Dec 2 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's army and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels traded accusations of ceasefire violations on Tuesday, two days before the White House is set to host the signing of an accord to end fighting in the country's east. The United States and Qatar
ALMATY, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Tajikistan is in talks with Russia and a Moscow-led regional security grouping about the possibility of Russia deploying troops to jointly patrol the volatile border with Afghanistan, three Tajik security sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Five Chinese
Dec 2 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday a deal with Syria is possible and he expects Syrian authorities to establish a demilitarised buffer zone from Damascus to Mount Hermon and other areas. Netanyahu spoke a day after U.S. President Donald
By Olivia Le Poidevin GENEVA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The Eurovision Song Contest faces a "watershed moment" on Thursday when members of the body that organises the contest may vote on whether Israel can compete in 2026, as some nations threaten to withdraw if it is not excluded due
ISTANBUL, Dec 2 (Reuters) - A Russian-flagged tanker loaded with sunflower oil reported a drone attack off the Turkish coast on Tuesday, but its 13 crew members were unharmed, Turkey's maritime authority and the Tribeca shipping agency said. The vessel, MIDVOLGA-2, reported
By Emilie Madi BEIRUT, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Five years after losing her daughter in a devastating chemical explosion at Beirut's port, Nelly El Helou said Pope Leo's silent prayer at the site on Tuesday was enough to renew hopes that those responsible for the blast would be held
Pope Leo XIV, on the last day of his visit to Lebanon, noted the areas he could not tour due to recent Israeli attacks, saying, 'Armed struggle brings no benefit,' mentioning Sidon and Tyre as 'biblical places'
JERUSALEM, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Israel said on Tuesday it was preparing to receive more possible hostage remains from Gaza via the Red Cross and would send them for forensic tests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not specify whether they were remains of the final
CAIRO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said on Monday that it seized full control of Babanusa, a transport junction in the country's oil-producing south, though its rival, the Sudanese army, disputed the claim. In a statement on Monday, the
President Trump is less concerned with the outcome of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s graft trial than with pressuring him to finalize a security deal with Syria.
KABUL, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban administration said it assured neighbouring Tajikistan on Tuesday it was ready to tighten border security and conduct joint investigations, after attacks which Dushanbe said were launched from Afghan territory killed five Chinese
Around 150,000 people gathered at Beirut's waterfront for mass with Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday morning, the highlight of the Catholic leader's visit to the capital, where he delivered a message of hope and peace. The pontiff arrived from Turkey on Sunday on his inaugural visit
Pope Leo XIV called for an end to hostilities in Lebanon and said the Middle East needed new approaches for peace as he finished a three-day trip to the country by urging an end to divisions. A 150,000-strong mass at Beirut's waterfront was the highlight of the trip by the
Thousands of Lebanese faithful were making their way to Beirut's waterfront ahead of Pope Leo XIV's mass on Tuesday morning, the highlight of the Catholic leader's visit to the capital expected to draw huge crowds. Before the service the pope was to pray at the site of a
Tens of thousands of people gathered at Beirut's waterfront as Pope Leo XIV held mass on Tuesday morning, the highlight of the Catholic leader's visit to the capital. Arriving for the service, the pope wound his way through the jubilant crowd in his popemobile as people offered
In makeshift homes lacking even the most basic necessities surrounded by piles of rubbish and flanked by dirt roads, thousands of Somalis in Yemen live in soul-crushing poverty in Aden's "Little Mogadishu". Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, is not a destination in
By Joshua McElwee and Catherine Cartier BEIRUT, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Pope Leo ends a three-day visit to Lebanon on Tuesday, wrapping up his first overseas trip as Catholic leader, during which he pleaded for peace in the Middle East and warned that humanity's future was at risk
Raghad al-Fara is struggling to rebuild her teenage life in Athens, not least because she now moves around with crutches because of injuries suffered in the Gaza war. Evacuated from the besieged Palestinian territory in February she now lives in a shelter for refugee women. "I
Children scarred by the war in Gaza are undergoing a therapy programme using virtual reality headsets that transport the youngsters to a world far away from the destruction around them. The VR therapy is aimed at improving the children's psychological wellbeing, with operators
A Kurdish militant picks his way along a switchback road in Iraq's mountains before pulling over to alert his comrades in a nearby hidden bunker that they are about to have company. After calling from a phone dangling from a tree, he leads a team of AFP journalists into a
More than 120,000 people are expected to attend Pope Leo XIV's mass in Beirut on Tuesday, the final day of his Lebanon visit and a chance to pay his respects at the site of the huge 2020 port explosion. The pontiff arrived from Turkey on Sunday on his inaugural visit abroad as
Dozens of oil tankers suspected of smuggling contraband crude for Russia and Iran have been using a beachside office in the tropical South Pacific to cover their tracks, an AFP analysis of sanctions data has revealed. Nestled next to a pizza shop in the far-flung Cook Islands
The United States has meddled for decades in elections around the world. But no modern president has done so as brazenly as Donald Trump. Forget shady CIA-hatched plots or surreptitious media campaigns. Trump has openly called on other countries' electorates to vote for his
An estimated $1 billion in foreign military sales will go to Saudi Arabia, and $445 million will go to Bahrain.
Dec 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of sustainment for F-16 jets and related equipment to Bahrain for an estimated cost of $455 million, the Pentagon said on Monday. The principal contractors for the sale will be General Electric
US President Donald Trump told Israel on Monday to avoid destabilizing Syria and its new leadership, days after a deadly operation by Israeli forces killed 13 people. Trump spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and invited him for another White House visit,
Earlier Monday, Trump urged Israel to 'maintain a strong and true dialogue' with Syria for the countries to normalize diplomatic relations
By Brad Brooks Dec 1 (Reuters) - The surviving National Guardsman shot by a gunman last week near the White House gave medical personnel a thumbs up when asked if he could hear them and also wiggled his toes in response, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said on Monday.
In a Beirut square that was once a physical embodiment of Lebanon's sectarian rifts, Christian and Muslim leaders united around Pope Leo XIV on Monday as he urged them to work for peace in their divided nation. Lebanon, whose political system has long been based on religious
Trump’s post came days after the Israeli military raided the village of Beit Jinn in southern Syria overnight Thursday to capture two members of Lebanese Islamist group Jama’a Islamiya.
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, the prime minister’s office said, shortly after Trump wrote on social media that Israel should maintain dialogue with Syria. Netanyahu's office said they discussed
Iran has sentenced Palme d'Or-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi in absentia to one year in prison and a travel ban over "propaganda activities" against the country, his lawyer told AFP on Monday. The sentence includes a two-year travel ban and prohibition of Panahi from membership
The president of the International Criminal Court and key European members on Monday issued a defiant declaration of the tribunal's independence in the face of US sanctions against several of its top officials. Opening an annual meeting that brought together representatives
ANKARA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that attacks on commercial ships in the Black Sea were unacceptable, issuing a warning to "all related sides" after an unmanned vessel reportedly struck a tanker off Turkey's northern coast. “The war