As US and China defence chiefs meet in Singapore, attention turns to rising tensions over the future of Taiwan. Defence chiefs from around the Asia Pacific are in Singapore to discuss security challenges facing the region. The three-day summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, attracts high-level ministers, military heads and global security analysts. The focus … Read more
A volcano in southwestern Iceland has erupted for the fifth time this year. It is Sundhnukagigar’s most powerful eruption since the volcanic system became active three years ago. The fiery spectacle began shortly after the end of an eight-week-long eruption that occurred between Hagafell and Stora-Skogfell on the same Reykjanes peninsula. The lava fountains reached … Read more
US President Joe Biden is planning to skip the June gathering in Switzerland. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants global powers to refocus on his country’s war against invading Russian forces. But United States President Joe Biden is planning to skip a June peace summit in Switzerland. Russia has not been invited, and it is not … Read more
The Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza says the death toll from an overnight Israeli attack on the tents of displaced Palestinians in Rafah has risen to 45 as the attack sparks condemnation across the Arab and Western world. In scenes grimly familiar from a war in its eighth month, Palestinian families on Monday rushed to … Read more
Governing African National Congress faces its toughest test yet in national election. South Africa is preparing for a milestone election. The governing African National Congress (ANC) has been in power for 30 years, but its dominance over South African politics could be waning. Millions of voters say they are disillusioned, and the country’s unemployment rate … Read more
Tens of thousands of supporters dressed in yellow, green and black gathered for the final rally of the governing African National Congress (ANC) party in Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, before watershed general elections next week. Some 28 million registered voters will cast their ballot on Wednesday in a move that could see the ANC … Read more
The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders. In more than seven months of war, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed and large parts of the Gaza Strip destroyed. The International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant bear criminal … Read more
The president was seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran has declared five days of mourning after President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash. There is no power vacuum, however. According to the constitution, the first vice president assumes power until elections are held within 50 days. So how … Read more
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has been killed after his helicopter crashed in a remote region of the country. Raisi’s body was identified early on Monday by rescuers who had begun a search in the mountainous northwest of Iran near the border with Azerbaijan the previous afternoon. A hardline religious conservative, Raisi had long been seen … Read more
Israel refutes South Africa’s accusation that its Gaza military campaign is a genocidal act against Palestinians. In its latest appeal, South Africa has called on the United Nations’s top court for urgent measures to order a halt to Israel’s assault on Rafah. Since early this month, Israeli forces have been pounding the southern city where … Read more