Germany’s president took an indirect swipe at US President Donald Trump yesterday in accusing Washington, China and Russia of stoking global mistrust and insecurity with a “great powers” competition” that could threaten a new nuclear arms race.

Global spending on defence rose by four percent in 2019, the largest growth in 10 years, led by big increases in the US and China, a study said yesterday.

Israeli strikes on Damascus airport killed seven fighters, a war monitor said yesterday, the latest in a string of attacks targeting Iran’s military presence in Syria.

The Philippines yesterday lifted a coronavirus travel ban on Taiwan after Taipei threatened retaliation.

A Turkish court yesterday acquitted renowned novelist Asli Erdogan on charges of membership of an armed terror organisation.

Indonesia wasn’t feeling the love for Valentine’s Day on Friday as authorities arrested couples in one city, scolded stores over condom displays and warned students they would be reprimanded for amorous activities.

India’s Supreme Court yesterday ordered top telecom companies to pay $13 billion in unpaid spectrum and licensing fees by March 17 or face punishment in a fresh blow to ailing mobile carriers.

The United States yesterday said it would refuse entry to Sri Lanka’s army chief over “credible” evidence of human rights violations in the bloody 2009 finale to the civil war.

The death toll from China’s epidemic nears 1,400, according to authorities, with six medical workers among the victims.

Afghan government forces and Taliban insurgents waged war against each other in the past 24 hours despite US officials saying there had been a breakthrough in recent days in peace talks to end the 18-year-old conflict.

US Attorney General Bill Barr on Thursday delivered a highly unusual public rebuke of Donald Trump, saying the president’s tweets were making his job at the Justice Department “impossible.”

A five-year-old can be a hero, too.

Terni, the birthplace of Saint Valentine in Italy, is looking for a “romantic” new sister city in the US.

“Cupid’s avocado” for dinner, heart-shaped messages for the crew, but also painful separation: for those trapped on board the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, Friday is no ordinary Valentine’s Day.

At least 19 children were wounded when a primary school was hit by shelling in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, a lawmaker and a military spokesman say.

Scientists in Antarctica have recorded a new record temperature of 20.75 degrees Celsius (69.35 Fahrenheit), breaking the barrier of 20 degrees for the first time on the continent, a researcher says.

The death toll from China's virus epidemic neared 1,400, as the United States complained of a "lack of transparency" from Beijing over its handling of a crisis that has fuelled global panic.

Around 20 children were injured yesterday when mortar fire hit a primary school in the northern fringes of Myanmar’s Rakhine state, an area where the military is locked in battle with Arakan Army (AA) rebels.

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday proposed legislation setting a goal for the United States to plant a trillion trees by 2050 to fight global warming, a plan intended to address climate change by sucking carbon out of the air instead of by cutting emissions.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not mind Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to end a decades-old military agreement with the United States, a position at odds with that of his defense secretary who viewed the move with dismay.