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Protest rallies across France and in the capital Paris have continued despite a high court ruling, clearing the way for French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform to be enforced. Eye-witness images of the protests in Paris and the southern city of Lyon on Friday showed objects burning on the …

The Taliban-run government in Afghanistan says a Chinese company has expressed interest in investing $10 billion to mine the country’s massive lithium reserves and help construct other infrastructure there. Shahabuddin Delawar, head of the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, made the announcement in a statement after a meeting with …

French President Emmanuel Macron has signed into law a controversial bill to raise the country’s retirement age by two years, defying three months of protests and calls for him to halt the disputed legislation. Macron signed the bill on Saturday, hours after the approval by France’s highest constitutional council of the essence …

The leak of a trove of highly sensitive documents online could be a move by the United States to “deceive”, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying Wednesday. Ryabkov told Russian news agencies that, for now, the leak threw up many questions. “It’s probably interesting for someone to …

The UK economy failed to grow in February after being hit by the effects of strikes across the public sector and weakness in industrial output, official figures have revealed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday that the growth rate unchanged in February, falling below forecast in a …

Former US President Donald Trump has ridiculed the notion that Russia may have been behind explosions at Nord Stream pipelines in Europe last year and suggested that his own country may have perpetrated it. Speaking  in an interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson on Tuesday, set to air in full later this …

The United States has reportedly been spying on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, according to fresh revelations in classified intelligence documents that ended up on the internet. The documents, which appear to have come at least in part from the Pentagon and are marked as highly classified, began circulating widely on …

North Korea has test-launched a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed in the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, prompting Tokyo to lodge a “strong protest.” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on Thursday that the launch was carried out in the vicinity …

China has called on the United States to fulfill its international obligations and offer clarifications on its military-biological activities at home and abroad, amid reports about Washington’s military biological program in Ukraine. A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbing, said on Wednesday that Washington has so far …

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “strongly condemns” the latest air strike carried out by Myanmar’s military on a village, which is reported to have killed up to 100 people, including children, the bloc said in a statement. The statement from ASEAN on Thursday came a day after the …

French President Emmanuel Macron has reaffirmed his country’s stance on Taiwan, saying that France is not a follower of the US policies and that being a US ally does not mean being a “vassal”. Macron said France still backed the “status quo” on Taiwan and stressed that his country will …

Dutch police on Thursday said an explosives team was investigating a “suspect situation” in the building that houses the national parliament in The Hague. Police said it had cleared the surroundings of the building, which people had been asked to leave.

China’s foreign ministry on Thursday announced sanctions against Michael McCaul, chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, for “interfering” in the country’s domestic affairs and for visiting Taiwan. McCaul visited Taiwan last week and met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

India reported 10,158 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday as coronavirus cases steadily increase in the south-Asian country. Health ministry data showed daily infections climb past the 10,000 mark, reaching a nearly eight-month high, up from 7,830 cases the previous day. There are currently 44,998 active cases from 229,958 COVID-19 tests. …

NATO should play a bigger role in security in the Black Sea, and integrate Ukrainian air and missile defenses with those of its allies, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said on Thursday. “The Black Sea is instrumental for making the whole of Europe peaceful and future-oriented,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro …

Norway’s foreign ministry on Thursday said it had declared 15 Russian embassy officials in Oslo as “unwanted”, adding that they were intelligence officers operating under the cover of diplomatic positions. “The government’s decision is in response to the changed security situation in Europe, which has led to an increased intelligence …

The Sudanese army said on Thursday that the mobilisation in the capital Khartoum and other cities of a para-military force headed by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo had raised the risk of confrontation. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) moves represented a “clear violation of law,” the army said in a rare …

Saudi Arabia and Syria have pledged to seek a political solution to the crises besetting the latter, according to a joint statement released after a meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers in Jeddah on Wednesday. Saudi’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and Syria’s Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad held discussions …

A tropical cyclone is expected to intensify to the most destructive category before it crosses the northwest Australian coast with winds gusting at more than 280 kph (170 mph), meteorologists said Thursday. Cyclones are common along the sparsely populated Pilbara coast of Western Australia state and fatalities are rare, but …

North Korea has test-launched a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that landed in the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula, prompting Tokyo to lodge a “strong protest.” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on Thursday that the launch was carried out in the vicinity …