After months of tensions, Baghdad and Washington are poised to launch strategic talks Thursday to reset ties -- but even with a new US-friendly Iraqi premier, a major breakthrough is unlikely. Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, top-level talks expected to take place in Baghdad have...

Thousands of Palestinians stranded around the world by the coronavirus are still seeking a way home, months after countries closed their borders and grounded flights in the face of the pandemic. Aseel Bader touched down in Tuscany in January, after winning a scholarship for a master's...

More than 70,000 people have died from coronavirus in Latin America as the pandemic sweeps through the region, putting growing pressure on an already stretched healthcare system. As the number of cases in the United States soared past two million, Central and South America has emerged as...

Lebanon’s battered currency has slid to fresh lows against the U.S. dollar despite a new pricing system which Beirut hopes can curb soaring food prices as it negotiates an IMF deal to climb out of crisis. The Lebanese pound has lost over 60% of its value since October, as dollars dwindled,...

The European Parliament will Friday urge Britain "to urgently revise its negotiating position" to avoid a breakdown in post-Brexit trade talks, according to a draft resolution seen by AFP. The draft says London must agree that future UK-EU ties be governed by "a single, comprehensive and...

The brother of George Floyd, whose killing by police sparked worldwide protests against racism, made an emotional plea to the US Congress Wednesday to "stop the pain" and pass reforms that reduce police brutality. One day after burying his brother in Houston, Philonise Floyd appeared in...

US fighter jets intercepted Russian bombers twice on Wednesday off the coast of Alaska, US air defense command said. The intercepts come less than two weeks after US bombers were met by Russian jets over the Black Sea. North American Aerospace Defense Command said US F-22 Raptors...

A senior European Union official warned online platforms like Google and Facebook Wednesday to step up the fight against fake news, coming notably from countries like China and Russia, but she praised the approach of Twitter for fact-checking a tweet by US President Donald Trump. Unveiling...

Deforestation of Brazil's Amazon rainforest was worse than previously reported in 2019, revised government data showed Tuesday, during the first year of President Jair Bolsonaro, who is keen to develop the forest crucial to curbing global warming. Brazil's space research agency INPE...

Dozens of Sudanese protesters rallied Wednesday in Khartoum against a newly formed United Nations mission mandated to support a political transition following last year's ouster of president Omar al-Bashir, witnesses said. The anti-government demonstration, held near the army headquarters...

Turkey dismissed Wednesday Egypt's proposal for a ceasefire in Libya, saying the plan aimed to save Khalifa Haftar after the collapse of his offensive to control the capital Tripoli, Hurriyet newspaper reported. Turkey supports Fayez al Serraj's internationally recognised Government of...

The global economy will contract at least six percent this year due to economic shutdowns to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the OECD said Wednesday, warning that recovery will be "slow and uncertain". In the case of a second wave of contagion later in the year, world economic output...

The death toll from an attack by jihadists linked to the Islamic State group on a village in northeast Nigeria has risen to 69, security sources and residents said Wednesday. Fighters believed to be from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction shot and ran over residents with...

Swedish prosecutors on Wednesday named their main suspect in the 1986 killing of prime minister Olof Palme, closing the murder case that has gripped the Scandanavian country for more than three decades. The suspect was named as Stig Engstrom, a former advertising consultant known for his...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday defended what he called Britain's "astonishing" efforts to tackle coronavirus, rejecting accusations that with Europe's worst death toll, his government has nothing to be proud of. More than 40,000 people are confirmed to have died from COVID-19 in...

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas traveled to Occupied Jerusalem Wednesday where he was set to voice European "concern" over Israel's controversial annexation plans in the occupied West Bank. Maas, the first high-level European visitor to touch down in Israel since the coronavirus pandemic...

Emirates laid off more pilots and cabin crew on Wednesday in a second day of redundancies at one of the world's biggest long-haul airlines, three company sources said. An Emirates spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the airline's statement Tuesday that said some employees had been laid...

Flooding in south and central China has caused more than a dozen deaths and forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, the government said Wednesday. About 228,000 people have been forced to seek emergency shelter due to flooding since June 2, the country's Ministry of...

Europe's most powerful countries urged the European Union to better prepare for the next pandemic after chaotic responses to the coronavirus, as Moscow emerged from lockdown despite Russia still being in the grip of a surging epidemic. There should be a "common European approach" to...

Russia and China have started making the case at the United Nations against Washington's claim that it can trigger a return of all sanctions on Iran at the Security Council, with Moscow invoking a 50-year-old international legal opinion to argue against the move. Russian Foreign Minister...