The US Department of Defence has announced that the stronghold of the Islamic State (IS) in the Iraqi city of Mosul is weakening, a media report said on Tuesday. ....

A man who may be of Indian origin has been arrested in connection with the shooting of a US consular official in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, according to reports in local media there. ....

A US Navy ship fired warning shots at Iranian boats near the Strait of Hormuz, a US official said on Monday. ....

Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep called the US President-elect a bully who humiliates others, prompting Donald Trump to describe her as "one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood" and "a Hillary (Clinton) lover". ....

A Chinese rocket Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) sent three satellites into space in its first commercial mission on Monday. ....

Four people were killed in a riot at a jail in Brazil on Sunday, the nation's third deadly prison uprising in a week. ....

China's anti-corruption body has stepped up its aggressive plan to purge internal government graft after more than three years of campaigning, during which time it has punished government officers, military and business leaders. ....

A man suspected of shooting and wounding a US consular agent in Mexico's Guadalajara city has been arrested, Mexican officials said. ....

Iran's former President and leading reformer Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died of heart disease on Sunday, local media reported. He was 82. ....

US President Barack Obama said his successor Donald Trump and he are "opposites in some ways" but admitted that both have a high degree of "confidence" in themselves. ....