Taiwan

Tens of thousands of supporters of Taiwan's three political parties will rally Friday as candidates make a last push for votes in an election that China has warned could take the island closer to war.

Taiwan's bustling democracy of 23 million people is separated by a narrow 180-kilometer (110-mile) strait from communist-ruled China, which claims the island as part of its territory.

Taiwanese authorities arrested Lin Hsien-Yuan, an online journalist, who worked for a media outlet called Fingermedia, a few weeks ago over a poll showing pro-China parties on course to win the upcoming January 13 election.

A Chinese satellite launch triggered Taiwan's emergency phone alert system on Tuesday, days before the self-ruled island holds a crucial presidential election that has heightened security worries around the region.

Four Chinese balloons were detected moving across the median line separating Taiwan from China, with three flying directly above the island, Taiwan's defence ministry said Wednesday.

The coming year is one of critically important elections. Those for the presidency of the United States, the Senate, the House of Representatives and state governorships (all on November 5) will determine the future of America and of the rest of the world.

Top U.S. military officer General Charles "CQ" Brown spoke with China's General Liu Zhenli on Thursday, a spokesman said, after a more than year-long halt to high-level defense talks between the two countries.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday evening he was afraid the situation regarding Kosovo-Metohija and Republika Srpska would be set up in an "increasingly harsh manner" in the period to come and that the West would become increasingly nervous ahead of the March 17 elections in Russia.

Turkish Airlines (THY) has chosen the Hollywood superstar Margot Robbie as the new face of its advertising campaigns to promote its upcoming flight route to Australia and boost its global appeal.

Republican senators blocked a White House request for $106 billion in emergency aid, primarily for Ukraine and Israel, on Wednesday as conservatives balked at the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed at their first summit in a year on Wednesday to restore military communications between the two countries, even as Biden went off script by saying he still considered Xi a "dictator."