US President Donald Trump ordered on Tuesday a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government, targeting its main source of income. It is unclear how Trump will impose the move against the sanc»»»

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday added Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria as well as Palestinian Authority passport holders to a full travel ban. The decision to include Syria, a country Trump has moved to rehabilitate internationally, came days after thr»»»

1/20A woman reacts during a sack race as she celebrates Eid Al Fitr at a park in Quezon City, Philippines, on March 31.AP2/20Schoolgirls and cadets dance as they attend a rehearsal of a ceremony on the first day at school at a cadet lyceum in Kyiv on September 1.AP3/20Visitors, wearing stuffed cost»»»

Heavy rains on Hormuz Island in southern Iran transformed parts of the island’s shoreline — known locally as Red Beach — into a vivid crimson tide, captivating visitors and viewers across social media. Videos and images shared online show rainwater washing rich red mineral soils from the slopes int»»»

Washington: The White House announced Tuesday that US President Donald Trump has significantly expanded America’s travel ban, barring citizens from seven additional countries from entering the United States starting January 1. In a statement, the White House said Trump signed a proclamation aimed a»»»

Share: Lebanon’s FM Youssef Raji, recently declined an invitation by his Iranian counterpart to visit Tehran . Iran’s absolute support for Hezbollah is the main problem for Lebanon . “as far as iran is concerned Hezbollah in Lebanon means iran in Lebanon“, a top Iranian cleric was quoted as saying »»»

Attorney-General of Qatar HE Dr Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi held separate meetings in Doha with senior legal officials from Iran and Kyrgyzstan. Dr Al Nuaimi met on Tuesday with Minister of Justice of Iran Dr Amin Hossein Rahimi and Prosecutor-General of the Kyrgyz Republic Maksat Asanaliev. »»»

Two British-Lebanese men appeared in a London court on Tuesday, charged with belonging to the banned Iran-backed group Hezbollah and attending terrorism training camps, with one of the two accused of helping procure parts for drones. Annis Makki, 40, is charged with attending a terrorist training c»»»

More than 17 million people in Afghanistan are facing crisis levels of hunger in the coming winter months, the leading international authority on hunger crises and the UN food aid agency warned Tuesday. The number at risk is some 3 million more than a year ago. Economic woes, recurrent drought, shr»»»

In a phone call from prison, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nargis Mohammadi said she endured blows during her incarceration that were so "heavy, forceful and repeated" that she had to be hospitalised twice, the family-run Narges Foundation said Monday. Mohammadi was re-arrested in Tehran »»»

GENEVA, Dec 16 (KUNA) -- The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that more than 17 million Afghans are currently facing acute food insecurity an increase of three million people compared to last year.Speaking online from Rome during a media briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, WFP Director o»»»

An Emirati-backed secessionist group in Yemen said its forces were marching to another province as part of the group's push to expand areas under its control in the country's south, at the expense of its allies in the internationally recognized government. The Southern Transitional Council this mon»»»

Iraqi wheat farmer Ma'an al-Fatlawi has long depended on the nearby Euphrates River to feed his fields near the city of Najaf. But this year, those waters, which made the Fertile Crescent a cradle of ancient civilization 10,000 years ago, are drying up, and he sees few options. "Drilling wells is n»»»

Anna TillackIn Romania, illegal logging claims huge tracts of forest every year. Authorities say organized crime is to blame. Activists and journalists risk their lives to document the illicit activity. https://p.dw.com/p/54qlXAdvertisementIn Romania’s Southern Carpathians, activists from risk thei»»»

The US military says it has carried out strikes on three boats it has accused of trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean, killing eight people. The US Southern Command posted footage of the strikes on social media and said the vessels were "transiting along known narco-trafficking routes... and were»»»

