Citigroup Inc (C.N) on Friday said that U.S. government and regulatory agencies are investigating the bank's hiring practices. U.S. agencies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are looking into whether or not the bank hired candidates "referred by or related to foreign...

The first U.N.-led Syria peace talks in almost a year are in danger of getting lost in procedure, as officials obsess about who will meet whom, but behind the scenes diplomats say it's largely up to Russia to call the tune. Russia and the United States were the prime movers behind the last...

The United States provided intelligence to Iraq for airstrikes it conducted inside Syria in retaliation for recent bomb attacks in Baghdad, the Pentagon said Friday. Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi said he had ordered the Iraqi air force to strike ISIS positions inside Syria. "Yes...

Russia will use its veto to block a draft U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on Syria for the use of chemical weapons, the deputy ambassador said Friday. "I just explained our position very clearly to our partners. If it is tabled we will veto it," Vladimir Safronkov told reporters following...

North Korea has up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons, South Korean experts said Friday, including the toxin used to assassinate its leader's half-brother. Traces of VX -- a nerve agent listed as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations -- were detected on swabs from the face and...

At least seven soldiers were killed in a Boko Haram attack on military positions in northeast Nigeria, a civilian vigilante and a security source said Friday. The attack happened in the town of Gajiram, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) by road north of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri,...

(Al-Monitor)- With a Feb. 28 deadline for the Pentagon to deliver revised plans to defeat the Islamic State in Syria fast approaching, speculation is rife as to what they will contain and the main players are spinning their own versions of a likely outcome. The Syrian Kurdish People’s...

 Greece said Friday it was expecting an extradition request from Turkey for two Turks who had claimed asylum and were suspected by Turkish authorities of a link to a coup attempt last July. The two, who appeared to be members of the military, have been held at an undisclosed location in...

The U.N.'s Syria envoy called on the war-torn nation's rival sides to meet their historic responsibility and seek a deal to end the six-year conflict ahead of a full day of talks set for Friday. The negotiations at the United Nations in Geneva formally opened Thursday with envoy Staffan de...

President Donald Trump takes the stage Friday at an annual conservative forum, looking to plant his personal stamp firmly on the political movement even as some activists fret his immigration and trade policies go too far. Trump will address the third day of the Conservative Political Action...

The U.N. Security Council is likely to vote next week on a draft resolution that would slap sanctions on Syria over the use of chemical weapons but Russia is almost certain to veto the measure, a senior diplomat said Thursday. Britain, France and the United States are pushing for a ban on...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow's goal in Syria was to "stabilize the legitimate authority" and strike a "decisive blow" against terrorism. "We have no plans to interfere in Syria's internal affairs," he told a group of naval officers returning from Syria, where...

American white supremacist David Duke has praised France's far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, extolling her political prowess and controversial father. "Her father is a great man, a true patriot. He raised a strong & intelligent woman who understands how to play 21st century...

A government official says Afghanistan is ready to seek United Nations sanctions against suspected terrorist networks and their supporters, a veiled reference to neighbor Pakistan - whom Kabul accuses of aiding Taliban insurgents, particularly the Haqqani network. At a conference Thursday,...

Two Germans have been kidnapped while working at an archaeological site in northern Nigeria, police said Thursday. "I can confirm to you the abduction of two Germans at Jenjela village in southern Kaduna on Wednesday," state police spokesman Usman Aliyu told AFP. Aliyu said the men had...

Syrian warplanes carried out air strikes on rebel-held areas in Deraa and Hama provinces and insurgents fired rockets at government targets on Thursday, the day peace talks are set to begin in Geneva, a war monitoring group said. However, the overall level of violence in western Syria was...

The chairman of the Senate Armed Service committee traveled covertly last week to northern Syria where he met with U.S. forces engaged in the counter-Daesh campaign, his office confirmed Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain confirmed the trip to Anadolu Agency. “Senator McCain...

China's commerce minister decided at the last minute to postpone an official trip to the Philippines on Thursday to sign about 40 joint projects worth billions of dollars, sources at the Philippines trade and finance ministries said. It was not immediately clear what was behind the abrupt...

Conservatives are all smiles this week at an annual convention in Washington, celebrating President Donald Trump's win, but beneath the surface lurk tensions central to how Republicans will govern in the next two years and the 2018 election outlook. At the four-day Conservative Political...

Astronomers have found a nearby solar system with seven Earth-sized planets, three of which circle their parent star at the right distance for liquid surface water, bolstering the prospect of discovering extraterrestrial life, research published on Wednesday showed. The star, known as...