International

Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday gave their initial backing to plans to throw open the oil sector to private investors, paving the way for the return of US energy majors — a key demand of President Donald Trump. Less than three weeks after the US ouster of Nicolas Maduro, MPs endorsed on first reading a bill allowing private companies to independently ...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved parliament on Friday ahead of a snap election on February 8, counting on her cabinet’s high poll numbers to steer her otherwise unpopular ruling party to victory. The country’s first woman premier had announced her intentions on Monday, seeking public backing for measures to shield households from rising living costs and increase spending on ...

Saudi Arabia and eight Muslim-majority countries including Gaza mediators Qatar and Turkey have agreed to join US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace”, the Saudi foreign ministry said on Wednesday. In a joint statement, Riyadh announced the “shared decision” of the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates to join the ...

Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed during protests that first erupted in late December, but activists said the actual toll risked being many times higher due to a crackdown that suppressed the demonstrations. Demonstrations and strikes initially sparked by economic grievances turned into a mass movement against the clerical leadership that has ruled Iran since the 1979 ...

US president Donald Trump has doubled down on his threats to take control of Greenland, saying on social media that there is “no going back” and that “Greenland is imperative”. During a news conference at the White House, Trump was asked how far he was willing to go to acquire Greenland and replied, “You’ll find out”. Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel ...

Law enforcement officials said Monday they were working to clear roads after a 100-vehicle crash occurred on snow-blanketed roads in the northern state of Michigan. Michigan State Police said numerous injuries were reported in the crash, with none “believed to be fatal,” after big rig trucks and vehicles collided on the I-196 corridor, causing many vehicles to run off the ...

The US military will deploy aircraft to Greenland’s Pituffik Space Base as tensions escalate over President Donald Trump’s push to acquire the self-governing Danish territory, the North American Aerospace Defense Command announced Monday. “North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) aircraft will soon arrive at Pituffik Space Base, Greenland,” the joint US-Canadian defense organization said on US social media company X. ...

An Iranian official said on Sunday that authorities have verified at least 5,000 deaths linked to protests across the country, including about 500 members of the security forces, blaming what he described as “terrorists and armed rioters” for the killings, reports Reuters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters that ...

Gunmen killed seven people in a township outside the South African city of Cape Town early on Saturday in an incident believed to be extortion-related, police said, reports AFP. The attack is the latest in a string of mass shootings that have shaken the crime-weary country of 63 million people. “Police are investigating a shooting incident in Marikana that claimed ...

At least 14 people were killed and several others were wounded when a mini-truck fell into a canal due to dense fog in Pakistan’s Sargodha region on Friday night, the Rescue officials said on Saturday. The crash happened when thick fog reduced visibility on the road in the city area of Kot Momin, causing the driver to lose control of ...