Australia’s southeast on Saturday sweltered in a heat wave that raised the risk of bushfires and led authorities to issue fire bans for large parts of Victoria state. Australia faces a high-risk bushfire season that has already seen Victorian authorities battle a large fire that last week ripped through the state’s vast Grampians National Park, razing homes…
The US Department of Justice DOJ asked the Supreme Court late on Friday to reject President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay implementation of a law that would ban popular social media app TikTok or force its sale by Jan. 19. Last week, Trump filed a legal brief arguing he should have time after taking office on Jan….
US Steel and Nippon Steel threatened legal action Friday after President Joe Biden blocked a controversial $14.9 billion deal for the Japanese company to buy its American rival. Biden cited a strategic need to protect domestic industry — but the move drew sharp criticism from both companies. The decision came after a government panel failed…
The top diplomat in Syria’s new leadership said Friday he will make official visits to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan this week, having just been to Saudi Arabia on his first trip in office. “This week, I will represent my country, Syria, on an official visit to our brothers in Qatar, the United…
Israel has carried out airstrikes on dozens of alleged Hamas targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, it said on Friday, in attacks that Palestinian health authorities said had killed more than 110 people in two days. The surge in operations and casualties comes amid a renewed push to reach a ceasefire in the 15-month-old…
The Pentagon vehemently denied reports that it was setting up a new base in northeast Syria on Monday after videos emerged showing concrete barriers being transferred on a trailer with a US flag. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said there were no plans or intent to build a US base in Syria’s Kobani. A US defense…
The State Department approves the possible sale of 20 MK 54 MOD 0 Lightweight Torpedoes to Saudi Arabia for $78.5 million, according to the Pentagon. “The proposed sale will improve Saudi Arabia’s capability to deter current and future threats by upgrading its anti-submarine warfare capabilities,” the Pentagon says. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has repeatedly reaffirmed to Saudi…
Law-enforcement officials in US cities were beefing up security on Thursday after a deadly attack in New Orleans and an explosion outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas raised fears of more threats in a month packed with large-scale public events. Police in Washington, the site of the Jan. 9 state funeral for former President…
Law enforcement officials on Thursday said a US Army soldier from Colorado was likely the person inside a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, leaving the driver dead and seven people with minor injuries. The FBI said it had so far found no definitive link between the New Year’s…
A US Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s Day revelers had pledged allegiance to ISIS, but acted alone in the attack that killed at least 14 people, the FBI said on Thursday. The suspect, who was shot dead at the scene after firing at police, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar,…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview aired Thursday that US President-elect Donald Trump’s “unpredictability” could help end the war with Russia. Trump, who takes office on January 20, has said he will end the nearly three-year conflict in “24 hours” once in power, a claim that has drawn scepticism from Kyiv which fears it will be…
China said on Friday it would take “all necessary measures” in response to the United States announcing it was considering restrictions on commercial Chinese drones for national security reasons. On Thursday, the United States Commerce Department said it was considering new rules to address risks posed by drones made with technology from foreign adversaries such…
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit South Korea for talks next week, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Friday, with the country mired in political turmoil as its impeached president resists arrest. South Korea is a key security ally for Washington, but the country has been wracked by a crisis sparked by President Yoon Suk…
Oil from two ageing and damaged Russian tankers – one of which sank – was detected on Friday off the coast of Sevastopol, the largest city in Moscow-annexed Crimea. The Volgoneft-212 and the Volgoneft-239 were hit last month by a storm in the Kerch Strait, which links Crimea to the southern Russian Krasnodar region and…
