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) VIENNA/DUBAI – Iran has told the United Nations' nuclear watchdog it will dramatically scale back cooperation with it in a week, a report by the […]
This picture taken on February 16, 2021 and released by the DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency on February 17 shows DPRK leader Kim Jong-un (right) and his wife Ri Sol-ju (left) watching a performance at the Mansudae Art Theatre in Pyongyang. (STR / AFP / KCNA VIA KNS) SEOUL – Democratic People’s Republic of […]
Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his party's group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on Feb 10, 2021. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP) ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Tuesday to expand Turkey's cross-border operations against the outlawed […]
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a press conference at the Parliament House in Wellington on Nov 6, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP) WELLINGTON – New Zealand will conclude its deployment of the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) to Afghanistan by May 2021, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday. "After 20 years of […]
Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary General of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party, speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) during a bilateral meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on May 16, 2017. (WU HONG / POOL / AFP) TOKYO – After a sexism row sparked by Tokyo Olympics chief’s saying women talked too much at […]
Saudi-backed government troops repel a Huthi rebel offensive on oil-rich Marib, some 120 kilometres east of Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa, on Feb 14, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP) DUBAI – An offensive by Yemen’s Houthi group to take Marib city, the last stronghold of the internationally-recognised government, threatens to displace hundreds of thousands and complicate a […]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wears a face mask against COVID-19, bearing the US and Israeli flags, during a meeting with US special representative for Iran at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on June 30, 2020. (ABIR SULTAN / POOL / AFP) JERUSALEM – Israel held out the possibility on Tuesday it would not […]
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media in Wellington, New Zealand, on Feb 15, 2021. (NICK PERRY / AP) WELLINGTON/SYDNEY – New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday accused Australia of abdicating its responsibilities by “unilaterally” cancelling the citizenship of a woman detained in Turkey with alleged links to the Islamic […]
In this frame grab from video, Saudi state television shows an airplane damaged in an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels at an airport near Abha, Saudi Arabia, Feb 10, 2021. (PHOTO / AP) DUBAI – The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi group said it had intercepted a drone on Tuesday fired by the Iran-aligned group […]
In this Sept 11, 2020 file photo, a laboratory technicians handles vials as part of filling and packaging tests for the large-scale production and supply of the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222, in Anagni, southeast of Rome. (VINCENZO PINTO / AFP) SEOUL / CARIO / BANGKOK / JERUSALEM / MANILA – The Philippines […]
A lion dance performer (Center) looks out from underneath the costume next to stalls selling items for the Lunar New Year in Jakarta’s Chinatown on Feb 11, 2021, on the eve of the start of the Year of the Ox. (GOH CHAI HIN / AFP) Special decorations in the lobby of the building that houses […]
In this March 6, 2015 file photo, a Bangladeshi social activist pays his last respects to slain US blogger of Bangladeshi origin and founder of the Mukto-Mona (Free-mind) blog site Avijit Roy in Dhaka after he was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in the Bangladeshi capital. (MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP) DHAKA – A […]
This June 14, 2019 file photo shows the Republic of Korea's army soldiers patrolling the DMZ Peace Trail in the Demilitarized Zone in Goseong, ROK. (AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP) SEOUL – The Republic of Korea ’s military said on Tuesday it had captured a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) man who crossed the heavily […]
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a videoconference with G20 leaders to discuss the COVID-19 coronavirus, at the Parliament House in Canberra on March 26, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison ordered a probe into workplace culture at Parliament House, after a former government media adviser said she had been raped in […]
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov (not in frame) following their talks in Moscow, Russia, on Jan 26, 2021. (HANDOUT / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP) TEHRAN – The spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry welcomed on Monday the Qatari effort to facilitate the revival […]
