Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a missile Friday at a United States warship patrolling the Gulf of Aden, forcing it to shoot down the projectile, and struck a British vessel as their aggressive attacks on maritime traffic continue. The attack on the US warship, the destroyer USS Carney, marked a further escalation in the biggest confrontation at sea the US Navy has seen in the Middle East in decades, as Houthi missile fire set another commercial vessel ablaze Friday night. Early Saturday l

India and France have agreed to work together on the joint production of defence equipment including helicopters and submarines for the Indian armed forces and production for friendly countries, New Delhi said. The deal was reached during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended a state banquet hosted by President Draupadi Murmu, the government said in a statement late on Friday. Macron and Modi agreed to expand bilateral ties in defence pr

Former President Donald Trump easily won New Hampshire's primary on Tuesday, seizing command of the race for the Republican nomination and making a November rematch against President Joe Biden feel all the more inevitable. The result was a setback for former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who finished second despite investing significant time and financial resources in a state famous for its independent streak. She's the last major challenger after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ended his presi

American voters in the northeastern state of New Hampshire began to cast their ballots in the Republican Party's second presidential nomination contest on Tuesday, with former President Donald Trump angling for another decisive victory following his blowout win in the Iowa caucuses. The contest to select the Republican standard bearer for the Nov. 5 general election has effectively narrowed to a duel between Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dr

The US endured a record number of 28 weather and climate disasters in 2023, each causing $1 billion or more in damage and collectively killing at least 492 people. The disasters, which included major floods in California, the Northeast and Florida and wildfires in Hawaii, broke the previous mark of 22 such disasters set in 2020, the National Centers for Environmental Information reported. The number of deaths was the eighth-highest in records for the contiguous US going back to 1980. The disas

BEIJING — A landslide buried 47 people in a remote village in mountainous southwestern China on Monday, state media said. Hours later, two survivors were rescued amid freezing temperatures and falling snow. The disaster struck just before 6 a.m. in the village of Liangshui in the northeastern part of Yunnan province. By evening, nine bodies were retrieved and about 500 people were evacuated from the area. Rescue crews continued to try and find victims who were buried in about 18 homes, t

　A war over Taiwan would have a cost so vast that even those unhappiest with the status quo have reason not to risk it. Bloomberg Economics estimates the price tag at around $10 trillion, equal to about 10 percent of the global gross domestic product. 　Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the semiconductor shortage as many countries reopened from COVID-19 lockdowns, provide a small glimpse of what would be at stake for the global economy. The impact of war in the Taiwan Strait would be far

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ended his fading presidential campaign on Sunday and endorsed Donald Trump just two days before the pivotal New Hampshire primary, leaving former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley as Trump's last long-shot challenger for the Republican nomination. DeSantis' decision, less than a week after his deflating loss to Trump in Iowa despite an enormous investment there, caps a stunning fall, after DeSantis had been seen as Republicans' most promising alternative to T

A fire broke out at a Baltic Sea terminal belonging to Novatek, Russia's largest liquefied natural gas producer, after a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, forcing the company to suspend some operations there. The Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, fuel oil and gasoil, according to Novatek's website. The port is used to ship processed products to interna

Seoul has become the 14th most visited city by foreign travelers in 2023, according to global market analyst firm, Euromonitor. It jumped 12 notches this year from 26th in 2022. Paris has once again been named the world’s most attractive city destination, followed by Dubai in second and Madrid in third. Tokyo came in fourth, while Amsterdam rounded up the top five, according to data. Seoul, ranked third in Asia after Tokyo and Singapore, is higher than competing Asian cities such as Osaka

BEIJING -- China’s population fell by 2 million people in 2023 in its second straight annual decrease, as births dropped for the seventh straight year and deaths jumped following the end of COVID-19 restrictions, the government said Wednesday. The number of deaths rose by 690,000 to 11.1 million, more than double the previous year's increase. Demographers said the rise was driven by the aging of the population and the widespread COVID-19 outbreaks that started in December 2022 and con

A Korean Air plane carrying 289 people hit a parked Cathay Pacific aircraft while taxiing to a runway at northern Japan's New Chitose Airport but caused no fire or injuries Tuesday, Japanese media reported. The incident happened only two weeks after a high profile collision between a Japan Airlines airliner and a coast guard plane on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Airline passengers had to make an emergency exit due to a fire and five of the six crew members on the smaller plane w

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui on Tuesday evening, the Kremlin said, amid the two nation's deepening military cooperation. Choe is currently visiting Russia for a three-day visit at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Choe and Lavrov are to meet at noon Tuesday before briefing Putin on the results of their bilateral talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. They will also update Putin on the progress of the agre

Donald Trump secured a resounding victory in the first 2024 Republican presidential contest in Iowa on Monday, asserting his command over the party despite facing scores of criminal charges as he seeks a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden in the US presidential election slated for Nov. 5, 2024. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 45, finished well behind in second place, edging out former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, 51, as they battle to emerge as the chief alternative to Trump. Trump, 77, wo

Now 100 days old, the latest Israel-Hamas war is by far the longest, bloodiest and most destructive conflict between the bitter enemies. Fighting erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas carried out a deadly attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and a ground offensive that have wrought unprecedented destruction, flattening entire neighborhoods. The offensive has displaced the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza, shuttered operations in nearly