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Former US Vice-President Joe Biden has declared a presidential bid, putting an end to months of speculation. In a video announcement, Mr. Biden argued that the “core values of the nation… our very democracy, everything that has made America America, is at stake”. The 76-year-old enters a crowded race for …

Microsoft has seen its stock market value top $1 trillion (£774bn) after reporting better-than-expected sales and profits. The US software giant passed the mark briefly on Thursday, before its share price fell back. It makes it one of only three public firms to have hit the $1tn mark, the others …

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the country can export as much oil as it needs, his official website reported, as the United States prepares to end sanctions waivers it granted to some importers of Iranian crude. “America’s efforts in sanctioning the sale of Iranian oil …

Facebook has said that it expects to be fined up to $5bn by the Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations. The penalty would be a record by the agency against a technology company and a sign that the United States was willing to punish big tech companies. The social network …

Apple could be releasing two sets of new AirPods later this year, according to a new report. The company only just released an update to its smart earbuds. But a further update could come before 2019 is over, one of which might bring a whole host of features. One of …

This time last year, most of Iraq’s historic marshlands were dry, desiccated by upstream damming and a chronic lack of rainfall. Now, local farmers are counting their blessings after unexpected heavy rainfall at the end of 2018 caused the dams to overflow by early January and water came gushing back …

The space agency’s Hubble Space Telescope shows that it is growing about 9 percent faster than we had expected, based on the trajectory it started with shortly after the big bang, according to astronomers. While such a discrepancy was already suggested, the new measurements reduce the chance we are mistaken …

Violent winds of up to 140 kph (87 mph) lashed the East African island nation of Comoros overnight, killing three people, authorities said on Thursday, as Cyclone Kenneth swept toward flood-battered Mozambique. In Comoros, the winds caused widespread power outages in the northern part of the main island, Grande Comore, …

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are at risk from landslides in the coming monsoon season and should be relocated to a remote island, the country’s foreign minister said on Thursday, a move opposed by many refugees. Bangladesh wants to move 100,000 of the nearly 1 million Rohingya Muslims sheltered in cramped …

Hundreds of drones will begin delivering life-saving vaccines, blood, and medicines to patients in Ghana this week in the largest scheme of its kind, the global vaccine alliance GAVI said on Wednesday. Medics will place orders by text message when supplies run dry, said GAVI chief executive Seth Berkley. Drones …

US President Donald Trump has threatened to send more armed troops to the southern border with Mexico after Mexican soldiers confronted US personnel and disarmed at least one of them on the American side of the border. “Mexico’s Soldiers recently pulled guns on our National Guard Soldiers, probably as a …

It was little over a year ago that the Saudi Arabian crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, made a high-profile visit to London. During his three-day stay, he was treated to lunch with the Queen, dinner with Princes William and Charles, and photos on the steps of Downing Street. The charm-offensive …

Hundreds of people have had to leave their homes in Norway as emergency services try to extinguish forest fires raging in the south of the country. Some 148 homes were evacuated around the town of Sokndal, where fires have been burning since Tuesday. Police say the fires are still out …

Critics have been left dazzled by the latest Avengers film, describing it as “glorious”, “irresistible”, “intensely satisfying” and “masterful”. In his five-star review, The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw says the film delivers “a huge sugar rush of excitement”. Empire and the Telegraph both call the film “a victory lap”, while Screen …

Moscow will start shipping its S-400 air defense missile systems to Turkey this summer, the chief of Russia’s state arms trade agency said. The deal is going through as Ankara ignores pressure from its ally, the US. Aleksandr Mikheyev of Rosoboronexport told Russian media on Wednesday that all issues pertaining …

Rapidly melting snow caused bodies of water to swell throughout Quebec, Canada, flooding nearly 3,000 homes in the province, officials said Monday. The flooding also forced the evacuation of about 1,300 people, according to figures from Urgence Quebec, the government’s informational branch for emergency communications. Some 1,700 homes also were …

Fifty-one people have died in floods that ravaged parts of the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa’s southeast, local authorities said. The flooding began on Monday after heavy rain caused mudslides in several towns in Durban, the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal, government spokesman Lennox Mabaso said. “The areas most …

Afghan Taliban insurgents are battling fighters loyal to Islamic State over control of territory in eastern Afghanistan in some of the heaviest clashes over the past year between the rival militants, officials said on Wednesday. The fighting erupted on Monday in two districts of the eastern Afghan border province of …

Scotland should hold an independence referendum before the current Scottish parliamentary term ends in May 2021, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday. “A choice between Brexit and a future for Scotland as an independent European nation should be offered in the lifetime of this parliament,” Sturgeon told Holyrood, Scotland’s …

More than 50 people were feared to have been killed in Myanmar when jade miners and machinery were buried under a mound of tailings late on Monday, a member of parliament and a rescue worker said. Three bodies had been pulled from the debris, Tin Soe, a lawmaker representing the …