Brussels welcomed Wednesday's conversation between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, thought to be their first call since Russia invaded Ukraine. "It is an important, long overdue first step by China in exercising its responsibilities as

The number of victims linked to a suspected starvation cult in Kenya has climbed to 98 as weeping relatives anxiously awaited news of loved ones after investigators unearthed mass graves last week. The discovery of dozens of bodies buried in Shakahola forest near the coastal town of

A senior Shia cleric in Iran was shot and killed Wednesday in an attack in a northern province along the Caspian Sea, authorities said. An attacker shot to death Abbas Ali Soleimani in Babolsar in Iran’s Mazandaran province, state television reported. Police later arrested the

China is pushing ahead with the largest-ever expansion of its nuclear arsenal, modernizing the atomic deterrent with an eye on any future conflicts with the United States, experts say. The SIPRI think tank estimates that China has a stockpile of around 350 nuclear warheads —

Reporters across Europe are working under increasingly challenging conditions and attempts to silence them have grown, the Committee to Protect Journalists has warned. In an extensive study released on Wednesday, the US-headquartered organisation said that while the European Union has

Australia will host the Quad Leaders’ Summit for the first time in Sydney on May 24, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese saying on Wednesday the grouping is committed to an open and stable Indo-Pacific that is respectful of sovereignty and ensures security for all, Hindustan Times

The Islamic State leader behind the 2021 Kabul airport suicide bombing that killed about 180 people including 13 US service members has been killed by the Taliban, according to US officials. The IS leader, whose identity has not yet been released, was killed in southern Afghanistan in

Four people, including two Colombians, were killed when the vehicle they were driving in Mexico to the US border was fired on by a suspected criminal group, officials said. The attack occurred on Sunday in the municipality of Villa de Cos in the violence-plagued north-central state of

Singapore has hanged 46-year-old Tangaraju Suppiah who was found guilty in 2018 of trafficking more than 1kg (2.2 pounds) of cannabis, despite last-minute appeals for clemency from his family and activists. His family said they had been given Tangaraju’s death certificate,

Nepal has issued a record 454 permits to climb Mount Everest this spring, officials say, four years after at least four deaths on the world’s highest peak were blamed on overcrowding. “This is the highest number of permits the department has issued to summit Mount

India will overtake China as the world’s most populous country in the coming week, hitting almost 1.43 billion people, the United Nations said on Monday. “By the end of this month, India’s population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850 people, matching and then

Turkish police detained 110 people over alleged militant ties, security sources said on Tuesday, with a pro-Kurdish lawmaker saying politicians, lawyers and journalists were among those arrested in raids that he linked to elections on May 14. The security sources said the operation was

At least 12 people, mostly policemen, were killed by multiple explosions caused by a fire in a munitions cache in a Pakistan police station on Monday, officials said. The explosions levelled the specialist counter-terrorism station in Kabal town of Swat Valley, in the northwestern

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Sudan’s warring generals had agreed to a three-day ceasefire starting Tuesday (2200 GMT Monday), after previous bids to pause the conflict quickly disintegrated. “Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the

A magnitude 7.1 quake struck in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean on Monday but did not appear to generate a tsunami. The quake struck near the Kermadec Islands about 900 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of New Zealand's North Island at a depth of 49 kilometers (30 miles),

Australia has said the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, long-range strike capabilities and its northern bases will be among the country’s six priority areas after a major review of its defence strategy found the armed forces were not “fully fit for purpose”.

Foreign nations are rushing to get their citizens out of Sudan as rival military factions battle in the capital Khartoum where millions of residents are trapped inside their homes, many running low on water and food. The eruption of fighting on April 15 between the army and the Rapid

Sixty people were killed in Burkina Faso by men wearing military uniforms, a prosecutor said late Sunday, announcing an investigation into the latest attack in the insurgency-hit country. "About 60 people were killed by people wearing the uniforms of our national armed

Russia is advising citizens to avoid travel to Canada, citing what it calls numerous cases of discrimination against Russians, including physical violence, its Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. Canada is one of the most vocal backers of Ukraine in the war against Moscow’s forces

Two earthquakes measuring nearly magnitude 6 struck Kepulauan Batu, Indonesia, in the morning hours on Sunday, according to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC). The first earthquake, pegged by the EMSC at a magnitude 6.1 struck Kepulauan Batu early Sunday, followed