Japan will send a warship and patrol planes to protect Japanese ships in the Middle East as the situation in the region, from which it sources nearly 90% of its crude oil imports, remains volatile, a document approved by the cabinet showed on Friday. Under the plan, a helicopter-equipped destroyer and two P-3C patrol planes […]

At least 30 people were killed in fighting between militiamen and traders in a restive district of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, a security official and a local imam said Thursday. “Thirty bodies have been brought to the mosque,” said Awad Al Karim, the imam of the Ali Babolo mosque in a […]

Rio de Janeiro police said on Thursday they are investigating a video by a far-right group that claimed to have carried out an attack on a group of actors who had depicted Jesus as gay. On Wednesday, a video circulating on social media showed three masked men claiming to have carried out the attack in […]

**Detains journalist who criticises court decision A Moroccan YouTuber was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison for “insulting the king” in a video broadcast on social networks, his lawyer said. In a separate case, a Moroccan journalist and activist was charged and detained over a tweet that had criticised a court decision, his defence […]

Two young men ― an Afghan father of two (32 years) and an Iraqi (30 years) ― who were living in a hotel packed with refugees in northern Greece committed suicide over Christmas, a charity said Thursday. The two men were found in the village of Mouries near the border with North Macedonia. “We have […]

Iraq’s president said Thursday he was “ready to resign” rather than put forward the candidate of a pro-Iranian coalition for the post of prime minister, deepening the country’s political crisis. Barham Saleh’s announcement came as anti-government protesters blocked roads and bridges in Baghdad and the country’s south after torching several buildings overnight. In a letter […]

  Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a fresh challenge to his power on Thursday as his Likud party held leadership primaries in the run-up to a national election, the country’s third in under a year. Netanyahu, head of Likud for the past 14 years, is widely expected to retain the right-wing party’s leadership. […]

Pope Francis urged the world to let the light of Christmas pierce the “darkness in human hearts” that leads to religious persecution, social injustice, armed conflicts and fear of migrants. In his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) Christmas Day message, the 83-year-old pope called for peace in the Holy Land, Syria, […]

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen urged parliament on Wednesday to have more discussion on a proposed anti-infiltration bill which the government says is needed to combat Chinese influence and has been condemned by the main opposition and Beijing. The legislation is part of a years-long effort to combat what many in Taiwan see as Chinese efforts […]

A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at a southern Israeli city on Wednesday as it hosted a campaign rally by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prompted him to take shelter briefly before resuming the event, Israeli TV stations reported. The Israeli military confirmed the launch against Ashkelon, which is 12 km (7.5 miles) from the […]