Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Canberra will hold China to account on issues such as human rights, insisting that staying quiet on sensitive issues is not in Australia’s national interests. Relations between Canberra and its most important trading partner have deteriorated in...

Britain will hold its first December election in almost a century after Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally won parliamentary approval for a gamble on a snap ballot that he hopes will break the deadlock over Brexit. Just two days before the third Brexit deadline of Oct. 31 will be missed...

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death will mean nothing to 19-year-old rape victim Jamila unless the Islamic State militants who enslaved her are brought to justice. Jamila, who asked not to be identified by her last name, is one of thousands of women from the Yazidi minority...

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s two main backers have agreed to work to remove him from office as protests against his government gained momentum in Baghdad and much of the Shi’ite south only to be met with violence. Populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who leads parliament’s...

Lebanese soldiers and security officials urged protesters to open blocked roads on Wednesday so life could return to normal, after 13 days demonstrations paralyzed the country and forced the prime minister to resign. Troops cleared one major route north of Beirut after briefly scuffling...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing an unwelcome new financial challenge in Syria after the U.S. pullback enabled his ally Bashar al-Assad to reclaim the biggest chunk of territory in the country still outside his control. The U.S. decision to keep forces in northeastern Syria to...

Defying White House orders, an Army officer serving with President Donald Trump's National Security Council testified to impeachment investigators Tuesday that he twice raised concerns over the administration's push to have Ukraine investigate Democrats and Joe Biden. Alexander Vindman,...

Masked gunmen opened fire at Iraqi protesters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Tuesday, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds, security officials said, in one of the deadliest single attacks since anti-government demonstrations erupted earlier this month. The overnight attack...

Britain is set to hold an early election on Dec. 12, after a bill authorizing the vote was passed by the House of Commons. Lawmakers voted 438-20 in favor of the bill to give Prime Minister Boris Johnson the early election he craves. It will become law once it is approved by the...

Rival sides in Syria's long-running war have sat face to face for the first time after almost eight-and-a-half years of war, in an attempt to begin work on a new governing document. A total of 150 delegates representing the government, opposition and civil society on Wednesday met at a...

Libya’s internationally recognized government on Tuesday reopened Mitiga, Tripoli’s only functioning airport, after almost two months of closure, and flights will resume within two weeks, the transportation minister said. The airport had been shut since Sept. 1 after being repeatedly struck...

Amid efforts to revive the stalled talks between the U.S. and the Taliban insurgent, the Afghan government on Tuesday floated its own ambitious seven-point peace plan. Sharing contours of this peace plan, President Ashraf Ghani’s National Security Adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, said a feeling of...

Yemeni Defense Minister on Tuesday survived a rocket attack by Houthi rebels in the northerwestern Maarib province, a military source said. The attack targeted the ministry's headquarters during a meeting attended by minister Mohammed al-Maqdashi and other military commanders of the...

Islamic State supporters have responded with silence and disbelief days after the death of their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, suggesting a breakdown in the command structure of the Sunni militant group trying to agree on a successor. There has been no official statement or mourning on...

Italy said Tuesday it would let a French charity rescue ship disembark 104 migrants after the vessel spent 11 days at sea waiting for authorization to dock. The interior ministry said in a statement that the Ocean Viking could head to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo, adding that France and...

The United States and China are continuing to work on an interim trade agreement, but it may not be completed in time for the U.S. and Chinese leaders to sign it in Chile next month, a U.S. administration official said Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping...

European Council President Donald Tusk confirmed Tuesday the latest Brexit extension has been approved for up to January 31 – and warned "it may be the last one". "To my British friends, the EU27 has formally adopted the extension. It may be the last one. Please make the best use of this...

Israel is not responsible for all Palestinian hardships, US presidential advisor Jared Kushner said on Tuesday, as the Palestinian Authority faces a crippling financial crisis. "Israel is not the cause of all the suffering of the Palestinian people," Kushner, US President Donald Trump's...

Lebanon's prime minister resigned Tuesday, bowing to one of the central demands of anti-government demonstrators shortly after baton-wielding Hezbollah supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in Beirut, torching tents, smashing plastic chairs and chasing away protesters. The...

Dozens of clashes erupted in Indian Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said, as a delegation of mostly far-right European lawmakers paid a contentious visit to the restive region stripped of its autonomy in August. With a curfew in many parts of the main city, Srinagar, police fired tear gas and...