A Chinese research vessel departed from Sri Lanka's Hambantota port on Monday after six days marked by tensions between India and China.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called a meeting with his senior military officials to discuss national defense policies and plans for further arms buildup, amid escalating tensions with the United States and South Korea over Pyongyang's recent missile tests.

A senior US government official has refused to rule out military action against the Solomon Islands if it were to allow China to establish a military base in the South Pacific country.

The death toll from airstrikes by the Pakistani military on targets in eastern Afghanistan has risen to at least 47, according to local officials, sparking angry protests and simmering tensions.

The US government on Wednesday launched a new task force intending to enforce sweeping sanctions imposed on Russian officials over the simmering crisis in Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden has told Russian leader Vladimir Putin that Washington and its allies would respond “decisively” if Russia invades Ukraine.

US vice president Kamala Harris is slated to hold a series of meetings with American allies and partners at the Munich Security Conference next week amid soaring tensions with Russian over Ukraine.

The chasm between the Democrats and Republicans in the US is growing with the two rival camps at odds over the Biden administration’s foreign policy failings.

China’s military says it has followed and warned away a US warship that “illegally” entered Chinese waters near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

Talks between US and Russian diplomats begin in Geneva on Monday after a weekslong stand-off over Russian troop deployments near its border with Ukraine, with veteran envoys on each side trying to avert a crisis.