U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani agreed that it was time to "accelerate efforts" to end the war in Afghanistan, the State Department said Thursday. Pompeo and Ghani spoke by phone Wednesday, the State Department said. Pompeo assured Ghani that the...

The US Treasury Department on Thursday announced sanctions against three of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's stepsons, a Colombian businessman and six others for running a "corruption network" that profited from emergency food imports. The US has in recent months escalated sanctions...

 Saudi Arabia aims to raise the capacity of its east-west pipeline by 40 percent in two years so more of its oil exports can avoid passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the energy minister said Thursday. Khalid al-Falih also told Reuters that importers should, as a first immediate...

Up to 150 people are feared to have died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, while another 150 were rescued and are being returned to Libya, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said Thursday. Libya is a hub for migrants, many of whom try to reach Europe in unseaworthy boats....

The speaker of Tunisia’s parliament, Mohamed Ennaceur, said on Thursday said he would be the country’s temporary president, in line with the constitution. In his speech on national television, Ennaceur also called for unity after the death of Tunisia’s 92-year-old president, Beji Caid...

 Britain Thursday ordered its navy to escort U.K.-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian soldiers seized a tanker in the flashpoint Gulf region. "The Royal Navy has been tasked to accompany British-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz, either individually or in...

Sudanese protest leaders and their rebel partners have ended their differences over a power-sharing deal signed with the country's military rulers, vowing to work jointly for peace, a leading protest group said Thursday. On July 17, the umbrella protest movement signed a power-sharing...

The first shipment of Russian S-400 defense systems to Turkey has been completed and a second shipment is now being planned to arrive in Ankara, Turkish military officials said Thursday. Turkey began accepting delivery of the S-400s earlier this month in a move that has strained ties with...

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello has announced he will resign Aug. 2, conceding power after nearly two weeks of furious protests and political upheaval touched off by a leak of crude and insulting chat messages between him and his top advisers. A crowd of thousands outside the governor's...

Spain’s acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez looked all but certain to fail in a parliamentary confirmation vote later on Thursday after coalition talks with far-left Unidas Podemos collapsed, raising the risk of a repeat election. Sanchez, who won an April parliamentary poll but fell short...

North Korea test-fired two new short-range missiles on Thursday, South Korean officials said, the first such launch since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to revive stalled denuclearization talks last month. South Korea’s Defence Ministry urged the...

 Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi has died at the age of 92, the presidency announced on Wednesday, following a number of health scares. "Tunisian President Mohammed Beji Essebsi has passed away on 25 July, 2019 at 10:25am in the military hospital in Tunisia, may he be...

Israeli forces detained 16 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the military on Thursday.  A military statement said the individuals were arrested for “suspected involvement in popular terror activities", without elaborating...

President Donald Trump Wednesday vetoed a trio of congressional resolutions aimed at blocking his administration from bypassing Congress and selling billions of dollars in weapons and maintenance support to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month...

Three bombs rocked the Afghan capital of Kabul on Thursday, with one hitting a bus carrying government employees, killing a total of at least 12 people, officials said. Five employees of the ministry of mines and petroleum were killed and 10 wounded in the bus attack, the officials said,...

The Sudanese Army on Wednesday foiled a coup attempt plotted by Lt. General Hashim Abdul Motalib Ahmed, the country's head of the joint chiefs of staff.   Earlier on July 11, Sudan's ruling military council had announced that it thwarted a military coup, just days after the...

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they launched a drone attack on King Khalid airbase in Saudi Arabia on Thursday. In a statement, rebel spokesman Yahya Sarei said the attack targeted aprons where fighter jets are located at the base in the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait. "The attack was...

Tunisia's president was brought to a military hospital Thursday in the capital, Tunis. Beji Caid Essebsi was hospitalized over health concerns, said a source on condition of anonymity. No other information was shared about Essebsi's health. The 92-year-old president was taken to a...

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday designated Yousef Huneiti as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, the state-run media reported.  Maj. Gen. Huneiti -- former commander of Royal Jordanian Air Force -- replaced Lit. Gen. Mahmoud Friehat with a Royal...

A recent UN report on Venezuela paints a devastating portrait of the country’s economic, social, and political situation, but overlooks the U.S. role in the suffering, said an American expert. According to Gabriel Hetland of University at Albany, the UN report, released earlier in July, has...