AFP, MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday slammed NATO for ratcheting up its rhetoric and aggression close to Russia’s border and warned that Moscow was being forced to increase its military capacity. “NATO is stepping up its aggressive rhetoric and its aggressive actions close…

AFP, CAIRO: Pushing his cart through the teeming Egyptian capital, 71-year-old Cairo street sweeper Abdallah Mohamed says nothing can stop him from fasting…

Republican White House hopeful Donald Trump admitted Wednesday he has not studied closely whether Britain should exit the EU -- but he weighed in anyway,…

AFP, KANDAHAR: The Taliban have released more than two dozen hostages pulled from their vehicles on a highway in southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday, a day after they were abducted by the militants. The passengers were kidnapped in Washer district of volatile Helmand province as they were…

AFP, Scheveningen, Netherlands: The Dutch inventor of a ground-breaking project to remove millions of tonnes of plastics floating in “great garbage patches” in the oceans yesterday unveiled his first prototype to help clean up the seas. Boyan Slat’s innovative idea—first drawn…

AFP, BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces in Fallujah are facing resistance from holdout Islamic State group fighters in just two northern neighbourhoods of the city, the operation’s overall commander said on Wednesday. “The northern and central parts of Fallujah have almost been cleared of Daesh,”…

AFP, NEW DELHI: At least 93 people have been struck by lightning and killed in India over the past two days, disaster management officials said Wednesday, as annual monsoon rains swept the country. Lightning strikes are relatively common in India during the June-October monsoon, which hit the southern…