Some 20 countries offered new security assistance packages for Ukraine to battle invading Russian forces in a meeting of allies on Monday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced. In their second gathering, nearly four dozen countries and organizations forming the Ukraine

Beijing on Monday said it was ready to defend its national interests over Taiwan, in a rebuke to US President Joe Biden's vow to protect the island from any invasion by China. China's Communist Party has never controlled self-ruled Taiwan but it views the island as part of its

US President Joe Biden has said he would use force to defend Taiwan if it was attacked by China, appearing to signal a shift away from Washington’s decades-long policy of so-called strategic ambiguity towards the East Asian democracy. Biden made the remarks on Monday while

Anthony Albanese has been sworn in as Australia's new leader and will fly immediately to an international summit. Mr Albanese's Labor Party defeated Scott Morrison's conservative government in an election on Saturday. It remains unclear whether Mr Albanese will form a

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said the global number of forcibly displaced people has passed 100 million for the first time, describing it as a “staggering milestone”. The UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, said the grim new statistic should act as a

The war in Ukraine, as well as the pandemic and the quick economic rebound in its aftermath, significantly disrupted energy transition efforts. This has left the world in one of the most severe energy crises since the 1970s, said the World Economic Forum (WEF) in a new report titled

Saudi Arabia has announced a fresh travel ban on citizens for 16 countries due to Covid-19 cases in those countries, The General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) said on Saturday. The list of countries include: Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Yemen, Somalia,

President Joe Biden landed in Japan on Sunday for the second leg of a trip to reinforce US alliances in Asia. Biden, making his first trip to Asia as president, arrived at Yokota Air Base outside Tokyo, and will meet with Japan's prime minister and unveil a US-led trade initiative

Women presenters and reporters on TV channels in Afghanistan went on air with their faces covered on Sunday, in line with a Taliban order. The day before, some of them had defied the edict and kept their faces visible. One presenter said women working in TV had resisted but their

Russia has banned nearly 1,000 Americans, including President Biden, Vice President Harris, and many others from the US administration, from entering the country. This comes in response to the US support of Ukraine. From a Foreign Ministry news release: “In the context of

Five people, including four members of the same family, were killed in a tourist plane crash in the French Alps on Saturday, rescue services said.  The accident happened in the afternoon shortly after take-off from the Versoud airfield near Grenoble in southeast France, for what

Former human rights minister of Pakistan Shireen Mazari was allegedly beaten up and arrested from her home on Saturday. The reports of her detention were confirmed by her daughter, lawyer Iman Mazari. Mazari's daughter tweeted about her mother's arrest saying, "Male police

Israeli surface-to-surface missiles have killed three people near the Syrian capital, Damascus, state media reported. The missiles came from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and some were intercepted by the Syrian air defences, an unnamed military source said on Friday. “The

Polls have opened in the Australian election, with a tight contest expected between the incumbent Liberal-National coalition of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the opposition Labor party under Anthony Albanese. Labor has led opinion polls throughout the six-week campaign, but the gap

Russia has halted its gas supply to Finland - the latest escalation of an energy payments row with the West. Russia's gas giant Gazprom confirmed it had completely halted exports to Finland at 04:00 GMT on Saturday. Finland said all the deliveries had stopped, but added there

US President Joe Biden and his new South Korean counterpart said on Saturday (May 21) their countries’ decades-old alliance needed to develop not only to face North Korean threats but to keep the Indo-Pacific region “free and open” and protect global supply chains. 

Russia has claimed to have fully captured Mariupol in what would be its biggest victory yet in its war with Ukraine, marking an end to a weeks-long attack that left the strategic port city in ruins. Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin on Friday

Elon Musk denied allegations that he sexually harassed a SpaceX flight attendant in 2016 in a series of late-night tweets. "I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me 'exposed' -- describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, ...) that

President Joe Biden landed in South Korea Friday for his first trip to Asia as US leader.  This trip aiming to cement ties with regional security allies as concern over a North Korean nuclear test grows. Biden will head to a factory of tech giant South Korean Samsung in

Sri Lankan authorities closed schools and asked public officials not to come to work in a desperate move to prepare for an acute fuel shortage that is expected to last days amid the nation's worst economic crisis in decades. The Public Administration Ministry asked the public