Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said his people have the right to protest and criticize the government, in his first public response to nationwide anti-establishment protests that have stretched into a fourth day. On Saturday, as a counter to the protests, state-sponsored rallies took place around the country. …Read more
Iran warned of a tough crackdown on Sunday against demonstrators posing one of the boldest challenges to its clerical leaders since nationwide unrest shook the Islamist theocracy in 2009. How serious are the protests? Political protests are rare in Iran, where security services are pervasive. And yet tens of thousands of people have protested acrossRead more
Costa Rican officials are investigating the cause of a charter airplane crash Sunday in a mountainous, wooded area west of the city of San Jose that killed 10 U.S. citizens and two local pilots. Officials say the plane, operated by the local airline Nature Air, burst into flames upon impact. There were no survivors. Read more
Mexican authorities say five people visiting from the United States were among 10 people killed in a fiery car crash on a coastal highway in southern Mexico. Guerrero state security spokesman Roberto Alvarez Heredia said Sunday that the crash late Friday also left two U.S. residents hospitalized. A van carrying the family from Washington stateRead more
New Zealand, Australia, and surrounding Pacific Islands were among the first places to ring in 2018 with fireworks displays, parties, and other festivities. Nearly 1.5 million people gathered to watch a rainbow fireworks display above Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge and opera house. …Read more
An Iranian official is blaming “foreign agents” for the shooting deaths of two protesters during widespread anti-government demonstrations Saturday. “No shots were fired by the police and security forces,” Habibollah Khojastehpour, a deputy governor of the province where the protesters were killed. “We have found evidence of enemies of the revolution, Takfiri groups and foreignRead more
U.N. Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres warns the world is likely to face many complex and new dangers in 2018. In a year-end message, Guterres appeals for greater unity to overcome these threats and create a more peaceful world. When Guterres assumed office one year ago, the world was in the midst of a hopeful moment. NegotiationsRead more
An Egyptian court has handed down a sentence of three years to former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and 19 other people for making statements that insulted the judiciary. The defendants were also fined various amounts of money. Morsi’s lawyer said his client would appeal the verdict. The former president has faced a host of chargesRead more
In 2014, Abdulrahman Saad was taken from his home in Mosul by Islamic State fighters, leaving his family in limbo. They asked IS security offices and judges: Where is our husband and father? No answer. When the operation to retake Mosul began, they heard he was being held in the western part of the city,Read more
The Palestinians have withdrawn their envoy to Pakistan after he appeared at a rally with a radical cleric linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Palestinian envoy Walid Abu Ali shared the stage with Hafiz Saeed, the head of the hard-line Jamaat-ud-Dawa movement, at Friday’s rally, which was held to protest U.S. recognition of Jerusalem asRead more
Catalonia’s fugitive former president has called for Spanish authorities to open negotiations regarding the restitution of what he calls his “legitimate government.” Carles Puigdemont said via social media channels from Brussels on Saturday that Spain should “recognize the election results of Dec. 21 and start negotiating politically with the legitimate government of Catalonia.” Spanish PrimeRead more
A group of Polish mountaineers set off for northern Pakistan on Sunday to attempt to be the first to scale K2, the world’s second highest peak, in wintertime. K2, in the Karakorum mountains along the border between China and Pakistan, is notorious for high winds, steep and icy slopes — and high fatality rates forRead more
Prime Minister Theresa May said 2018 would be a year of “renewed confidence and pride” for Britain as it confronts the challenges of negotiating Brexit, in her New Year’s message out Sunday. Divorce talks between London and Brussels are set to move on to transition arrangements, trade and security next year as Britain prepares toRead more
Ukrainian police on Saturday freed the remaining hostages being held in a post office by a man believed to be strapped with explosives. They arrested the hostage-taker after an hourslong standoff in the city of Kharkiv. “All hostages freed in Kharkiv. The assailant was arrested,” President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Twitter, while Interior Minister ArsenRead more
Germany should be able to deport unaccompanied minor refugees who commit crimes if their families can be identified, the head of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) said in remarks released ahead of publication Sunday. FDP leader Christian Lindner spoke amid growing debate about unaccompanied refugees after the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old German girl onRead more
At least 81 reporters were killed doing their jobs this year, while violence and harassment against media staff has skyrocketed, the world’s biggest journalists’ organization says. In its annual “Kill Report,” seen by The Associated Press, the International Federation of Journalists said the reporters lost their lives in targeted killings, car bomb attacks andRead more
At the hands of Mother Nature, 2017 was a deadly, devastating year. Wildfires in the US, volcanos in Indonesia, and mudslides and hurricanes across the world. Natural disasters took homes, power, water and lives. Arash Arabasadi looks back at some of the stories that made headlines. …Read more
Russia has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N2 bird flu on a farm in the central region of Kostromskaya Oblast that led to the deaths of more than 660,000 birds, the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said Friday. The virus killed more than 44,000 birds in an outbreak first detected on DecemberRead more