Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart following their talks in Moscow on Jan 26, 2021. (HANDOUT / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / AFP) Iran will “immediately reverse” actions in respect of its nuclear programme when US sanctions are lifted, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday, […]
A worker sweeps snow from a street in Seoul on Feb 16, 2021. (ED JONES / AFP) SEOUL – South Korea's economy faced with uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic despite a recent recovery in export, a government report said Friday. The number of jobs tumbled 982,000 in January from a year ago, marking the fastest […]
A group of women walk past a shop window displaying traditional hanbok dresses, along an alleyway in Seoul on Feb 16, 2021. (ED JONES / AFP) KABUL / SYDNEY / DHAKA / BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN / CAIRO / DUBAI / KUALA LUMPUR / JERUSALEM / SINGAPORE / HANOI – South Korea’s prime minister assured there were […]
SEOUL – Senior diplomats of the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States and Japan have held virtual talks over the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the ROK's Foreign Ministry said Friday. They also assessed the "utility" of the trilateral cooperation for peace and stability in the peninsula and Northeast Asia Noh Kyu-duk, ROK's […]
In this Jan 23, 2020 photo, a Russian national flag flies in front of one of the Kremlin ruby stars in downtown Moscow. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) ISLAMABAD – Russian president's special envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov arrived in Pakistan on Friday on a day-long visit for talks on the Afghan peace process, the Foreign […]
Front pages of Australian newspapers are displayed featuring stories about Facebook in Sydney on Feb 19, 2021. Facebook blocks Australians from sharing news stories, escalating a fight with the government over whether powerful tech companies should have to pay news organizations for content. (RICK RYCROFT / AP) CANBERRA – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has […]
This combo photo shows Afghan President Mohammed Ashraf Ghani (left) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (PHOTOS / AFP) WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday discussed the US' ongoing review of its strategy in Afghanistan, the State Department said on Thursday. The Secretary reiterated […]
This handout satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies on Jan 8, 2020 shows an overview of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, southeast of the city of Bushehr. (Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies / AFP) WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterparts from Britain, Germany, and France (E3) discussed the Iran nuclear […]
Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator attends a meeting about the situation in Venezuela at the United Nations in New York on April 10, 2019 in New York City. (JOHANNES EISELE / AFP) UNITED NATIONS – UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affair Mark Lowcock warned Thursday that Yemen is speeding toward the […]
A man receives a shot of COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination for traders and workers at Tanah Abang Market in Jakarta, Indonesia, Feb 17, 2021. (PHOTO / AP) ANKARA / JERUSALEM / BEIRUT / KUWAIT CITY – Getting a COVID-19 vaccination in Indonesia will be mandatory for eligible citizens, the government said, with the […]
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern holds her baby daugther Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford outside a hospital in Auckland on June 24, 2018. (PHOTO / AFP) WELLINGTON – New Zealand's total fertility rate in 2020 was down to 1.61 births per woman, its lowest recorded level, and below the population replacement rate of 2.1, […]
Indian government forces patrol in Srinagar on Feb 17, 2021 before the arrival of foreign envoys. (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP) SRINAGAR – India is hosting international diplomats in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir to showcase efforts to restore normalcy over a year after it stripped the region’s special status, officials said. A group of 24 […]
In this March 25, 2020 photo illustration, a Facebook App logo is displayed on a smartphone in Arlington, Virginia. (Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) SYDNEY – Australians woke to empty news feeds in their Facebook Inc accounts on Thursday after the social media giant blocked all local media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a […]
This file photo taken on March 22, 2020 shows Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison reacting during a press conference at Australia's Parliament House in Canberra. A former Australian government staffer has said she was raped in a minister's office in parliament and failed by her bosses after coming forward, prompting an apology from Morrison on […]
Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, wearing a face mask arrives at Kuala Lumpur High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Feb 18, 2021. (PHOTO / AP) KUALA LUMPUR – A Malaysian court on Thursday ordered Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, to enter a defence in a […]
In this May 18, 2020 photo, children make their way to school after the government allowed schools to re-open in Wellington, capital of New Zealand. All New Zealand schools will have free access to sanitary products from June, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Feb 18, 2021. (MARTY MELVILLE / AFP) WELLINGTON – All New […]
Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah gestures in greeting upon arrival to attend the opening of the 5th regular session at the country's National Assembly (parliament) in Kuwait City on Oct 20, 2020. (YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP) KUWAIT – Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah issued a decree on Wednesday, suspending parliament’s sessions for […]
This undated photo shows Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. (Anna Kenare / AFP) TEHRAN – Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that Iran is ready for dialogue with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi but will not renegotiate the 2015 nuclear agreement. "On Feb 23, the IAEA's oversight (of […]
Activists from the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) holding banners and placards shout slogans to protest against the arrest of environment activist Disha Ravi during a demonstration in New Delhi, on Feb 17, 2021. (JEWEL SAMAD / AFP) MUMBAI – A Mumbai court on Wednesday granted bail to an associate of a 22-year-old climate […]
In this photograph taken on Aug 13, 2015, US army soldiers walk as a NATO helicopter flies overhead at coalition force Forward Operating Base (FOB) Connelly in the Khogyani district in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Afghanistan. (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES) KABUL/ISLAMABAD – Unusually intense fighting in the winter by Taliban insurgents has spurred Afghan government […]
Vendors wait after receiving the vaccine for COVID-19 coronavirus at the Tanah Abang textile market in Jakarta on February 17, 2021. (ADEK BERRY / AFP) JERUSELAM / DUBAI / CARIO / TOKYO / JAKARTA – Indonesia on Wednesday began the second phase of its massive COVID-19 vaccination program. Priority groups in the second round targeting […]
Australian Cardinal George Pell gets into a car after landing at Rome's Fiumicino airport on Sept 30, 2020. (PHOTO / AFP) MELBOURNE – Prosecutors asked an Australian court to set hefty penalties for media firms that pleaded guilty to breaching a 2018 suppression order on reporting of the conviction of former Vatican treasurer George Pell […]
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 […]