Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg yesterday called on Ankara to drop its opposition to Sweden’s bid to join the US-led defence alliance, hoping Stockholm’s accession would be finalised “as soon as possible”.

Australia plans to create a marine park almost the size of Spain around remote islands off its southeast coast, the government announced yesterday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong slammed the UN Security Council for holding a “most unfair” meeting over Pyongyang’s recent spy satellite launch, state media reported yesterday.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday unveiled a new cabinet lineup, naming a powerful spy chief as foreign minister and market friendly Mehmet Simsek as finance minister, hours after swearing in for a third term as president.

Senior officials from about two dozen of the world’s major intelligence agencies held a secret meeting on the fringes of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore this weekend, five people told Reuters.

Pakistan’s embattled former prime minister Imran Khan has accused the powerful military and its intelligence agency of openly trying to destroy his political party, saying he had “no doubt” he would be tried in a military court and thrown in jail.

The United States and Saudi Arabia yesterday made a renewed push for truce talks between Sudan’s warring generals as deadly fighting has raged into its eighth week.

Russia launched a fresh wave of air strikes against Ukraine early yesterday, striking an airfield in a central region but failing to hit the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said.

China’s defence minister yesterday warned against establishing Nato-like military alliances in the Asia-Pacific, saying they would plunge the region into a “whirlpool” of conflict.

Senior officials from about two dozen of the world's major intelligence agencies held a secret meeting on the fringes of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore this weekend, five people told Reuters.

An explosion near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday hit a two-storey dwelling, injuring 20 people including five children, and rescuers pulled residents out from under the rubble, the regional governor said

A war over Taiwan would be “devastating” and affect the global economy “in ways we cannot imagine,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has warned, as he underlined US support for the island democracy.

The UN Security Council on Friday called on warring factions in Sudan to cease hostilities, as fighting continued in the capital Khartoum after the collapse of talks to maintain a ceasefire and ease a humanitarian crisis.

Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday suggested raising taxes on richer people could be an alternative to socially painful reforms as a means to secure an international financial rescue package.

Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview published Friday.

Heavy rain across parts of Japan has killed one person, left three missing and injured dozens more, authorities said yesterday, with thousands of residents issued evacuation warnings.

Prominent Pakistani human rights activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir returned home on Friday, a day after his abduction by unidentified armed men in the southern city of Karachi, which prompted widespread outcry in the country.

Russia warned the United States yesterday it should stop brandishing ultimatums over the collapse of arms control agreements, saying Moscow would only return to a nuclear arms reduction treaty if Washington abandons its hostile stance.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in yesterday for a third term as president, promising to serve “impartially” after winning a historic runoff election to extend his two-decade rule.

After a rocky start to a week of negotiations, around 170 countries agreed to develop a first draft by November of what could become the first global treaty to curb plastic pollution by the end of next year.