Breaking World News

US Treasury Chief Blames Commerce Dept for Failure in Nvidia Scandal

World  US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during the National Committee on US-China Relations 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner in New York City, US, November 10, 2026. (Reuters)

US Treasury Chief Blames Commerce Dept for Failure in Nvidia Scandal

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday blamed the Commerce Department for failing to blacklist Megaspeed, the Singapore company at the center of a…

World UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference on the fifth day of the COP31 annual UN climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye, 13 November 2026. (EPA)

UN Chief Urges Drastic Emissions Cuts as COP31 Wrestles with Fossil Fuels

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for an "immediate and drastic reduction" in greenhouse gas emissions, as divisions over fossil fuels…

World 13 November 2026, Ireland, Dublin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the EU summit at the Convention Centre in Dublin. (dpa)

Europe’s Security Cannot Be Part of Ukraine Peace Talks, EU Leaders Say

EU leaders said on Friday that Europe's security structure should not be a subject for Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, but they did not answer the question…

World  09 November 2026, France, Paris: France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, speaks during a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris. (dpa)

France Criticizes ‘Demagogic’ Move by Israel to Ban Hard-Left Leader Melenchon

France has ‌criticized as "demagogic" a decision by Israel to ban French hard-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchonand another leading figure in…

World Congolese workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) walk outside the Ebola Treatment Center at the Bunia General Referral Hospital following a resurgence of Ebola involving the Bundibugyo strain, in Bunia, Ituri province, the Democratic Republic of Congo, November 2, 2026. (Reuters)

UN Hails Progress in Ebola Response, Cites Insecurity as Biggest Challenge

UN health officials on Friday hailed progress in the Ebola response six months after the outbreak first prompted global concerns, but cautioned that the…


World An investigator works at the scene where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff's army operational training directorate, was reportedly killed in a car bomb in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2025. (Russia's Investigative Committee/Handout via Reuters)

Moscow Car Blast Kills Russian General 

A senior Russian general was killed in southern Moscow on Monday after an explosive device placed under his car went off, investigators said in a statement. …

World Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shake hands after a joint news conference at Zinaida Morozova's Mansion in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Ramil Sitdikov/Pool Photo via AP)

Iran Does Not Rule Out New Israeli Attacks against it

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said Tehran “does not rule out” the possibility of a new Israeli or US attack on its nuclear facilities, but…

Asharq Al Awsat (London) Asharq Al Awsat (Tehran )
World 21 December 2025, Australia, Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (R) and his wife Jodie Haydon attend a National Day of Reflection vigil and commemoration for the victims and survivors of the Bondi Massacre at Bondi Beach in Sydney. (Dean Lewins/AAP/dpa)

Alleged Bondi Shooters Conducted ‘Tactical’ Training in Countryside, Police Say 

Two suspects in last week's deadly mass shooting at Australia's Bondi Beach trained for the attack in the countryside, police alleged in court documents Monday…

World A handout photo made available by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) shows rescuers carrying a survivor from the wreckage of a crashed bus in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, 22 December 2025. (EPA/BASARNAS/Handout)

Passenger Bus Crash in Indonesia Kills at Least 16 People, Official Says 

A passenger bus crash killed at least 16 people on Indonesia’s main island of Java just after midnight Monday, officials said. The bus carrying 34 people…

World A woman holds a poster as immigrants rights activists stage a traditional Mexican posada, reenacting Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter, to symbolize immigrants seeking refuge from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during the ongoing immigration operation "Catahoula Crunch", in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, December 18, 2025. REUTERS/Seth Herald

Trump Set to Expand Immigration Crackdown in 2026 despite Brewing Backlash

US President Donald Trump is preparing for a more aggressive immigration crackdown in 2026 with billions in new funding, including by raiding more workplaces —…

Asharq Al Awsat
World Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein are seen in this image released by the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., US, on December 19, 2025 as part of a new trove of documents from its investigations into the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. US Justice Department/Handout via REUTERS

At Least 16 Files Have Disappeared from the DOJ Webpage for Documents Related to Jeffrey Epstein

At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Department’s public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein — including a photograph showing President…

Asharq Al Awsat
World Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Russian Presidential foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, left, attend talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, back to a camera, at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Kremlin Says Chances of Peace Not Improved by European and Ukrainian Changes to US Proposals

Russian President Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy aide said on Sunday that he was sure the chances of peace in Ukraine were not improved by changes to US…

Asharq Al Awsat
World This picture taken on December 12, 2025 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 13 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (at podium) attending a welcoming ceremony for the Korean People's Army's 528th Regiment of Engineers, which returned from an overseas deployment in Russia's Kursk region during Moscow's war with Ukraine, in front of the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang. (KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

North Korea Says Japan's Nuclear Ambitions Must Be Stopped 'at Any Cost'

North Korea said on Sunday that Japan's nuclear ambitions "must be prevented at any cost", after a Tokyo official reportedly suggested the country should…

World  French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference during a European Union leaders' summit, in Brussels, Belgium December 19, 2025. (Reuters)

