Two US warships are passing through the Taiwan Strait, the US Navy has announced. It is the first such operation to take place since tensions between Taiwan and China increased following a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan earlier in August. China reacted by holding

Pakistan is appealing for further international assistance after floods wreaked havoc across the country. The US, UK, United Arab Emirates and others have contributed to a monsoon disaster appeal but much more funds are needed, an interior ministry official told the BBC. More than

The United States is planning to appoint an Ambassador for the Arctic, amid increased Russian military activity in the region. The Ambassador-at-Large will be put in place to advance US policy in the northern polar region, a Department of State spokesman said. On Friday, Nato chief

Russia has blocked the adoption of a joint declaration by a United Nations conference on nuclear disarmament. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is reviewed by its 191 signatories every five years, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Russia objected to a draft

An airstrike on a children’s playground has killed at least seven people in the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, medical officials there said, in the first such attack after a four-month-old ceasefire collapsed this week. The officials said three children were

The FBI told a judge they expected to find "evidence of obstruction" of justice in a search of former President Donald Trump's Florida home, according to newly released court papers. Investigators said top secret files had been stored at Mar-a-Lago along with assorted

As Europe's energy costs skyrocket, Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas, according to analysis shared with BBC News. They say the plant, near the border with Finland, is burning an estimated $10m (£8.4m) worth of gas every day. Experts say the gas would

Japan will spend $1.83m on a state funeral for slain former leader Shinzo Abe, the government has said, despite growing opposition from a public angered by revelations of the ruling party’s ties to the Unification Church. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving but divisive premier,

Russia's president has signed a decree which could see 137,000 service personnel added to the country's armed forces in the coming months. Currently Russia has a limit of just over a million military personnel and almost 900,000 civilian staff. Vladimir Putin's decree

The head of Japan’s National Police Agency announced his resignation on Thursday after an investigation confirmed “shortcomings” in the security plans for assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Abe, the country’s best-known politician and longest-serving

A police chief accused of botching the response to the fatal shooting of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, has been sacked. The local school board voted unanimously to fire Pete Arredondo, who had been on leave since June. His lawyers said in a written statement

Six months into Russia's invasion, Ukrainian officials are drawing up plans to make sure Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top military commanders will be tried for launching the war. The plan for a special international tribunal to investigate Russia's alleged

A Russian rocket strike on a Ukrainian train station has killed 22 people, Ukraine says, on the day marking six months since Moscow's invasion began. It says five of the victims of the attack in the eastern town of Chaplyne burnt to death in a vehicle. An 11-year-old boy also was

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told Ukrainians in a speech to mark 31 years of independence that Ukraine was reborn when Russia started its attacks on February 24 and would recapture annexed Crimea and occupied areas in the east. In the recorded speech aired on Wednesday which marks

Thailand's top court has suspended prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha from official duty while it considers a legal challenge to his term limit. Opposition parties have filed a case arguing that Mr Prayuth - in charge since 2014 - has overstayed his tenure. Thailand's

The US military said it carried out air strikes on Tuesday in Syria’s Deir Ezzor against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The strikes came even as the United States aimed to respond to a draft agreement proposed by

Malaysia's former premier Najib Razak on Tuesday (Aug 23) failed in his final appeal against a graft conviction, and has been sent to prison to serve 12 years for misappropriating millions of dollars from a company linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Malaysia's

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already killed about 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers since it began nearly six months ago, a general said, in a rare admission on casualty figures during the war. General Valeriy Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, said on Monday many Ukrainian

Russia has accused Ukrainian special services of killing the daughter of one of President Vladimir Putin's allies in a car bombing at the weekend. Darya Dugina, aged 29, died on Saturday when a vehicle she was driving exploded near Russia's capital Moscow. Her prominent

Singapore will repeal a law that bans gay sex, effectively making it legal to be homosexual in the city-state. The decision, announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on national TV, comes after years of fierce debate. LGBT activists in Singapore have hailed the move as "a