The Australian driver commits his long-term future to McLaren after signing a multiyear contract extension beyond 2026. Formula One champions McLaren have secured Oscar Piastri for the long term after announcing a multiyear contract extension ahead of the 23-year-old driver’s home Australian Grand Prix. The news, released on Wednesday, followed similar extensions for chief executive Zak Brown, team principal Andrea Stella, Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris and senior staff....

The exercises are aimed at strengthening cooperation between the three countries, and get under way as Iran accuses the US of ‘bullying’. Iran, Russia and China have begun joint naval drills in the Gulf of Oman, marking the fifth year the three countries have conducted military drills together. China’s CGTN news said that the Marine Security Belt 2025 exercises began near the Iranian port of Chabahar on Tuesday...

Top US diplomat endorses agreement to integrate Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into state institutions. The United States has welcomed Syria’s agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into state institutions. Washington’s endorsement comes after the Syrian presidency and the US-backed SDF announced a deal granting the Syrian central government full control of a semi-autonomous region that has been administered by the Kurdish-led alliance since 2015. “The...