British Prime Minister Theresa May urged lawmakers on Monday to back her Brexit deal, promising that it would allow the country to “turn a corner” and let the government focus on solving domestic problems such as housing and a skill shortage. May made the appeal in a New Year’s message little more than two weeksRead more
France’s embattled president, Emmanuel Macron, vowed on Monday to press on with his reform agenda in 2019 despite a spate of “yellow vest” protests that have challenged his government and extended a plunge in his approval ratings. Promised overhauls of France’s unemployment benefits, civil service and public pensions will be undertaken in the coming year,Read more
French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin is several days into his attempt to cross the Atlantic in a specially-built orange barrel. With no engine, sails or paddles, the unusual craft relies on trade winds and currents to push him 4,800 kilometers from the Canary Islands to Caribbean in about three months. Shortly after casting off, he reported goodRead more
Fireworks displays lit up cities across the world Tuesday as people marked the beginning of 2019. Tens of thousands of people packed New York City’s Times Square where the traditional ball drop took on extra meaning this year in recognizing journalism and free speech. In another first, New York police used a drone to monitorRead more
At least four people died Monday when sections of an apartment building collapsed after an apparent gas explosion in Russia’s Ural Mountains region, officials said. The authorities said five others were hospitalized with injuries, and 68 other residents remained unaccounted for in the accident in Magnitogorsk, a city of 400,000 about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles)Read more
A Palestinian court sentenced an American-Palestinian on Monday to life imprisonment for violating a ban on selling land to Israelis, judiciary officials said. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, called in November for dual national Issam Akel to be released, saying his suspected crime was “selling land to a Jew” and his incarceration violatedRead more
Iran deployed scores of policemen to disperse a brief protest in downtown Tehran over a bus crash last week that killed 10 people, including eight students. Monday’s rally — which saw about 200 protesters gather — was the third consecutive day of demonstrations over the accident. Earlier protests took place inside the Azad University campus in northernRead more
Young women looking to play the world’s most-popular sport have a place all their own in Libya. An all-girls soccer academy in the capital looks to break societal norms in the Muslim majority country that frown upon women wearing shorts or competing on the same fields as men. But it is not without criticism thatRead more
A court in Bahrain upheld Monday a five-year prison sentence against prominent activist Nabeel Rajab over tweets alleging torture at one of the country’s prisons and criticism of the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Rajab’s son Adam Rajab and four human rights groups confirmed the ruling. Rights groups criticized it as a miscarriage of justice.Read more
Iran says a delegation of the Taliban has discussed efforts to bring peace and end Afghanistan’s 17-year war during a rare visit to Tehran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi says the Taliban delegation arrived on Sunday and met with Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. Ghasemi says they discussed “security issues aimed at driving theRead more
Russia has detained a American citizen in Moscow on accusations of spying, according to Russian state media. Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officials issued a statement on Monday saying U.S. citizen Paul Whelan had been detained on December 28 “while carrying out an act of espionage,” and that they have opened a criminal probe. TheyRead more
The euro currency turns 20 years old on January 1, surviving two tumultuous decades and becoming the world’s No. 2 currency. After 20 years, the euro has become a fixture in financial markets, although it remains behind the dollar, which dominates the world’s market. The euro has weathered several major challenges, including difficulties at itsRead more
White flowers and flickering candles sat atop a low table inside the simple wooden home in remote, rural Guatemala. Nearby was a small pair of rubber boots, sized to fit an 8-year-old. Taped to the wall were three photos, alternately smiling and serious, bearing a simple epitaph for the boy whose memory the makeshift altarRead more
Russian President Vladimir Putin has told U.S. President Donald Trump in a New Year’s letter that the Kremlin is “open to dialogue” on the myriad issues hindering relations between their countries. The Kremlin published a summary of Putin’s “greeting message” to Trump on Sunday. The summary states the Russian leader wrote: “Russia-U.S. relations are theRead more
An international trade association says on-the-job slayings of journalists and news media staff rose again in 2018 following an overall decline during the past half-dozen years. The International Federation of Journalists said in an annual report set for release Monday that 94 journalists and media workers died in targeted killings, bomb attacks and conflict crossfireRead more
U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against Islamic State have killed over 1,000 civilians in Iraq and Syria since 2014. In a monthly civilian casualty report, the Coalition detailed confirmed deaths of 1,139 civilians in airstrikes conducted since the beginning of Operation Inherent Resolve between August 2014 and November 2018. “The Coalition conducted a total of 31,406 strikesRead more
British officials say six Iranian men have been found on a beach in southeastern England as the number of migrants making risky crossings of the English Channel continues to mount. The Home Office said Sunday the men have been given medical checks and turned over to immigration officials for processing. Border Force officials were calledRead more
Syria’s state news agency says President Bashar Assad has authorized Iraqi forces to attack the Islamic State group inside Syria without waiting for permission from authorities in Damascus. Sunday’s announcement highlights the close relations between the two neighboring Arab countries. IS once controlled large parts of both countries when it declared a caliphate in 2014.Read more