US President Joe Biden has again said the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by China. Asked in a CBS interview if US troops would defend the island, Mr Biden said: "Yes, if in fact, there was an unprecedented attack." The remarks prompted the White House to

Torture chambers in the basements of police precincts and school buildings.  Witness testimony of abuse, humiliation and murder. Seven foreign medical students from Sri Lanka held captive found alive and freed. A forest filled with graves. Across the vast stretch of thousands of

The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) released a report on China's food and nutrition development on Saturday. The report summed up the trends of China's food and nutrition in recent decades, and presented a series of problems and suggestions. Since the reform

The UN's nuclear watchdog (IAEA) says Ukraine's huge Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has begun receiving power from the national grid once again. Shelling in the area damaged power lines connected to the plant. All six of its reactors are in a state of cold shutdown, but

Chinese authorities said Saturday that 14 people had died and one remained missing after a flood at an iron mine earlier this month. The search and rescue operation has ended and an investigation into the cause of the Sept. 2 flood is underway, the Tangshan city government said in a

Britain was gearing up Sunday for the momentous state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II as King Charles III prepared to host world leaders and as mourners queued for the final 24 hours left to view her coffin. The first members of the public were already camping out in advance to catch a

Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan have been urged to evacuate their homes amid warnings of "unprecedented" risks from an approaching storm. Typhoon Nanmadol is expected to make landfall on Kyushu island on Sunday. Winds could reach 270km/h (168mph) and some areas

An Israeli airstrike near Damascus airport killed five Syria soldiers on Saturday, Syrian state media said. “The aggression led to the death of five soldiers and some material damage,” Syria’s official news agency Sana quoted a military source as saying. The strike

At least 16 school children were killed died Friday when a minibus collided with a truck along a South African highway around 300 kilometres north of Durban, a regional government said. The provincial KwaZulu-Natal transport ministry reported 16 deaths from the collision. Local

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told India’s Narendra Modi that he understood New Delhi’s concerns about the conflict in Ukraine and wanted it to end “as soon as possible”, according to a readout of a bilateral meeting published by the Kremlin. The Indian

Almost 30 people have been reported killed and dozens injured in clashes on the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border. Fighting regularly flares up between the two former Soviet states, whose border has been disputed since the collapse of the USSR. A fresh skirmish which began earlier in the

Welcome to the future of European high-speed rail travel. French railway company SNCF and train manufacturer Alstom have unveiled the first completed TGV M, a next-generation high-speed double-decker train that features a longer, more aerodynamic nose -- perfect for hurtling across the

The Biden administration announced a new $600m arms package to help the Ukrainian military battle Russia, as the US rushes more weapons to fuel Kyiv’s successful counteroffensive in the country’s east. The package will include more of the same types of ammunition and

Ukrainian authorities have found a mass grave in woods near the northeastern city of Izyum, days after recapturing it from occupying Russian forces. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed the discovery of the burial site — containing some 440 bodies — in his

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised China's "balanced position" on the Ukraine war, though he conceded Beijing had "questions and concerns" over the invasion, in what appeared to be a veiled admission of their diverging views over the protracted

Sweden's first ever female prime minister has resigned just hours after she was appointed. Magdalena Andersson, was announced as leader on Wednesday but resigned after her coalition partner quit the government and her budget failed to pass. Instead, parliament voted for a budget

A half century after founding the outdoor apparel maker Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, the eccentric rock climber who became a reluctant billionaire with his unconventional spin on capitalism, has given the company away. Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has emerged with “no serious injuries” from a car collision in Kyiv on Wednesday. According to a statement from the president’s press secretary, “a car collided with the car of the President of Ukraine and escort

The death of Queen Elizabeth II will accelerate the push by former UK colonies to ditch the British crown, experts and advocates have said, amid heightened anti-colonial sentiments in the remaining Commonwealth realms. Despite the collapse of the British Empire in the last century, 14

China's leader Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin will discuss the war in Ukraine and other "international and regional topics" at their meeting later this week, the Kremlin says. The two will meet in Uzbekistan at a summit that will show an