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
“We were shocked at Sudani’s audacity. Imagine the state we would have been in had he gotten his way,” a senior Iraqi Kurdish official speaking not for attribution told Al-Monitor.
DUBLIN, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Dublin City Council has delayed a decision on whether to remove the name of a former Israeli president from a park amid a heated debate on whether the change would be justified or would represent an attack on the area's Jewish community. Supporters of
The deal will allow citizens of either country to enter visa-free for 90 days for tourism, business and family visits.
Pope Leo began his second day in crisis-hit Lebanon with visits to notable Christian shrines in the country and an interfaith meeting in the capital, Beirut.
Saudi Arabia is strengthening economic ties with Asian countries as it pursues its economic transformation goals.
After visiting Turkey, Pope Leo continues to Lebanon, warmly received in Beirut as 'a visit of hope.' During his three-day trip, he visited holy sites sacred to both Muslims and Christians, including the Tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf and the Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, urging
TEL AVIV, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in court on Monday for the first time since asking the country's president for a pardon in his long-running corruption trial, a move backed by close ally U.S. President Donald Trump. Opposition
THE HAGUE, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The president of the International Criminal Court said on Monday U.S. sanctions imposed on senior court officials disrupt their personal lives but vowed the institution would not yield to outside pressure. President Donald Trump's administration
Dec 1 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stand on Monday for the first time since asking the country's president for a pardon in his long-running corruption trial. Here is what you need to know about the charges that have divided the Israeli public
OSLO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Norway's minority Labour government failed to win backing for its 2026 draft budget by an end-November deadline but talks will resume in parliament to find a compromise over oil drilling and the wealth fund's Israeli investments, a negotiator said on
By Joshua McElwee BEIRUT, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Pope Leo will meet with leaders from Lebanon's diverse religious sects on Monday, where he is expected to urge them not to flee the country despite years of conflict, political paralysis and economic crisis that have prompted waves of
By Olivia Le Poidevin GENEVA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Deaths and injuries from landmines and unexploded ordnance hit a four-year high in 2024, driven by conflicts in Syria and Myanmar as well as European countries moving to withdraw from the treaty banning their use, a new report
By Michael Holden LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A former senior British officer has told a public inquiry that British special forces in Afghanistan appeared to commit war crimes by executing suspects and despite widespread knowledge in the chain of command nothing was done.
