WORLD

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP |  Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Monday cut cabinet ministers’ salaries by 20 percent and reduced other state officials’ benefits in a continuing austerity drive to cope with lower oil revenues. The 160 members of the Shura Council, who include 30 women, will see a …

Washington, United States | AFP | Arnold Palmer, the golf great whose charisma and common touch drew a legion of fans known as “Arnie’s Army” and propelled the game into the mainstream, died Sunday at the age of 87. Palmer’s longtime assistant Doc Griffin confirmed the player known as “The …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP |  A Japanese bullet train was forced to make an emergency stop on Monday after a snake was found slithering between the seats, local media reported. A passenger spotted the 30 centimetre (12 inch) serpent poking between a gap in the seats, prompting the train, travelling …

Washington, United States | AFP | The lengthy US presidential campaign is careening towards a 90-minute Monday showdown, with Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump squaring off in their first televised debate as they sit nearly neck and neck in the polls. The event, which is expected to be …

Witchcraft, poor roadwork and dangerous driving — all have been blamed for the killer highway whose users will often turn to prayer before taking the road. Mpigi, Uganda | AFP | Wearing pristine white with her woollen socks pulled high, Ugandan traffic police officer Edith Nanteza exudes natural authority at …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Moscow on Monday slammed the United States and Britain for accusing Russia of “barbarism” and war crimes in Syria as Russian and Syrian warplanes continued to bomb rebel-held areas of Aleppo. “We note the overall unacceptable tone and rhetoric of the representatives of the United …

  Beijing, China | AFP | China has sent fighter planes for the first time over a strait near Japan, the two governments said Monday, after Tokyo announced it may patrol alongside the US in the disputed South China Sea. More than 40 Chinese military aircraft on Sunday traversed the …

Washington, United States | AFP |    Pressure mounted on Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump Sunday as they head into their first presidential debate with a new poll showing them in a dead heat. Mind games were on display as Trump threatened to invite Gennifer Flowers, a former …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP |  Authorities have arrested a Turkish-born man suspected of shooting five people dead, including a teenaged cancer survivor, at a shopping mall in the US state of Washington. Police named the suspect as Arcan Cetin, a 20-year-old resident of the nearby town of Oak …

  New Delhi, India | AFP | The less-than-supersonic sale of French Rafale fighter jets to India has highlighted the obstacles facing foreign arms firms seeking to do business with the world’s biggest weapons importer. India has signed a series of key defence deals under Prime Minister Narendra Modi as …