As war of words escalates between Washington and Tehran, analysts explain why the Islamic Republic will not back down.

Angry protesters stormed the US embassy in Baghdad after the US attacked an Iranian-backed paramilitary group.

Embattled PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, denies wrongdoing.

Protesters stormed the US embassy compound in Iraq this week after US air raids against an Iran-backed Shia group.

The Brazilian president faces a tough second year after leaving his own party and his policies in the Amazon rainforest.

As freezing water thrashed their rowboat in some of the most treacherous waters in the world, six men fought for 13 days to make history, becoming the first people to traverse the infamous Drake Passage with nothing other than sheer manpower. From a report: They dodged icebergs, held their breaths as giant whales breached near their small boat and rode building-sized waves while rowing 24 hours a day toward Antarctica. The team of men from four countries finished crossing the Drake Passage on Wednesday in just under two weeks after pushing off from the southern tip of South America. "This is a really big deal in Antarctic history to hear about this," said Wayne Ranney, a Flagstaff, Arizona-based geologist who has led expeditions to Antarctica and crossed the Drake Passage in motorized vessels more than 50 times. "One hundred percent of their progress was done with those 12 arms for 600 (nautical) miles. That's just phenomenal. I can't even imagine." Besides the threat to their lives, the men labored under grueling conditions. Their 29-foot (9-meter) rowboat, named the Ohana, had to be in constant motion to avoid capsizing. That meant three men would row for 90 minutes while the other three rested, still cold and wet.

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Al Jazeera gets special access to laboratory at centre of Russian claims that Georgia hosts secret biological weapons laboratory run by US.

As thousands gather to take movement into new year, police fire tear gas and arrest 'pro-democracy' protesters.

As Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart spend billions to make a dent in India's retail market and reel from recent regulatory hurdles, the two companies have stumbled upon a new challenge: Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest man. From a report: Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio, two subsidiaries of Ambani's Reliance Industries, said they have soft-launched JioMart, their e-commerce venture that works closely with neighborhood stores, in parts of the state of Maharashtra -- Navi Mumbai, Kalyan and Thane. The e-commerce venture, which is being marketed as "Desh Ki Nayi Dukaan" (Hindi for new store of the country), currently offers a catalog of 50,000 grocery items and promises "free and express delivery." In an email to Reliance Jio users, the two aforementioned subsidiaries that are working together on the e-commerce venture said they plan to expand the service to many parts of India in coming months. The joint venture has also urged Jio subscribers to sign up to JioMart to access introductory offers. A Reliance spokesperson declined to share more. The soft launch this week comes months after Ambani, who runs Reliance Industries -- India's largest industrial house -- said that he wants to service tens of millions of retailers and store owners across the country. If there is anyone in India who is positioned to compete with heavily backed Amazon and Walmart, it's Ambani. Reliance Retail, which was founded in 2006, is the largest retailer in the country by revenue. It serves more than 3.5 million customers each week through its nearly 10,000 physical stores in more than 6,500 Indian cities and towns. Reliance Jio is the second largest telecom operator in India, with more than 360 million subscribers.

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This decade began just after a historic inflection point, with 51% of the world's population living in urban areas. From a report: By the numbers: That proportion has continued to rise steadily, reaching 55% as of 2018. It's climbed faster in China, up from 48% to 59% -- meaning an additional 180 million people are living in Chinese cities. China now has 130 cities of at least 1 million people, more than the U.S. (45), European Union (36) and South America (46) combined. India, which won't become majority-urban until the 2040s, has 61 such cities. There are 63 in Africa. Nigeria just became majority-urban in 2018, but urbanization in the West African giant will grow even more dramatically over the next decade. Nigeria's 10 largest cities are home to 32 million people as of 2018, with 13 million of those in Lagos. The UN projects their combined populations will rise to 50 million by 2030 -- just over a decade away -- by which time Lagos will have over 20 million residents.

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After being fired at with tear gas, demonstrators who rallied against deadly US air raids heed calls to retreat.

In total, eight killed in rocket attack by government forces on an Idlib school packed with children and teachers.

Basic extrapolations suggest that if there are other spacefaring civilizations in the Milky Way, they could spread across the entire galaxy with surprising speed. Why, then, have we found no irrefutable evidence of aliens visiting Earth? Popular answers to this puzzle -- that we are alone, that interstellar travel is impossible, that aliens are hiding from us -- all rest on assumptions that verge on implausibility.

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In fresh wave of violence, Taliban kills security forces in country's north, underscoring group's strengthened position.

Francis apologises for hitting the hand of a woman who was excited to meet the Catholic leader.