Taiwan has seen a “significant rise” in the number of individuals charged with spying for China in recent years, according to new data released by the island’s security bureau, amid escalating intimidation by Beijing. In a report released Sunday, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) said the number of individuals prosecuted…

Hamas is expected to release 33 hostages during the first phase of an emerging ceasefire agreement being finalized by negotiators in Doha, two Israeli officials said. Israel believes that most of the 33 hostages are alive, a senior Israeli official told reporters on Monday, but the bodies of deceased hostages…

The top judge at the International Court of Justice Nawaf Salam has been designated Lebanon’s next prime minister in a surprising turnaround for the crisis-ridden country. On Monday, the office of newly minted President Joseph Aoun asked Salam to form a government, after the judge was endorsed by a large…

Items belonging to missing British hiker Aziz Ziriat have been found in the Italian Alps, close to where the body of his hiking partner Samuel Harris was discovered last week, rescue teams said Sunday. More than 100 rescuers took part in Sunday’s operation, using shovels to dig into the snow…

Surrounded by forest-covered mountains cloaked in mist, a patchwork quilt of green farmland and steel-blue waves breaking on mangrove-strewn mudflats, Lai Chi Wo does not look like it belongs in Hong Kong. The remote 300-year-old village is one of the city’s oldest settlements — and one of its most biodiverse.…

Venezuela’s foreign minister on Monday accused opponents of President Nicolás Maduro as being linked to damages at the country’s diplomatic facilities in five nations. Foreign Minister Yvan Gil in a statement said the vandalism was coordinated by grassroots groups known as “comanditos” – meaning small commandos – but he did…

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday signed a bill restricting the use of smartphones at school, following a global trend for such limitations. The move will impact students at elementary and high schools across the South American nation starting in February. It provides a legal framework to…

While they continued to emphasize that officials will remain cautious until the negotiations produce a final deal to end the Gaza conflict, as of Monday, the sources said US officials believe a ceasefire agreement could very well be announced in the forthcoming last days of President Joe Biden’s time in…

Ukraine struck Russian regions with a major drone and missile attack overnight, damaging at least two factories and forcing schools to close in a major southern Russian city, according to Russian officials and media. The Shot Telegram channel said that Russia had downed more than 200 Ukrainian drones and five…