German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi next Tuesday to prepare the upcoming G20 summit in July and discuss geopolitical conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, a German government spokesman said Friday. "The visit serves the preparation of this year's G20...

President Tayyip Erdogan said Friday Turkey's southern border region with Syria had come under serious mortar fire over the last two days and Turkish forces were retaliating as necessary. Erdogan also told a conference in Istanbul that United States support for Kurdish militia fighters...

U.S. President Donald Trump said a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while China said the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of control. Trump, speaking to Reuters on Thursday, said he wanted to...

 Jose Mourinho identified Liverpool and Arsenal as Manchester United's chief rivals for Champions League qualification following his side's 0-0 draw at fellow top-four contenders Manchester City. Thursday's stalemate at the Etihad Stadium left United just a point below local foes City,...

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's far-right party is in new turmoil - its temporary leader is stepping down over allegations he expressed doubt about Nazi gas chambers. National Front vice president Louis Aliot said on BFM television Friday that interim party leader Jean-Francois...

 The European Union will seek to end an ugly spat with Turkey Friday despite deep unease about Ankara's future under President Tayyip Erdogan, whose sweeping new powers and crackdown on opponents appear to have ended the country's EU ambitions. Meeting in Malta, Turkish Foreign Minister...

Four suspected Islamist fighters blew themselves up at a hideout in Bangladesh, ending a 24-hour standoff, police said Friday. Police raided the house in the northern town of Shibganj late Wednesday on a tip-off that extremists were hiding out there, triggering a tense standoff that ended...

The Afghan Taliban launched their "spring offensive" Friday, heralding fresh fighting in the drawn-out conflict as embattled security forces struggle to recover from a devastating attack on a military base one week ago. Operation Mansouri -- named after the group's former leader, who was...

( The Guardian )- Boris Johnson has signalled the UK could join any US military action against Syria without parliamentary approval, prompting an outcry from politicians from across the spectrum. Johnson said he and the prime minister agreed that in the event of another chemical attack by...

New clashes erupted on Thursday between the Turkish army and a Syrian Kurdish militia regarded as a terror group by Ankara but seen by the United States as a key ally in the fight against extremists, reports said. Mortar shells fired from an area in Syria controlled by the Kurdish Peoples'...

US Ambassador Nikki Haley urged the UN Security Council on Thursday to ratchet up pressure on Russia to end sieges in Syria and help advance peace talks. "All eyes and all pressure now need to go to Russia, because they are the ones who could stop this if they wanted to," Haley told a...

Brazil was hit hardest on Thursday by FIFA for homophobic chanting by its supporters during World Cup qualifying, with Argentina and Mexico also fined. Nine football associations were punished in all by FIFA's Disciplinary Committee "for incidents involving, among others, unsporting and...

Student protesters clashed with police in Paris on Thursday in a demonstration against both presidential candidates in France's upcoming runoff election. Black-clad demonstrators who had broken off from the march of around 1,000 students hurled bottles at police who responded with tear gas....

Twenty-five people were detained in Turkey and more than 200 police officers temporarily suspended for suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen according to reports Thursday, as part of a massive sweep on the network of the alleged coup plotter. Gaziantep governor's office in...

The Kremlin criticized Israeli air strikes on targets inside Syria on Thursday, saying Israel and other countries should avoid any action that heightens tension in the region. Israel struck an arms supply hub operated by the Lebanese group Hezbollah near Damascus airport on Thursday, Syrian...

A top aide of far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen raised doubts Thursday about a French intelligence report accusing Syria's leadership of a toxic gas attack, a position directly opposed by her centrist rival Emmanuel Macron. A declassified report published Wednesday showed that...

Libya's U.N-backed government has no clear plan to help prevent more migrants reaching Europe's shores this summer, European Union officials said Thursday, citing confused requests for equipment to patrol its shores. Libya's newly trained coastguards lack a strategy on where to deploy or how...

Iraqi paramilitary units captured the northern province of Hatra on Thursday, cutting off several desert tracks used by Islamic State to move between Iraq and Syria, the military. The operations in Hatra are carried out by Popular Mobilisation, a coalition of mostly Iranian-trained militias...

The Palestinian Authority told Israel Thursday it will no longer pay for the electricity Israel supplies to Gaza, Israeli officials said, a move that could lead to a complete power shutdown in the territory whose two million people already endure blackouts for much of the day. The decision...

 Britain would find it difficult to refuse a request for military assistance in Syria from the United States if President Donald Trump decided to take action against Syrian President Bashar Assad over chemical weapons use, foreign minister Boris Johnson said. The United States accused...