The U.S. State Department on Wednesday slammed human rights violations in China, saying the sort of abuses it had inflicted on its Muslim minorities had not been seen “since the 1930s.” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo highlighted abuses in Iran, South Sudan, Nicaragua and China in...

As many as 100 children and many others were feared trapped on Wednesday after a building containing a primary school collapsed in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos. A Reuters reporter at the scene saw a boy of 10 being pulled from the rubble covered in dust but with no visible injuries. A...

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva's stunning form this season was rewarded with a new six-year deal on Wednesday. The Portuguese playmaker has arguably been the English champions' player of the year so far, scoring nine goals in 40 appearances. "It?s an honour to extend my deal...

The US no longer refers to the Golan Heights as an "Israeli-occupied" territory in its latest annual human rights report, published Wednesday, though the State Department insists the wording change doesn't mean a policy change. The report now calls the area the "Israeli-controlled Golan...

The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors with the world body's envoy for Yemen on Wednesday in an attempt to salvage a stalled truce deal seen as crucial to diplomatic efforts to end the war. Yemen's government and its Saudi and Emirati allies agreed in talks with Huthi...

Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the biggest return yet on Juventus's multi-million euro investment with an incredible hat-trick that rescued their Champions League dream against Atletico Madrid. The Portuguese star made light work of the much-vaunted Atletico defense, condemning the Spaniards,...

North Korea has “apparently almost completed” physical restoration of a rocket launch site, Seoul claimed on Wednesday. According to a report in Korean news agency Yonhap, South Korea's Defense Ministry in a report said that it was “unclear whether the Dongchang-ri test site is functionally...

Senior Israeli officials on Wednesday delivered a detailed critique of a UN probe that accused its soldiers of possible war crimes in Gaza, saying investigators ignored key evidence, notably over the role of Hamas. Last month, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the protests in the...

Iran's Hassan Rouhani met Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Iraq's Najaf on Wednesday, an AFP photographer reported, in the first encounter between an Iranian president and the country's chief Shiite cleric. Sistani famously called Iraqis to arms against the Islamic State group in 2014, giving...

Bashar al-Assad has won his war for political survival but as Syria's conflict enters its ninth year, his country is fractured, cash-strapped, and prey to both friend and foe. The civil war reaches its eighth anniversary this month with more than 360,000 people killed, millions more...

International donors are gathering in Brussels hoping to drum up $9 billion to help Syrians uprooted by the country's bloody civil war, as European countries warn the money must not prop up President Bashar al-Assad. "The conference should not only be a fundraising exercise. It must be...

French President Emmanuel Macron said he “salutes” Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s decision not to seek another term as president of Algeria and called for a “transition of a reasonable length.” Macron, who has faced months of protests back home from the Yellow Vests movement, also said on a visit...

White House advisers recommended Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump veto a resolution to end Washington's support for the Arab military campaign in Yemen. The White House statement of administration policy came as the U.S. Senate prepared to vote on the matter, one of several...

Israeli forces rounded up 29 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out across the occupied West Bank, according to the military on Wednesday.  The individuals were arrested for "suspected involvement in terrorist activities”, the army said -- without elaborating -- in a...

Russia’s parliament on Wednesday approved new fines for people who insult the authorities online or spread fake news, defying warnings from critics that the move could open the way to direct state censorship of dissent. The bills - which now require only President Vladimir Putin’s signature...

Islamic State militants mounted two counterattacks on Wednesday against U.S.-backed Syrian forces that are on the brink of capturing the jihadists’ final enclave in eastern Syria, but made no progress and were stopped, the U.S.-backed Syrian force said. The second attack, launched in the...

Japan has decided for the first time in years not to submit to the United Nations a joint resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights abuses, given U.S. efforts to end North Korea’s weapons program and other factors, Japan said on Wednesday. Japan and the European Union have submitted...

Swedish music streaming giant Spotify said Wednesday it had filed a complaint with the EU Commission against Apple, accusing its US rival of stifling competition in the online music market. "In recent years, Apple has introduced rules to the App Store that purposely limit choice and stifle...

Hunkered near one of Syria’s hottest front lines for seven years, the eastern Ghouta district of Ein Terma sustained more damage than most areas in the conflict. Its markets are now full and children throng the streets where shells were falling a year ago. But for the people who have...

China offered on Wednesday to help Venezuela restore its power grid, after President Nicolas Maduro accused U.S. counterpart Donald Trump of cyber “sabotage” that plunged the South American country into its worst blackout on record. Maduro, who retains control of the military and other...