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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed regret Wednesday that his Chinese counterpart chose not to hold talks with him during meetings of Southeast Asian defense chiefs in Laos, calling it a setback for the entire region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is holding security talks in Vientiane at
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US envoy Amos Hochstein said on Tuesday that he had held “very constructive talks” with the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament in Beirut and that there was a “real opportunity” to bring the conflict between the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah and Israel to an end. “This is a moment of
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The damaging of two undersea fiber-optic communications cables in the Baltic Sea must be seen as an act of sabotage, although it is still unclear who is responsible, German Defense minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday. “No one believes that these cables were cut accidentally. I also don’t want
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Senegal’s ruling party claimed it had won a comfortable victory in Sunday’s legislative elections, paving the way for it to deliver an ambitious reform agenda eight months after sweeping to power. Voting took place peacefully across the West African country, where the governing Pastef party said 90 to
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The UN’s climate chief called on leaders of the world’s biggest economies on Saturday to send a signal of support for global climate finance efforts when they meet in Rio de Janeiro next week. The plea, made in a letter to G20 leaders from UN Framework Convention on
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North Korea tested exploding drones designed to crash into targets and leader Kim Jong Un called for accelerating mass production of the weapons, state media said Friday. The country’s latest military demonstration came as the United States, South Korea and Japan engaged in combined military exercises involving advanced fighter
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US President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will attend the first day of an Asia-Pacific leaders’ summit Friday ahead of a face-to-face meeting under a cloud of diplomatic uncertainty cast by Donald Trump’s election victory. Biden and Xi are due to hold talks Saturday, in what a
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A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats. With hard-fought yet thin majorities, Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal
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US and Polish officials inaugurated a NATO missile defense base in northern Poland on Wednesday, with Polish officials welcoming it as a significant boost to the security of the country as well as of the NATO alliance at a time of war in neighboring Ukraine. The US missile defense base,
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President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” — which is not, despite the name, a government agency. The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said in a statement that
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Sudan has seen a surge in extreme violence in recent weeks as the warring military and paramilitary push for a decisive victory, with no political solution in sight. Fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has intensified since late October, with reports of attacks on civilians
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Iran is building a “defensive tunnel” in the capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday, following strikes by Israel on targets in the country. The tunnel, located near the city center, will link a station on the Tehran metro to the Imam Khomeini hospital, thus allowing direct
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Israel said on Monday there was progress in talks about a Lebanon ceasefire and indicated Russia could play a part by stopping Hezbollah rearming via Syria, although the Iran-backed group said it had not received any new truce proposals. Pummeled by Israel’s offensive, Hezbollah said diplomatic contacts were under
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Former Tunisian presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel was sentenced on Monday to two years and eight months in prison, raising his cumulative jail time to 35 years following previous trials. Zammel, one of only two candidates allowed to stand against President Kais Saied last month, was arrested in early September, on
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Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday described as “totally unfounded” US accusations of a plot by Tehran to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump. The foreign ministry “rejects allegations that Iran is implicated in an assassination attempt targeting former or current American officials,” spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement, after US