US allies look for clues on acting Pentagon chief in European debutUS allies will use the opportunity of Patrick Shanahan’s first NATO ministers meeting this week to see whether the acting defense secretary will be as supportive of the military alliance as his predec...
Brazil’s out-of-action president tries to stay in controlBrazil is going through a rudderless period as President Jair Bolsonaro lies in a hospital bed following stomach surgery, with high-priority political issues such as pension reform on the backburner u...
‘El Chapo’ leaves a void in his Mexican hometownThe downfall of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has done little to diminish his drug cartel's power, but locals say it has had a devastating effect in one place: his remote and lawless hometown, Badiraguato...
Cameroon opposition leader charged with ‘rebellion’Cameroon opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who says he was cheated out of the presidency in elections last year, has been charged with "rebellion" and "insurrection", one of his lawyers said Wednesday....
Afghanistan probes election commissions after firingsAfghanistan’s attorney general has launched an investigation into allegations that the Independent Election Commission and a separate complaints commission misused their authority during last year’s p...
Imprisoned PKK leader and Turkey’s ‘nemesis’ OcalanAbdullah Ocalan, the jailed Kurdish militant leader labelled the “nemesis” of the Turkish state, remains a highly influential figure in the Kurdish movement despite being cut off from the outside worl...
Written in the stars: In chaos, Thai politicians turn to clairvoyantsA hand-drawn map of constellations and planetary orbits shows Thailand in the throes of a "gateway" year of change, says astrologer Pinyo Pongcharoen -- one of a legion of fortune tellers sought out b...
French victory ends long asylum battle of Afghan interpretersThey served the French army on the frontlines in Afghanistan, sometimes bearing arms during operations by international forces against the Taliban. But for years after the French troops pulled out, ma...
Australia announces reopening of offshore detention centreA controversial offshore migrant detention centre on Christmas Island is to reopen, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Wednesday, as he doubled down on hardline policies after a histor...
Trump says not ‘happy’ with border deal but shutdown unlikelyPresident Donald Trump indicated Tuesday that he will walk back his threat to shut the government even if he does not get all the money he has demanded for building a wall along the US-Mexican border....
Thai party fighting for survival after gaffe with princessThe Thai political party that took the unprecedented and ultimately unsuccessful step of nominating a princess as its candidate for prime minister is fighting against moves to dissolve it. The Thai Ra...
World court to rule on Iran’s billions frozen in USThe International Court of Justice on Wednesday will give its decision on a bid by Iran to recover $2 billion in frozen assets that the United States says must be paid to terror victims. The US Suprem...
China says report of talks with Venezuela opposition ‘fake news’China said on Wednesday a newspaper report that Chinese diplomats had held talks with Venezuela's political opposition to protect its investments in the Latin American country was "fake news". The Wal...
Iran-backed groups corner Iraq’s postwar scrap metal market — sourcesThe wrecks of vehicles used by Islamic State militants as car bombs and other metal debris left by the war in Iraq are now helping fund their Iran-backed enemies, industry sources say. Shi'ite Muslim...
Separatists to put Spain’s minority government on the ropesSpain's prime minister could be forced to call an early general election if Catalan separatists reject, as expected, the minority socialist government's 2019 budget in a crucial parliamentary vote. Ba...
The Afghan Taliban had nothing to do with my kidnapping: Ali Raza GilaniFormer Prime Minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gilani's son Ali Raza Gilani on Wednesday said that the Afghan Taliban was not involved in his kidnapping. He said that he was kidnapped by six terrorists of the...