Three Vietnamese holidaymakers and an Egyptian tour guide were killed Friday when a roadside bomb blast hit their bus as it travelled close to the Giza pyramids outside Cairo, officials said.A statement by the public prosecutor's office said 11 other tourists from Vietnam and an Egyptian bus driver were wounded when the homemade device exploded.  The improvised explosive device was placed near a wall along the Mariyutiya Street in Al-Haram district near the Giza Pyramids, it said. The bus was ca

Six men were arrested in central Vietnam for killing and eating an endangered monkey while livestreaming it on a social media site, police said Friday.The trafficking and consumption of rare and endangered species is widespread in Vietnam as many still believe in the healing and medicinal qualities of the animals' body parts.But the sale of the animals occurs on the black market, and consumers rarely broadcast the killing and eating of the creatures, which are protected under Vietnam's conservat

Japan is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission and will resume commercial whaling next year, a government spokesman said Wednesday, in a move expected to spark international criticism."We have decided to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission in order to resume commercial whaling in July next year," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.Japan is determined to resume commercial whaling. (AFP)"Commercial whaling to be resumed from July next year will be

Britain is forbidding puppies and kittens from being sold by pet shops in a bid to crack down on animal exploitation and abuse.The government said it will roll out the legislation next year after holding public consultations that showed 95 percent support for the ban."This will mean that anyone looking to buy or adopt a puppy or kitten under six months must either deal directly with the breeder or with an animal re-homing centre," the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said

Suicide attackers stormed the Libyan foreign ministry in the capital Tripoli on Tuesday, killing at least three people including a senior civil servant in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.Twenty-one other people were wounded in the attack, authorities said.A car bomb exploded near the ministry, prompting security forces to rush to the scene, said special forces spokesman Tarak al-Dawass.A firetruck and security officers at the scene of an attack on the Libyan foreign ministr

A volcano-triggered tsunami has left at least 222 people dead and hundreds more injured after slamming without warning into beaches around Indonesia's Sunda Strait, officials said Sunday, voicing fears that the toll would rise further.Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit the coast of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9:30 pm (1430 GMT) on Saturday after a volcano known as the "child" of Krakatoa erupted, national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugr

The death toll from a double car-bomb attack near the presidential palace in Somalia rose to 20 on Sunday, police said.Police on Saturday had said seven people were killed following the two blasts in Mogadishu, which were claimed by the jihadist Shabaab group."The number of victims who were killed in the blasts increased to 20 and more than 40 others have been wounded," said a Somali police official, Ibrahim Mohamed.He said the toll had risen after some of those wounded on Saturday died in hospi

Brett McGurk, the US special envoy to the anti-Islamic State group coalition, has resigned, a State Department official said Saturday, capping a chaotic week that saw the departure of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Donald Trump's stunning decision to pull troops from Syria.McGurk's resignation, effective December 31, comes on the heels of Mattis's decision to quit the Trump administration over key disagreements with the US president, notably the Syria withdrawal. Brett McGurk (AP)Just last wee

A tsunami following a volcanic eruption killed at least 168 people when it slammed without warning into popular beaches around Indonesia's Sunda Strait on Saturday night, cutting a swathe of destruction and triggering mass panic as it swept inland.Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the wave, which hit the coast of southern Sumatra and the western tip of Java about 9:30 pm (1430 GMT) following the eruption of a volcano known as the "child" of the legendary Krakatoa, national disaster agency

The partial US government shutdown is set to stretch on through Christmas as the Senate adjourned Saturday with no deal in sight to end the impasse over funding for Donald Trump's wall on the US-Mexico border.Due to the shutdown -- which saw several key US agencies cease operations at 12:01 am (0501 GMT) Saturday -- Trump will remain in Washington over Christmas instead of going to Florida, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. (AFP)"I am in the White House, working hard," the Republican president twe

The US government began a Christmas shutdown early Saturday, after Congress adjourned without passing a federal spending bill or addressing President Donald Trump's demand for money to build a border wall.Operations for several key agencies ceased at 12:01 am Saturday, despite last-ditch talks that continued on Capitol Hill between White House officials and congressional leaders in both parties.Trump has dug in on his demand for $5 billion for construction of a wall on the US border with Mexico.

Britain called in the army Thursday after dozens of drone sightings grounded all flights from London's Gatwick airport for more than 24 hours, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded on one of the busiest days of the year.The airport, which closed its only runway Wednesday night after "reports of two drones flying in and around the airfield", said late Thursday it could not be reopened following further appearances of the devices. Over 100,000 passengers have been affected by the shutdo

The recent detention of a third Canadian in China differs from earlier ones that authorities allege involve security matters, a Chinese government spokeswoman said Thursday.In the latest case, a woman received an administrative penalty for illegal employment, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing. She did not provide further details.The detentions of two Canadian men last week appeared to be retaliation for Canada's arrest of a Chinese telecommunications executi

Elon Musk on Tuesday took a break from futuristic electric cars and private space travel to unveil a low-cost tunnel he sees as a godsend for city traffic.The billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX late Tuesday put the spotlight on the a 1.14 mile (1.8 kilometer) tunnel created by his Boring Company for about $10 million.The sample tunnel is part of Musk's vision to have an underground network that cars, preferably Teslas, can be lowered to by lifts, then slotted into tracks and propelled along at

China has arrested a third Canadian national, Ottawa said Wednesday -- a move that comes amid an already tense diplomatic spat with Beijing over the arrest of a Chinese telecom executive.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau however emphasized that the arrest did not seem to be linked to a former diplomat and an entrepreneur held for allegedly endangering China's national security."We are looking into the details (but) this most recent one doesn't seem to fit the pattern set by the previous two

South Korean boyband BTS are worth more than $3.6 billion to the country's economy every year -- equivalent to the contribution of 26 mid-sized companies -- a research institute said Tuesday.The floppy-haired songsters were also the reason that one in every 13 foreign tourists visited South Korea in 2017, the Hyundai Research Institute said. (Yonhap)Known for their boyish good looks and meticulously choreographed dance moves, BTS -- short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, which translates as Bulletproof B

An explosion at a restaurant in northern Japan injured 42 people late Sunday, police said, with the blast reportedly causing surrounding buildings to collapse.Fires broke out following the incident in the northern city of Sapporo, Kyodo news agency said, and images from the scene showed large flames and plumes of smoke rising in the night air. Firefighters work at the scene after an explosion at a restaurant in Sapporo, in the northern Hokkaido prefecture on December 16, 2018 (AFP)A police offic

Nations on Sunday struck a deal to breathe life into the landmark 2015 Paris climate treaty after marathon UN talks that failed to match the ambition the world's most vulnerable countries need to avert dangerous global warming.Delegates from nearly 200 states finalised a common rule book designed to deliver the Paris goals of limiting global temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). Representatives of nearly 200 nations have been holding talks at the UN`s COP24 summit

Since US President Donald Trump weaponised the term "fake news" during the 2016 presidential election campaign, the phrase has gone viral.Increasingly it is used by politicians around the world to denounce or dismiss news reports that do not fit their version of the truth. US President Donald Trump has popularised the term `fake news` and used it to attack the news media (AFP)But as news outlets defend their work, false information is saturating the political debate worldwide and undermining an

President Donald Trump knew it was wrong to order election-eve hush money paid to two women who claimed to have had affairs with him, his former lawyer Michael Cohen said in an interview to be broadcast Friday.Trump acted because he "was very concerned about how this would affect the election," Cohen told ABC News of the women's allegations in his first comments since being sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday. Trump has said he never directed Cohen to break the law. But Cohen, asked i