Oman, ruled by the legendary Sultan Qaboos for half a century until his death last year, now has an heir apparent aged just 30, part of a new generation of powerful young Gulf royals. In a region long dominated by aging emirs and kings, the rise of...

China on Thursday congratulated US President Joe Biden on his inauguration and called for a reset in relations between Beijing and Washington after a corrosive period of diplomacy under Donald Trump. Beijing also welcomed news that the US would rej...

The toll from a powerful explosion caused by a gas leak that gutted a building in a residential part of Madrid rose to four on Thursday after a priest died from his injuries. The 36-year-old, who was ordained a priest last June, was one of the 11 p...

Shanghai authorities began evacuating a residential neighbourhood near the historic Bund riverfront after Chinese officials discovered at least three new coronavirus cases on Thursday. Officials did not say how many people were being moved out of t...

Standing out in a crowd of glamorously dressed guests, Bernie Sanders showed up for the US presidential inauguration in a heavy winter jacket and patterned mittens -- with an AFP photo of the veteran leftist spawning the first viral meme of the Bide...

China on Thursday congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration and called for a reset in relations between Beijing and Washington, as the new administration brought an end to the fractious term of Donald Trump. Beijing also said it welcome...

World number one Ashleigh Barty will make her first top-level tennis appearance in nearly a year when she joins a star-studded exhibition in Adelaide this month, organisers said on Thursday. Australia's Barty, who has remained top of the rankings d...

A billionaire Thai opposition figure accused of defaming the country's monarchy has vowed to keep campaigning for reform, despite facing what he dubbed a "politically motivated" lawsuit. Those convicted under Thailand's strict royal defamation laws...

Thousands of Mongolians have protested against what they say is the heavy-handed treatment of a coronavirus-infected mother and her newborn baby, prompting a wave of resignations by officials. Landlocked Mongolia reported just a handful of Covid-19...

A Japanese court upheld a ban on dual citizenship on Thursday, rejecting a suit that challenged the measure's constitutionality and sought damages for those affected. Japan is one of around 50 countries internationally, including China and South Ko...

Barriers still enclose Wuhan's notorious seafood market -- one of the few immediate reminders the city was once the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic that has transformed the world. Otherwise, the new normal in the central Chinese city of 11 mi...

US President Joe Biden was expected Thursday to unveil his administration's plans to tackle the coronavirus crisis, as he starts his first full day in the White House with America confronting a slew of challenges. Biden was sworn in as the 46th US ...

Zhou Guanyu played with toy cars as a little boy and dreamed of being China's first Formula One driver. Now 21, he is within touching distance of making that a reality. The Shanghai native, who tested for Renault last year, is widely touted as dest...

New US President Joe Biden warned the worst of the pandemic is still to come, as the number of American coronavirus deaths surpassed the country's troop fatalities in World War II. Coronavirus cases have surged pasted 96 million worldwide, fuelled ...

Chinese rescuers drilled deep into the ground Thursday in an increasingly desperate bid to save 21 miners now trapped for almost two weeks, with one confirmed dead and still no signs of life from over half of the missing workers, state media reporte...