Putin Ready to Talk to France’s Macron on Ukraine, Says Spokesman

Vladimir Putin is ready to talk with France's Emmanuel Macron over the war in Ukraine, the Russian president's spokesman said in an interview published Sunday…

World Security watch over the "Light Over Darkness" vigil from the roof of the Bondi Hotel commemorating victims and survivors of a deadly mass shooting during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on December 14, in Sydney, Australia, December 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Australia Honors Bondi Beach Attack Victims as PM Orders Safety Review

Australia on Sunday was honoring victims of a gun attack a week earlier on a seaside Hanukkah celebration, as the prime minister announced a review of the…

World TOPSHOT - Russia's President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during his annual end-of-year press conference, in Moscow, on December 19, 2025.  (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

US Intelligence Indicates Putin's War Aims in Ukraine are Unchanged

US intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not abandoned his aims of capturing all of Ukraine and reclaiming parts of…

Asharq Al Awsat
World US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed Washington had seized a second crude oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela. Handout / US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's X account/AFP

US Again Seizes Oil Tanker Off Coast of Venezuela

The United States "apprehended" an oil tanker off Venezuela on Saturday, a move Caracas deemed a "theft and kidnapping," in the latest salvo of a pressure…

Asharq Al Awsat
World A village security volunteer splashes water to control a fire at a house after what a Thai soldier said was a Cambodian artillery strike in the area in Sisaket province, Thailand, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai Border Clashes Displace over Half a Million in Cambodia

More than half a million people in Cambodia have been displaced from their homes by two weeks of deadly border clashes with neighboring Thailand, Phnom Penh's…

Asharq Al Awsat
World A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV presiding over the Jubilee Audience in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City, 20 December 2025.  EPA/VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT

Pope Leo Summons World's Cardinals for Key Assembly to Help him Govern the Church

Pope Leo XIV has summoned the world’s cardinals for two days of meetings to help him govern the church, the Vatican said Saturday, in the clearest sign yet…

Asharq Al Awsat
World Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gestures during a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Zinaida Morozova's Mansion in Moscow, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Ramil Sitdikov/Pool Photo via AP)

Iran, UK Foreign Ministers in Rare Direct Contact

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken by phone with his British counterpart Yvette Cooper, an Iranian foreign ministry statement said on Saturday,…

Asharq Al Awsat
World Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the plenum of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, November 10, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

Netanyahu Plans to Brief Trump on Possible New Iran Strikes, NBC News Reports

US President Donald Trump is ​set to be briefed by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any expansion ‌of ‌Iran's ‌ballistic ⁠missile ​program …

Asharq Al Awsat
World Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pauses as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo

Pakistani Court Sentences Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Wife to 17 Years in Graft Case

A Pakistani court convicted and sentenced imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Saturday to 17 years in prison after finding…

Asharq Al Awsat
World Burned electric water heaters lie at the site of a warehouse of home appliances which was hit during an overnight Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine December 16, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS

Russian Envoy to Join Ukraine Talks in Miami

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Saturday he was heading to Miami, where another round of talks to settle the Ukraine war is set to take place. …

Asharq Al Awsat
World A firefighter works at the site of a Russian missile and drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine in this handout picture released December 20, 2025. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS

8 Dead, Dozens Wounded in Russian Strike on Ukraine's Odesa Port

Eight people were killed and 27 wounded in a Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa, southern Ukraine, late on Friday, Ukraine’s Emergency…

Asharq Al Awsat
World An inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency sets up surveillance equipment at a uranium conversion facility in Iran in 2005. Photograph: Mehdi Ghasemi/AP

Satellite Imagery Shows ‘Recent Activity’ at Iran Nuclear Facility

New satellite imagery shows recent activity at the Natanz nuclear facility that was damaged during June's 12-day war with Israel, according to the US-based…

Asharq Al Awsat (Tehran)
World Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at the State Department, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Rubio: Venezuela Cooperates with Iran, Hezbollah

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused the illegitimate regime in Venezuela of cooperating with criminals that threaten the national security of the…

Asharq Al Awsat (Washington)
World A general view of the snow-covered mountains surrounding Tehran, Iran, 19 Dec 2025. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Iran Says it Executed Man Accused of Spying for Israel

Iran executed on Saturday a man convicted of spying for the Israeli intelligence and army, state media reported. According to The Associated Press, State…

Asharq Al Awsat
World Police collect evidence from a crime scene outside Eslite Spectrum Nanxi store near Zhongshan station as the entrance of the building is cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape, in Taipei, Taiwan, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ann Wang

3 Killed in Taiwan Knife Attack, President Vows Full Inquiry

A man with at least one knife and smoke grenades attacked crowds indiscriminately in Taiwan's capital on Friday evening, killing at least three people and…

Asharq Al Awsat
World A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Turkish Authorities Investigate Drone Crash Days after Shooting Down Another UAV

Authorities on Friday opened an investigation into an unmanned aerial vehicle that crashed in northwest Türkiye, just days after the country shot down another…

Asharq Al Awsat