At a thumbs-up sign from a sailor, a U.S. Harrier fighter jet takes off from the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer in the Arabian Sea as an oil tanker passes, a nautical mile away. The patrol is “standard” but the situation - growing tension between the United States and Iran - is not....

Venezuela's opposition leader announced a mass street rally set for Tuesday to move forward the “next stage” of their US-backed attempt to gain power in the oil-rich country.  "We call on all of Venezuela to mobilize. Together, with the citizen power and the work of the National...

Iran's Revolutionary Guard have seized a foreign oil tanker accused of smuggling oil with a crew of 12, Iran's state TV reported Thursday, just days after an oil tanker based in the United Arab Emirates disappeared off trackers in Iranian territorial waters. The Panamanian-flagged oil...

Britain is rightly concerned about protecting its goods in the Strait of Hormuz, defense minister Penny Mordaunt said Thursday following tensions with Iran over the passage of vessels in the Gulf. Relations between Tehran and the West have been increasingly strained after Britain seized an...

Boris Johnson, favorite to be the next British prime minister, on Wednesday refused to say whether he would seek to shut Parliament to facilitate a no-deal Brexit but agreed such a plan could be convenient for him. Sky News reported on Tuesday that Johnson is considering holding the Queen’s...

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared Congo’s Ebola outbreak an international health emergency, sounding a rarely used global alarm after the virus threatened to spread to a major city and into neighbouring countries. Despite a highly effective vaccine and a swift...

The U.S. House of Representatives backed resolutions on Wednesday to block the sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, sending them to the White House, where President Donald Trump has promised a veto. Nearly a month after the Senate supported 22...

Turkey says Washington's decision to exclude Ankara from an American-led fighter jet program goes against the "spirit of alliance" and is calling for it to reverse the decision. In a major break with a longtime ally, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday said Turkey is...

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order Wednesday further expanding the number of Ukrainian citizens who can apply for fast-track Russian passports. Moscow made the move ahead of a Ukrainian parliamentary election Sunday, when a Russia-friendly party may become the strongest...

In a significant break with a longtime NATO ally, the Trump administration Wednesday said Turkey can no longer be part of the American F-35 fighter jet program. In a written statement, the White House said that Turkey's decision to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system "renders its...

The Pentagon said Wednesday it had approved a request to send an additional 1,000 Texas National Guard and 1,100 active duty troops to the border with Mexico, the latest deployment in support of President Donald Trump's controversial immigration crackdown. Major Chris Mitchell, a Pentagon...

Hong Kong’s vaunted police force is facing a crisis of confidence and leadership amid the city’s worsening political tensions, according to serving and retired officers, politicians and security analysts. The force is struggling to cope amid haphazard decision-making, worsening morale and...

The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington. The United States believes that Iran-linked militia in Iraq have recently increased their surveillance of American troops and bases in the country by using...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that tight U.S. travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats and their families living in New York are “basically inhuman.” “It is certainly not a friendly action. It puts the members of the mission and their families under...

A senior member of the Palestine resistance movement Hamas on Wednesday praised Russian efforts in bringing a settlement between Palestine and Israel. Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzouk said at a news conference in Moscow that Russia was restoring the balance of power in the region. Abu Marzouk,...

EU’s foreign policy chief called it a “joint responsibility” to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal, while urging Iran again to stick to the treaty. "Preserving the deal is not only our interest and our responsibility -- it is -- but it is also a joint responsibility for all around the world,"...

Egyptian security officials say militants have beheaded four people in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula. The officials say the militants attacked a group of people in the small town of Bir al-Abd Wednesday, beheading four and kidnapping a fifth after accusing them of cooperating with...

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano plans to step down early, in March of next year, because of an unspecified illness that has visibly weakened him over the past year, diplomats who follow his agency's work said Wednesday. Amano, a 72-year-old Japanese diplomat, was reappointed in...

The battle to be Britain's next prime minister enters its final straight on Wednesday with both candidates hardening their positions on Brexit, putting the future government on a collision course with Brussels. Ex-London Mayor Boris Johnson, the favourite to replace Theresa May, and foreign...

Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that his country has no choice but to manufacture missiles for defense purposes - comments that reflect more backtracking after a remark by the top diplomat suggesting the missiles could be up for negotiations. Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview...