The acting Pentagon chief said on Monday the FBI is assisting the US military in vetting more than 25,000 National Guard troops being deployed to assist in protecting the US Capitol around President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration for potential security concerns.

Qatar has called for Gulf Arab countries to hold talks with Iran, the foreign minister said in an interview aired yesterday, after Doha reconciled with its neighbours following a rift.

Chinese rescuers drilled several fresh holes yesterday to reach at least 12 gold miners trapped underground for nine days, as dwindling food supplies and rising waters threatened their survival.

Tunisia was rocked by a fourth night of street clashes between riot police and youths in mostly working class neighbourhoods, and there were calls on social media for more rallies yesterday.

President Emmanuel Macron has praised French Muslim leaders after they agreed on a “charter of principles” aimed at combatting sectarianism and radicalised teachings blamed for a surge in jihadist attacks in France in recent years.

First Lady Melania Trump released a farewell message Monday as she prepares to leave the White House, saying that “violence is never the answer,” weeks after the president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol.

Antony Blinken, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to be secretary of state, was to vow yesterday that the United States will “outcompete” a rising China while reviving frayed alliances, in a sea change from Donald Trump’s go-it-alone “America First” approach.

Uganda accused the US ambassador today of seeking to subvert last week’s presidential election by trying to visit the main opposition candidate at his home, which has been surrounded by security forces since the vote.

An academic edition of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” is being published in Poland this week for the first time, with its editor responding to critics by calling it “a homage to the victims”.

Pakistan said a 2019 air raid by India was a “false flag” operation conducted by India’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)​ for electoral gains and urged the world community to stop its long-time rival’s “reckless, militarist agenda”.

Law enforcement officers far outnumbered protesters at state capitol grounds on Sunday, as few Trump supporters who believe the president’s false claim that he won the 2020 election turned out for what authorities feared could be violent demonstrations.

Clashes between rival ethnic groups in Sudan’s South Darfur have left 47 dead, a local leader said yesterday, a day after over 80 people were killed in separate clashes elsewhere in the restive region.

At least 12 gold miners trapped hundreds of metres underground in China for more than a week have sent up a note warning that they are injured, surrounded by water and urgently need medicine.

A Russian judge yesterday remanded Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in pre-trial detention for 30 days for violating the terms of a suspended jail sentence, ignoring calls from Western countries to free the opposition politician immediately.

Medics battled exhaustion and the risk of Covid-19 as they raced yesterday to treat scores of people injured by a devastating earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.

India yesterday stepped up efforts to bolster trust in coronavirus vaccines after it was revealed that nearly a third of those invited to get jabs at the launch of a nationwide drive failed to turn up.

Saudi Arabia yesterday reported a sharp drop in executions in 2020, as the kingdom seeks to blunt international criticism of its human rights record. The Gulf state, an absolute monarchy, has long faced criticism for one of the world’s highest rates of executions and what human rights campaigners call an opaque judicial system.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Monday his treatment was beyond a "mockery of justice" as he was brought before a hastily organised court a day after his dramatic airport arrest.

Israel yesterday advanced plans for 780 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, settlement watchdog Peace Now said, adding the move puts Israel “on a collision course” with the incoming US administration.

Torrential monsoon rains hampered the hunt yesterday for anyone still buried alive under buildings flattened by a powerful earthquake on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, after the huge tremor killed at least 81 and left thousands homeless.