Beijing on Thursday slammed NATO over a "completely futile" warning in which the group said for the first time in a guiding blueprint that China's power challenges the military alliance. The response came after NATO's strategic concept, published at a summit in Madrid, said Beijing's stated ambitions and coercive policies challenged its interests, security and…

Sri Lanka should stamp out corruption and substantially raise taxes to rescue its economy, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday after bailout talks with the bankrupt island nation. Representatives from the global lender of last resort have just concluded a 10-day visit to the capital Colombo to map out a resolution to the South Asian…

Oleksandra has wanted to leave Ukraine since her home was bombed. But she can't, because her passport says she is a man, and can therefore be drafted into the army. Like many other transgender people in Ukraine, she fears she will face discrimination if she is called to fight with the Ukrainian army. But until…

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Thursday praised his dictator father's rule after being sworn in as the country's new leader, completing a decades-long effort to restore the clan to the country's highest office. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, 64, won last month's elections by a landslide, securing the biggest victory since his father and namesake…

Russia said Thursday it had pulled its forces from Ukraine's Snake Island, calling it a "goodwill gesture" to allow Kyiv to export agricultural products.  "On June 30, as a gesture of goodwill, the Russian armed forces completed their tasks on Snake Island and withdrew a garrison stationed there," the defence ministry said in a statement. …