World

Firefighters hardpressed by some of the largest wildfires in California history scrambled Wednesday to take advantage of cooler weather and an influx of aid as they carved and burned containment lines around the flames to prevent more land from burning.

The United States on Wednesday targeted 24 Chinese companies and a number of individuals it said were part of ongoing construction and military actions over disputed islands in the South China Sea, the U.S. State and Commerce departments said.

Germany's governing parties have proposed a reform to the country's electoral system to prevent its parliament, already one of the world's biggest, from expanding further. Opposition parties dismissed the plan Wednesday as a halfhearted measure that won't...

Germany wants to scrap mandatory free coronavirus tests for returning travellers it introduced early this month to stop a rise in new cases, its health minister said on Wednesday, citing capacity constraints at laboratories.

Political pressure is growing in Brazil to disband a highprofile team of anticorruption prosecutors that has put dozens of former executives and politicians behind bars, despite its strong popular support and hundreds of cases still pending.

Pakistans military said Wednesday it will deploy rescue helicopters to Karachi to transport some 200 families to safety after canal waters flooded the city amid monsoon rains, displacing scores of people, officials said Wednesday.

A top Chinese diplomat in Australia warned against a "shadow" over the two nations' ties on Wednesday, saying that Beijing was disappointed by a Chinese firm's failure to win Australian regulatory approval for a takeover deal.

Heavy flooding in northern Afghanistan has killed more than two dozen people and injured scores of others, officials said Wednesday.

Israeli aircraft struck posts belonging to the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah early on Wednesday after shots were fired from Lebanon towards its troops, Israel's military said.

South Korea ordered doctors in the Seoul area to return to work on Wednesday as they began a threeday strike in protest of several government proposals, including one to boost the number of doctors to deal with health crises like the coronavirus.

Republicans pressed their case on Tuesday for U.S. President Donald Trump's reelection over Democrat Joe Biden, arguing on their convention's second day that Trump's leadership was vital to the country's economic future and religious freedom.

While coronavirus lockdowns caused many men across the world to grow their hair longer than usual, none compare with Vietnam's Nguyen Van Chien who has gone almost 80 years without a trim.

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump of trying to "put his knee on the neck of democracy" by undermining mailin voting and sowing doubts, without evidence, about the integrity of the Nov. 3 election.

Facebook says it has shared data with United Nations investigators probing international crimes in Myanmar, after the lead investigator said the company was withholding evidence.

U.S. officials announced Tuesday that the first commercial flight between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is scheduled for next week, carrying American and Israeli delegations to Abu Dhabi after the two countries agreed to normalize relations.