Worldwide

Japan’s foreign minister promised his country would bolster its military to help the United States maintain regional security during a visit on Saturday to a U.S. aircraft carrier patrolling Asian waters. “Today I was able to experience firsthand the frontline of national security,” Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on the hangar …

Russia resumed its assault on the last Ukrainian defenders holed up in a giant steelworks in Mariupol, a Ukrainian official said on Saturday, days after Moscow declared victory in the southern port city and said its forces did not need to take the factory. Russian forces were hitting the Azovstal …

A new case of Ebola has been confirmed in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, the National Institute of Biomedical Research said on Saturday, four months after the end of the country’s last outbreak. The case was detected in the city of Mbandaka, capital of Congo’s Equateur province, said the …

President Emmanuel Macron is in the pole position to win reelection Sunday in France’s presidential runoff, yet his lead over far-right rival Marine Le Pen depends on one major uncertainty: voters who decide to stay home. A victory in Sunday’s runoff vote would make Macron the first French president in …

Russia said on Saturday it plans to deploy its newly tested Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the United States, by autumn. The target stated by Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space agency, is an ambitious one as Russia reported its first test launch only …

The tremor hit 42km (26 miles) southeast of Mostar and was felt across the Balkans, according to media reports. A magnitude 5.7 earthquake has rocked southern Bosnia with media reports saying at least one person has been killed and several injured. The earthquake struck late on Friday hitting 42km (26 …

At least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were shot when a gunman unleashed a flurry of bullets in the US capital Friday. The shooting led to lockdowns at several schools and left a community on edge before the suspect was found dead hours later, local US media said. The …

At least six people were killed and more than seven others wounded after a heavy explosion targeted a restaurant in Mogadishu’s Lido Beach on Friday evening, a police officer said. Abdi Mohamud, a police officer in Mogadishu’s Abdiasis district, told Anadolu Agency over the phone that they believe that the …

Move comes after Israeli army accused Hamas of firing three rockets into Israel late on Friday. Israel’s decision to close its only crossing for Palestinian workers coming from the Gaza Strip has been denounced as “collective punishment” of the impoverished territory’s two million residents who have lived under an Israeli-Egyptian …

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport urged travelers on Saturday to stay away as a strike by ground personnel at the start of a school holiday caused chaos at Europe’s third-busiest airport. “The terminal is too full at the moment… Schiphol is calling on travelers to not come to the airport anymore,” airport …

A person set themselves on fire outside the US Supreme Court on Friday, a spokeswoman said – the second incident to raise alarm near the Capitol in Washington in a week. “At approximately 6:30 p.m., an individual went onto the plaza in front of the Supreme Court building and set …

Ten people were missing Saturday after an accident at a coal mine in southern Poland, the pit owner said, the second such incident to strike in just days. “Rescuers are without contact with 10 people,” at the mine in Zofiowka, the JSW company said in a statement. A tremor shook …

Pakistan’s prime minister said Saturday he will chair an emergency meeting of a national task force for polio eradication after authorities detected the country’s first case of the debilitating neurodegenerative disease in 15 months. Health officials announced the discovery of the wild polio case on Friday, saying a 15-month-old boy …

The major financial hub of Shanghai reported 12 new COVID-19-related deaths on April 22, up from 11 the previous day, as frustrations among residents continued to boil over amid a harsh lockdown and strict censorship online. The city, battling China’s biggest coronavirus outbreak so far, recorded 20,634 new local asymptomatic …

Authorities in two eastern Ukrainian regions said Saturday that fighting with Russian forces was “fierce,” as hope fades for a truce over Orthodox Easter weekend. The governor of the eastern Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegubov, said on Telegram that Kyiv retook three villages near the Russian border after “fierce battles.” “Our …

Japan’s coast guard says a tour boat with 26 people aboard has been missing for more than seven hours after issuing a distress call and taking in water. The coast guard said Saturday no survivors have been found so far. It says the 19-ton Kazu 1 made an emergency call …

An explosion struck a mosque in northern Afghanistan during Friday prayers, police said, with eyewitnesses reporting dozens of casualties. The blast hit Mawlavi Sikandar mosque north of Kunduz city, provincial police spokesman Obaidullah Abedi told AFP. “At the moment we have no details about the type of the blast or …

Kiev’s statements show it does not need negotiations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Moscow has not received any answers from Kiev to its proposals, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday, adding that Kiev’s position looks as if Ukraine does not need the peace talks at all. …

Whether Macron or Le Pen ultimately emerges victorious, Islamophobic persecution is bound to intensify French President Emmanuel Macron and his challenger, Marine Le Pen, have qualified for the final round of the election, echoing their 2017 duel. French Muslims, many of whom had backed the defeated left-wing candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, …

Two far-leftist groups with alleged links to the Kurdish militant group PKK carried out two bombings in Turkey this week, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Friday. A prison guard was killed in an explosion that hit a bus in Turkey’s northwestern province of Bursa on Wednesday. A day later, …