The UN atomic watchdog has no right to demand inspections of sites attacked by the United States and Israel during the June war, said head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, stressing the need for a clear protocol to allow UN inspectors in such facilities. Speaking t»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian and Pakistani energy ministries are discussing an oil agreement, and Pakistan would like to see it signed, Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in an interview with Sputnik. "These are all areas which, you know, play to Russia's strength. And we would be»»»

1 of 6 | President Donald Trump speaks before presenting Mexican Border Defense Medals to 13 service members during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Monday, December 15, 2025. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Dec. 16 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump ha»»»

There are few areas in which the United States and Israel genuinely diverge, but one of them—somewhat unexpectedly—is Syria after the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad. Israel has been unsettled by US President Donald Trump’s rapid embrace of Syria’s new interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a »»»

South Korean internet giant Kakao ordered staff to remote work after message an explosive device planted its HQ. Chung Shin-a (L), chief of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp., 04 February 2025. File Photo by YONHAP/EPA Dec. 15 (Asia Today) -- South Korean internet giant Kakao said Monday it ordere»»»

Dubai: The Indian rupee weakened to a fresh record low for the fourth consecutive session on Tuesday, slipping to 90.82 per US dollar, eclipsing its previous low of 90.78 hit on Monday. Persistent dollar demand from foreign investors, delays in a potential India–US trade deal, and heightened uncert»»»

A US special operations team boarded a Chinese vessel bound for Iran in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka last month, seizing suspicious cargo, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday. Operatives from the US Indo-Pacific Command — both special and conventional forces — intercepted the ship, »»»

WASHINGTON: Republican Sen. Ted Cruz says he wants restrictions on military flights approved before government funding runs out at the end of next month to prevent another midair collision like the one over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people in January. Cruz and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell »»»

QNA Doha An evening plenary session held on Monday, as part of the 11th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (COSP11), discussed the policies and experiences of a number of countries around the world in combating corruption, focusing on»»»

A photo of Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi from December2023 at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway. On Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed serious alarm over what it described as Mohammadi's harsh detention and urged the Iranian regime to guarantee h»»»

Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines (left) and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, died in Palmyra, Syria, of injuries sustained while engaged with hostile forces, the Army said. Photos courtesy Iowa National Guard Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army on Monday identified two»»»

Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines (left) and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, died in Palmyra, Syria, of injuries sustained while engaged with hostile forces, the Army said. Photos courtesy Iowa National Guard Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army on Monday identified two»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The new US national security strategy, adopted under President Donald Trump, is intended to show Europe its place and ensure it does not try to draw the United States into its machinations to promote a liberal order, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. "One of »»»

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi was taken to hospital after being beaten when she was arrested last week, her family says. The 53-year-old human rights activist told them in a phone call on Sunday that she was brought to an emergency department twice after being "attacked by plain»»»

DOHA: The National Day 2025 celebrations continued at Darb Al Saai in Umm Salal, amidst a large public turnout and a remarkable diversity of cultural, heritage, and awareness programs, under the slogan 'With you it rises, and from you it awaits', organized by the Ministry of Culture from December 1»»»

Afghanistan's neighbors met in Iran and agreed to deepen regional coordination to address political, economic and security challenges, as well as calling for sanctions on Afghanistan to be lifted. The only absent party? Afghanistan itself. China, Pakistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkm»»»

In Botticelli’s masterpiece Pallas and the Centaur (1482-83), to be seen at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, the Firenze-Athena parallel is unmistakable, with Florence depicted as the new Athens. Pallas Athena (or Minerva), after all is the Goddess of Knowledge. Here a flowery Firenze – or Fi»»»

Iran’s rial slid further Monday to a new record low of more than 1.3 million to the US dollar, deepening the currency’s collapse less than two weeks after it first breached the 1.2-million mark amid sanctions pressure and regional tensions. Currency traders in Tehran quoted the dollar above 1.3 mil»»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has linked Australian government policies to the deadly attack on a Jewish gathering in Sydney at the weekend, claiming that Canberra’s support for Palestinian statehood has fueled domestic anti-Semitism. Two gunmen killed 15 people and wounded dozens of ot»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia could play a very important role in helping to resolve the situation around Iran's nuclear program, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi told Sputnik. "A very important one. Is something I had the honor to discuss with [Russian] Presiden»»»

