US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is hoping to stall inroads of Russian and Chinese influence as he visits two of the European Union's most quarrelsome members, Hungary and Poland. The top US diplomat arrives Monday in Hungary and will also visit Slovakia and Poland, in each NATO ally...

Amateur boxing faces a breakaway threat ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo after its international federation elected a president accused of ties to organized crime. The federation, known as AIBA, says a "rogue group" led by unnamed "Kazakhstani individuals" has asked national boxing...

Nigeria's president and ruling party were on Saturday accused of dirty tricks to stifle opposition support, with one week to go before the election in Africa's most populous nation. The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had been due to hold a "mega-rally" in Abuja, but said it...

 Thousands of French "yellow vest" demonstrators marched on Saturday for their 13th weekend of action, with scuffles in Paris and a demonstrator's hand mangled by a small explosive. There was also an overnight arson attack on the Brittany residence of the National Assembly head -...

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an assault against the final Islamic State enclave in eastern Syria on Saturday, aiming to wipe out the last vestige of the jihadist group’s “caliphate” in the SDF’s area of operations. President Donald Trump, who is planning to pull U.S....

The United States is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon President Nicolas Maduro and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on him, a senior White House official said. The Trump administration expects further...

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Rome on Saturday led by unions demanding pro-growth policies from the populist government, the biggest such protest in four years. No violent incidents were reported at the gathering. Unions had helped protesters from elsewhere make their...

A "yellow vest" demonstrator lost his hand Saturday during clashes outside the main parliament building in Paris, witnesses told AFP, during a 13th weekend of anti-government protests across France. Despite a drop in numbers from the massive turnouts of the first demonstrations in November,...

Liverpool regained top spot in the Premier League by getting back to winning ways as goals from Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Mohamed Salah secured a comfortable 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday. Back-to-back draws against Leicester and West Ham had seen Jurgen Klopp's men usurped...

US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian forces said Saturday they have launched a final push to defeat the Islamic State group in the last tiny pocket the extremists hold in eastern Syria. Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman Mustafa Bali tweeted that the offensive began Saturday after more than...

 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo provided an update on the investigation into Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's killing to Congress on Friday, a State Department spokesperson said. The spokesperson did not offer any details on what Pompeo told lawmakers. Congress had given the...

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Saturday that a slew of peaceful elections and truces in Africa were signs of a "wind of hope" on the continent. He was speaking on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, where heads of state from 55...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Bombardment by militias loyal to Bashar al-Assad killed at least 6 civilians, including two children and a woman, in Idlib province, activists said Saturday. The heavy artillery fire targeted the town of Khan Sheikhoun in the southern countryside of Idlib. Idlib...

Armenia has sent a team of experts to Syria on a Russia-backed mission to help clear mines and provide medical assistance, the Armenian Defense Ministry said Saturday. The ministry's spokesman, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, said the team of 83 includes de-mining experts, medical personnel and...

 France's Europe minister says she hopes the "message was understood" by Italy after this week's stunning recall of France's ambassador to Italy in the two EU countries' biggest diplomatic dispute since World War II. The main trigger for the crisis appeared to be Italian Deputy Prime...

United Real Estate Co., a unit of Kuwait Projects Co, and Marriott International said in a joint statement on Saturday that they had agreed to open a resort near Marrakech. Marriott said in October it had signed deals with partners to increase its hotels in Africa 50 percent by 2023,...

Oil exporters have not fully recovered from the dramatic oil price shock of 2014, the head of the IMF said on Saturday, and she cautioned against spending money on “white elephant projects”. “With revenues down, fiscal deficits are only slowly declining, despite significant reforms on both the...

U.S. President Donald Trump will not respond to a legally-required Senate request to determine whether sanctions are warranted against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a senior administration official said Friday. The...

China on Saturday urged peaceful talks to address the Venezuela crisis and voiced its support for the international community's efforts towards this end, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. In a statement, ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "China believes that Venezuela's...

Greece’s parliament approved protocol for Macedonia to join NATO after ending a 28-year name dispute. The measure was accepted by a 153-140 vote. Ruling Syriza and Potami parties backed the vote while main opposition New Democracy (ND) party and Independent Greeks (ANEL) voted against...