A 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Thursday off the coast of the Pacific island nation Vanuatu, but a tsunami threat passed and there were no immediate reports of damage. The offshore quake hit at 1256 GMT at a depth of 48 kilometres (30 miles), around 120 kilometres south of the town

Hong Kong is now a "place full of fear", pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, who recently jumped bail, said. Ms Chow was under investigation for "collusion with foreign forces", but had been allowed to study in Canada. The 27-year-old is now a fugitive in Toronto.

Federal prosecutors have filed tax charges against Hunter Biden, a second criminal case against the US president's son. The nine-count indictment says he schemed to evade at least $1.4m (£1.1m) in federal taxes from 2016-19. The three felonies and six misdemeanours include

Police in Nepal have detained 10 people they say charged unemployed youths huge amounts of money for travel visas, then sent them for illegal recruitment into the Russian army, an official said. Nepal asked Moscow this week not to recruit its citizens into the Russian army, and to send

Italy has officially informed China that it is leaving the Belt and Road government Initiative (BRI), two sources told Reuters, ending months of doubt over Rome's future in the ambitious project. Italy in 2019 became the first and so far only major Western nation to join the

Three people were killed and another critically injured in a shooting at a Las Vegas university on Wednesday, police said, with the suspect also dead. The incident at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a short distance from the gambling hub’s tourist-packed Las Vegas Strip, was

The Russian leader has been bolstering his partnerships with Gulf nations as Moscow faces growing isolation by the West. Escorted by four fighter jets, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a rare one-day lightning tour to the Middle East during which he visited Saudi Arabia after

Antonio Guterres directly warns Security Council member states that the humanitarian system in Gaza may collapse. In a dramatic move, the UN chief invokes a UN article not used in decades to call on members to "avert a humanitarian catastrophe". He says he expects public

Seventeen people, including a Kenyan national, died when a passenger bus careered off a road on a "killer curve" and plunged down a mountain in the central Philippines, officials said Wednesday. The bus was travelling in Hamtic municipality in Antique province when the crash

Sixty-nine million children — or more than one in five — live in poverty in the world’s 40 richest countries UNICEF said in a report released Wednesday, blasting Britain and France for their particularly bad standings. That’s despite a drop in child poverty

Israel ramps up bombardment across central and southern Gaza, with dozens reported killed in an Israeli attack on homes in Deir el-Balah. UN special rapporteur says “massacre of civilians must be stopped” as Gaza hospitals struggle to cope with surge in number of

The UK government has introduced measures it promised would deliver the biggest ever cut in net migration after levels soared to a record high. Home Secretary James Cleverly announced a five-point plan to curb immigration, which he said was "far too high". The changes

An army drone strike accidentally hit a village in northwestern Nigeria killing dozens of civilians celebrating a Muslim festival, local authorities, the military and residents said on Monday. Nigeria's armed forces often rely on air strikes in their battle against so-called bandit

Britain announced plans to slash the number of migrants arriving by legal routes on Dec 4, raising the minimum salary they must earn in a skilled job by a third, amid pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to tackle record net migration figures. High levels of legal migration have

Battle lines are being drawn over the future of fossil fuels at the UN climate summit in Dubai, with big polluters trying to see off calls for an agreement to phase out the carbon-intensive energy responsible for most of human-caused greenhouse gas.  Fossil fuel CO2 pollution rose

Heavy rains and strong winds from a severe cyclonic storm have been battering India's southern coast with reports that several people have died. Thousands of people living in low-lying areas have been evacuated in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Many residential

Israel's military has ordered the evacuation of a fifth of the main city in southern Gaza, as it expands its ground offensive against Hamas. A map showed six northern and central areas of Khan Younis where an estimated 167,000 people needed to leave. Witnesses also reported

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked a special court to summon a US embassy representative and a retired army general in a case that accuses him of exposing state secrets. Babar Awan, a senior lawyer representing the ex-premier, told reporters on Monday in the capital,

Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won three of the four key state elections in India ahead of the crucial general elections next year. The BJP retained power in Madhya Pradesh and took Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The main Opposition Congress ousted a regional party

The Israeli military says it's expanding its ground operation into "all areas" of the Gaza Strip following the resumption of fighting on Friday. It has this morning posted on social media a fresh order for people to evacuate about 20 areas of the Palestinian enclave.