An Iranian beauty queen sought by Tehran on criminal charges has been granted political asylum in the Philippines, an official said Friday, ending a three-week standoff at Manila airport.Bahareh Zare Bahari, based in the Philippines since 2014, was denied entry into the Southeast Asian nation on 17 October when she returned from Dubai, with Philippine authorities citing an Iranian warrant for her arrest.Claiming Tehran wanted to punish her for opposition to Iran's theocratic regime, Baha

Iran on Sunday dismissed United States (US) accusations it was behind drone attacks on Saudi oil installations, suggesting Washington was seeking a pretext to retaliate against the Islamic republic."Such fruitless and blind accusations and remarks are incomprehensible and meaningless," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted as saying in a statement.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned Iran after Saturday's attacks, which knocked out half of Saudi Arabia&#039

World leaders gathered in Japan Friday for one of the most high-stakes and fractious Group of Twenty (G20) meetings in years, with a bruising United States (US)-China trade war, geopolitical tensions, and climate change on the agenda.The two-day summit in the city of Osaka will be dominated by trade issues, with all eyes on whether US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping can reach a truce in a dispute that has been hugely damaging for the world economy.But world leaders wil

Iran and the United States (US), locked in a tense standoff after the US withdrew from a nuclear deal, traded barbs Sunday the day before the US tightens sanctions against the Islamic republic.Both sides say they want to avoid going to war, but tensions have spiralled as a series of incidents, including attacks on tankers and the shooting down of a US drone by Iran in the Gulf, raised fears of an unintended slide towards conflict.On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sa

Suspected attacks left two tankers in flames in the Gulf of Oman, bumping up oil prices and further raising regional tensions triggered by a bitter United States (US)-Iran standoff.The strikes on Thursday follow last month's sabotage attacks on four ships off the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that Washington blamed on Tehran.Amid rising fears of a conflict, here is what we know:What happened?In the early daylight hours of Thursday, two vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz towards

Surging crude prices are posing another headwind for the world economy after United Sates (US) President Donald Trump’s “zero” pledge on Iran oil sales.Brent crude has risen about 33 percent this year and is close to the highest in six months. While higher prices due to strong demand typically reflects a robust world economy, a shock from constrained supply is a negative.Much will depend on how sustained the spike proves to be.