The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it would transition to a four and half-day working week starting next year, with the full weekend falling on Saturday and Sunday in a move aimed at better aligning its economy with global markets.

Iran said yesterday it was ready to resume nuclear talks but based on draft proposals it submitted last week, accusing Western powers of stalling negotiations in Vienna.

Thus far, the signals are a bit encouraging. But we have really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe, or it really doesn’t cause any severe illness, comparable to Delta.”

Hong Kong’s government has warned the Wall Street Journal it may have broken the law by publishing an editorial that said casting blank ballots was one of the “last ways” for residents to voice dissent.

South Africa is preparing its hospitals for more admissions, as the Omicron coronavirus variant pushes the country into a fourth wave of Covid-19 cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday.

At least 12 soldiers and “dozens of terrorists” were killed in a battle in western Niger, the defence ministry announced Sunday, in the conflict-wracked “three borders” zone.

Indonesia’s Mount Semeru spewed more ash yesterday, hampering the search for survivors as aerial images showed the extent of the devastation unleashed by the volcano’s deadly weekend eruption.

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian teenager who rammed a car into a military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank yesterday, seriously injuring an Israeli guard, Israel’s defence ministry said.

Hundreds of mourners yesterday defied a curfew to bury 14 civilians shot dead by the Indian army during a botched ambush and confrontation with a crowd angered by the attack.

Myanmar's junta chief reduced the prison sentence of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to two years on Monday, after she was jailed for four years for incitement against the military and breaching Covid rules.

Russia and India signed a flurry of trade and arms deals during President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, including one that will see India produce more than 600,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

A total solar eclipse plunged Antarctica from summer into darkness early Saturday in a rare astronomical spectacle witnessed by a handful of scientists and thrill-seekers -- and countless penguins.

A Jordanian court yesterday sentenced to three years in jail the director of a state hospital over the deaths of 10 patients at the facility which treated coronavirus patients.

A Russian airliner had to change course to avoid a Nato spy plane that was crossing its path above the Black Sea, Moscow authorities have said.

US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a video call tomorrow, with the two leaders set to discuss the tense situation in Ukraine.

Sudan’s military will exit politics after elections scheduled for 2023, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan told Reuters in an interview on Saturday, adding that the deposed former ruling party would have no role in the transition.

An assassination attempt on the life of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was foiled by Turkish intelligence on Saturday evening,

Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian in annexed east Jerusalem late on Saturday after he stabbed an Israeli civilian and tried to

The United States warned Saturday it would not allow Iran to “slow walk” international negotiations over its nuclear program while at the same time ramping up its atomic activities -- but stopped short of slamming the door on talks.

CNN fired news anchor Chris Cuomo, the network announced on Saturday, after “additional information” came to light during an