Sydney: Australia’s leaders agreed Monday to toughen gun laws after attackers killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, the worst mass shooting in decades decried as antisemitic “terrorism” by authorities. Dozens fled the tourist hotspot in panic as a father and son fired into crowds pa»»»

Iran's rial slid further Monday to a new record low of more than 1.3 million to the U.S. dollar, deepening the currency's collapse less than two weeks after it first breached the 1.2-million mark amid sanctions pressure and regional tensions. Currency traders in Tehran quoted the dollar above 1.3 m»»»

Army Commander General Rodolphe Haykal and a delegation of Arab and foreign ambassadors and military attachés arrived Monday at the Tyre barracks at the start of a tour organized by the Lebanese Army to brief them on the implementation of the disarmament plan in the South Litani sector and Israel’s»»»

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee criticized "Hezbollah's supporters" who attacked Lebanese President Joseph Aoun after the latter condemned a mass shooting at a Jewish holiday event that killed at least 11 people in Sydney. Adraee said those who "live on the rhetoric of death see a threat i»»»

Ali Akbar Velayati, the international affairs advisor to Iran's supreme leader, met with Hezbollah’s representative in Iran Abdallah Safieddine on Sunday and stressed that Tehran will continue to firmly support Hezbollah. Hezbollah is “one of the most important pillars of the resistance front and i»»»

Qassim Hamadeh woke to the sounds of gunfire and explosions in his village of Beit Jin in southwestern Syria last month. Within hours, he had lost two sons, a daughter-in-law and his 4-year-old and 10-year-old grandsons. The five were among 13 villagers killed that day by Israeli forces. Israeli tr»»»

AliKhamenei Hassan Rohani Sadegh Larijani The editor: This agreement remains a truce and is not a long term nuclear agreement with Iran, as two of the main players do confirm this. It seems obvious at this point that Israel is negotiating or more accurately maneuvering / manipulating congress membe»»»

The death of two U.S. service members and one American civilian in an attack in Syria by an alleged member of the Islamic State group has drawn new attention to the presence of American forces in the country. Saturday's attack was the first with fatalities since the fall of Syrian President Bashar »»»

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will resume talks with US President Donald Trump's envoys in Berlin on Monday, after the US side said a "lot of progress" had been made on ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. Zelenskiy will again meet US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son»»»

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Australia's leader on Sunday while nations expressed shock and sympathy over a mass shooting at a Jewish holiday event, saying he had warned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that "your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic »»»

The result of last month's parliamentary elections in Iraq was ratified by the Supreme Federal Court, confirming that the party of caretaker prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani won the largest number of seats — but not enough to assure him a second term. The court confirmed that the voting proce»»»

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) has approved a total of 311 licensed offices and centres across the UAE to provide domestic worker recruitment, business services, and guidance, according to an updated list issued by the Ministry. The move reflects MoHRE’s commit»»»

The Israeli military said it killed three Hezbollah members in strikes Sunday on southern Lebanon, where it has carried out repeated attacks despite an ongoing ceasefire with the Iran-backed group. The Lebanese health ministry said three people were killed in strikes in the Yater, Safad Al-Battikh »»»

A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader said Sunday that the country would "resolutely support" Hezbollah, its ally in Lebanon, in the group's efforts to confront Tehran's regional foe Israel. The remarks by Ali Akbar Velayati came as Lebanon faces pressure from the United States and Israel to di»»»

Australia's leaders agreed on Monday to tougher gun laws after the country's worst mass shooting in almost three decades saw a father and son open fire on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people including a child. The duo fired into crowds packing the Sydney beach for the start of Hanuk»»»