Members of Aam Aadmi Party shout slogans demanding the release of Indian climate activist Disha Ravi, during a protest in Mumbai, India, on Feb 15, 2021. Disha Ravi, a 22-year-old activist, was arrested on Saturday for circulating a document on social media that allegedly incited protesting farmers to turn violent last month. (RAFIQ MAQBOOL / AP) BENGALURU […]
This handout photo taken and released on Feb 15, 2021 by the New Zealand government shows the first batch of around 60,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses being unloaded upon arrival at Auckland International Airport. (NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT / AFP) WELLINGTON / CANBERRA / JERUSALEM / JAKARTA / KUALA LUMPUR / SINGAPORE / SEOUL / NEW DELHI […]
This undated photo shows Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. (Anna Kenare / AFP) DUBAI – Iran said on Monday it will block snap inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog this month if other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal fail to fulfil their obligations, a challenge to US President Joe Biden’s hope of reviving the accord. […]
This aerial picture taken from a Jiji Press chartered aircraft shows the landslide site on the Joban Expressway in Soma, Fukushima prefecture on February 14, 2021 after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's east coast late on February 13. (STR / JIJI PRESS / AFP) Japan began assessing damage and restoring power after a magnitude-7.3 […]
A tractor rally in support of the protests in New Delhi on Jan 26 turned violent when farmers and their supporters clashed with police and stormed city landmarks. The government has responded by increasing the police and paramilitary presence in the capital. (ANINDITO MUKHERJEE / BLOOMBERG) Hundreds of thousands of farmers are swelling protests along […]
This handout image provided by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Media on February 10, 2021 reportedly shows the wreckage of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) that was used in an attack on Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia's southern Asir province. (SAUDI MINISTRY OF MEDIA / AFP) RIYADH – The Saudi-led coalition said Sunday […]
Children play in the rubble-riddled streets of the Palestinian Yarmuk camp, on the southern outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, on November 25, 2020. (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) DAMASCUS – Israel launched a missile attack on Syrian military sites around the capital Damascus in the early hours of Monday, causing the Syrian air defenses to […]
A worker scoops out water inside Fukushima station in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, on Feb 14, 2021, following an earthquake on Feb 13. (JUN HIRATA / KYODO NEWS VIA AP) IWAKI – The stench of alcohol filled the small bar on Sunday as Aoi Hoshino swept up glass from whiskey bottles smashed in a strong earthquake the […]
Thousands of people attend a concert by the band Six60 in Wellington, New Zealand, on Feb 13, 2021. (NICK PERRY / AP) DUBAI / NEW DELHI / BEIRUT / KUALA LUMPUR / WELLINGTON / MELBOURNE / YANGON / SINGAPORE / HANOI / MALE / ISLAMABAD / JAKARTA / MANILA / ULAN BATOR / BANGKOK / […]
In this file photo made available by the Turkish Ministry of Defense Press Office on June 17, 2020, Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar looks at a map at the Army Command Control Center in Ankara during the military operation dubbed "Claw-Tiger", an air and ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. (HANDOUT / […]
Iranian firefighters work on a burning tanker carrying fuel at the Islam Qala border with Iran, in Herat Province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Feb 13, 2021. (HAMED SARFAZI / AP) HERAT, Afghanistan – At least 60 people were injured as hundreds of fuel vehicles exploded in a massive blaze that tore through a customs […]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a statement at the Israeli Knesset, or Parliament, in Jerusalem, Dec 22, 2020. Netanyahu said, "We did not want elections, but we will win." (PHOTO / AP) JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not troubled that US President Joe Biden has not phoned him yet, Israel’s ambassador […]
This handout image provided by Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) on February 8, 2021 shows Saleh Abdel Ahad, representative of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, speaking during the Palestinian National Dialogue hosted by Egypt's General Intelligence Service in the capital Cairo.(EGYPT STATE INFORMATION SERVICE / AFP) RAMALLAH – The Palestinian factions agreed […]
In this file photo taken on Feb 3, 2018, Myanmar military commander-in-chief General Min Aung Hlaing (center) and senior military commanders arrive on the second day of the 'Sin Phyu Shin' joint military exercises in the Irrawaddy Delta region. (LYNN BO BO / POOL / AFP) YANGON – Myanmar's State Administration Council led by Commander-in-Chief […]
In this Oct 16, 2018 photo, Yemeni soldiers loyal to the Houthi group march in the capital Sanaa to show support against the Saudi-led intervention in the country. (MOHAMMED HUWAIS / AFP) WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday announced that he would revoke the designations of Yemen's Houthi as a foreign […]