Russian President Vladimir Putin will on Sunday preside over ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the World War II siege of Leningrad that claimed over 800,000 lives. Saint Petersburg -- formerly known as Leningrad -- will plunge into the atmosphere of a wartime city under...

Two Iraqi policemen were killed in a bomb blast in Iraq’s northern Saladin province on Sunday, according to a local police officer. A police vehicle struck a roadside bomb south of Al-Shirqat town in northern Saladin, Police Lieutenant Salahuddin al-Jabbouri told Anadolu Agency. He said...

For 11 Saturdays, France’s “Yellow Vests” have paralysed much of the country with road blockades and by thronging the streets of Paris and other cities. On Sunday, the growing “Red Scarves” and “Blue Vest” counter movements are set to demonstrate. With slogans like “Enough!” and “End the...

At least 17 people have been killed and several others injured after two bombs exploded at a church in the Philippines's southern Sulu province, local media reported on Sunday. "We strongly condemn the bombing that transpired at the Jolo Cathedral in Barangay Walled City, Jolo, Sulu at 8.15...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Saturday that he fired his country’s Beijing envoy. “Last night I asked for and accepted John McCallum’s resignation as Canada’s Ambassador to China,” Trudeau said in a statement without elaborating his reasons for the removal....

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday called for unfreezing Syria’s membership in the Arab League, two months before the annual Arab summit in Tunisia in March. "We would like Tunisia to support the process of Syria’s return to the Arab family and the League of Arab States as...

The European Union "will take further actions" if new elections are not called in Venezuela in the coming days, EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said on Saturday, as international pressure grows on embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Her statement came after the United States,...

The US envoy negotiating with the Taliban hailed "significant progress" Saturday in finding a solution to end Afghanistan's long-running war. "Meetings here were more productive than they have been in the past. We made significant progress on vital issues," Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special...

Qatar said Saturday it will no longer fund salaries of Hamas employees in Gaza but will still give aid to poor families, after the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers refused to accept wage payments over conditions allegedly attached by Israel. We "will not pay the salaries of the Hamas...

The European Union and several of its member governments gave embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro an ultimatum on Saturday, saying they would recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as president unless he calls elections within eight days. But Venezuela's foreign minister rejected...

Israel took "years" to discover cross-border tunnels from Lebanon, the leader of the Hezbollah movement Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday in a rare television interview. "The Israelis discovered a number of tunnels after many years, and it's not a surprise, the surprise is that these tunnels,...

Thousands of "yellow vest" protesters returned to the streets of France Saturday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's policies, despite disagreement in their ranks on how to move the movement forward. Police fired tear gas and water cannon to push back protesters at Place de la...

Brazilian rescue workers on Saturday searched for roughly 300 missing people after a tailings dam burst at an iron ore mine owned by Vale SA , amid faint hopes of finding many alive, three years after a similar disaster involving the miner. Nine people have been found dead after the dam...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday called on the UN Security Council to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of the country. "We call on members of the Security Council to support Venezuela’s democratic transition and Interim President...

For decades, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has kept dissenting voices low and opposition groups in disarray creating a political vacuum that a group of professionals has recently rushed to fill. Public anger against worsening economic hardship and deteriorating living conditions has...

As US-backed forces advanced, 22-year-old Dima Qatran buried one of her twin babies, then picked up the other and fled the Islamic State group's crumbling pocket in eastern Syria. Clutching her remaining 11-month-old daughter, she joined hundreds escaping the last shreds of the extremist...

Syria's "natural place" is within the Arab League, Tunisia's foreign minister said Saturday, ahead of the organisation's annual summit in Tunis in March. "Syria is an Arab state, and its natural place is within the Arab League," Khemaies Jhinaoui said during a news conference with his...

At least 68 people have been killed and thousands were forced to flee their homes after floods and landslides hit the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, an official said Saturday. Some 6,700 people in 14 districts have been evacuated and are now living in shelters, schools, tents or mosques....

In a coordinated response to the Venezuelan crisis, Spain, France, Germany and the UK have said they are ready to recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president if elections are not called in the coming week. "If within eight days there are no fair, free and...

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Saturday paid tribute to the courage of Greek lawmakers after their vote to approve the renaming of his country to settle a decades-old dispute. "We all know very well that it wasn't easy," he told a conference in the city of Veles, a day after the...