The leaders of both sides of ethnically divided Cyprus began new unification talks on Monday but sought to temper hopes of a swift breakthrough, though its U.N. envoy said a deal to resolve one of Europe's most enduring conflicts was within reach. Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci and...

Pope Francis urged Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus by thinking about the plight of today's children, bemoaning how some must escape bombs or flee in migrant boats and how others are prevented from being born at all. Francis celebrated a somber Christmas Eve Mass in a packed St....

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appeared close to victory in Aleppo on Wednesday, but United Nations and rebel officials denied that an operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the city had been completed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war, said...

Buses carrying Syrian civilians and fighters began leaving the last rebel-held enclave of Aleppo on Wednesday after being stalled for a day, aid officials and pro-government media reports said. Obstacles hindering evacuations from east Aleppo and from two villages besieged by rebels outside...