Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is the first leader of a major U.S. ally to meet with Trump since he demanded that Japan and other nations help protect the Strait of Hormuz.

At the Emergency Hospital, dozens crowded around a thick book to check the names of the victims killed in an airstrike on a rehabilitation center. The UN says over a hundred people were killed.

Iran steps up attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure following an Israeli strike on its South Pars gas field, with Qatar's key Ras Laffan Industrial City suffering "extensive damage". CNBC's Dan Murphy reports from Dubai.

Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday hosted a U.S. envoy for talks in the Belarus capital of Minsk, the latest step in the isolated leader’s effort to improve ties with the West

A Chinese province has intensified a crackdown on fentanyl precursor trafficking, an issue that strained U.S.-China relations and prompted tariffs on imports from China. State media reported

China, which has not ruled out the use of force against the Beijing-claimed island democracy, prefers to achieve unification without it, U.S. intelligence agencies said.

Cuba's regime faces unprecedented economic pressure from Donald Trump's administration, forcing talks on liberalisation as fuel blockades and sanctions devastate the island.

The latest World Happiness Report 2026 says that heavy social media use has contributed to a stark decline in well-being among young people. It found that the effects are particularly worrying