U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in New York next week at a time of high tension in Europe and the Middle East, but the Kremlin and the White House disagreed on Thursday over the top priority for the talks. The White House insisted the meeting would...

The Iraqi army's failure to recapture the country's largest oil refinery from Islamic State after 15 months of fighting is calling into question the government's plans to retake the northern city of Mosul from the jihadists. Iraq's military has been trying to build momentum at the Baiji...

Israel will impose a minimum four-year jail term on Palestinian petrol bombers and rock throwers and will ease open-fire regulations and impose harsher fines, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. The Israeli leader's "Security Cabinet" of senior ministers agreed measures...

Efforts to end the conflict in Syria must reach out to Assad, as well as other regional players, including allies of the Syrian leader, Merkel said on Thursday. "We have to speak with many actors, this includes Assad, but others as well," Merkel said in a press conference at the end of the EU...