

Rivals congratulate Raisi on Iran presidential election win

Ebrahim Raisi, a candidate in Iran's presidential election, waves to the media after casting his vote at a polling station in Tehran, Iran, June 18, 2021. (EBRAHIM NOROOZI/AP) DUBAI – Iran's moderate presidential candidate congratulated his hardline rival Ebrahim Raisi for winning the election, state media reported on Saturday, as the interior ministry said counting […]