World

Pence's remarks came after US President Donald Trump said in an address on Wednesday that no Americans were harmed in the attack by Iran on US bases in Iraq.

The mission is tasked with monitoring compliance with the fragile 2016 peace agreement between the government and the former FARC guerrilla movement that ended 50 years of conflict.

The prime minister's office said it was simultaneously contacted by the US, as the missiles slammed into the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq and Harir further north.

France has contributed around 200 soldiers to the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist group (IS), of whom 160 are tasked with training Iraqi military personnel.

With 24 people and around a billion animals dead, Australia is struggling to contain the massive blazes, even with firefighting assistance from other countries, including the United States.

Private meteorological company MetSul also tweeted about the arrival of a smoke cloud to Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.

The outpouring of grief was an unprecedented honour for a man viewed by Iranians as a national hero for his work leading the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force.

Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike outside Baghdad airport on Friday, ratcheting up tensions between the two countries.

The warning comes after Trump's threat on Saturday to attack 52 sites in Iran, some of which pertain to the culture of the country, if Tehran were to retaliate over the US-sanctioned killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

John Bass, a veteran diplomat, had served in Kabul since December 2017. A State department spokesperson said that Ambassador Bass's departure is long-planned and part of the normal rotation cycle.

The statement called on people to attend a ceremony scheduled to take place at Tehran University on Monday.

The vote comes two days after a US airstrike killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani inside Iraq, dramatically increasing tensions in the region.

Saudi Arabia is vulnerable to possible Iranian reprisals after Tehran vowed "revenge" following the strike on Friday that killed powerful commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

From the start of 2020, foreign banks can now set up wholly-owned branches in China without a local partner holding the majority stake, the banking regulatory authority, CBIRC, announced on Friday.

The NATO mission in Iraq, which consists of several hundred personnel, trains the country's security forces at the request of the Baghdad government to prevent the return of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Nandy has become the fourth Labour hopeful to throw her hat in the ring after Clive Lewis, Jess Phillips and Emily Thornberry.