A loud explosion has reportedly rocked the central area of the Afghan capital of Kabul, where embassies and government buildings are located. Local agency TOLOnewsþ said the blast took place in the city’s Wazir Akbar Khan District. A Reuters witness reported that a loud blast shook windows and doors in the area, RT reported. A […]

Iraqi troops deployed on Tuesday at one of the main land crossings with Turkey, gaining a foothold at the Kurdish-held frontier for the first time in decades and imposing one of Baghdad’s central demands on the Kurds.Iraq’s entire land border with Turkey is located inside the Kurdish autonomous region, and has been controlled by the […]

Facebook Inc said on Monday that Russia-based operatives published about 80,000 posts on the social network over a two-year period in an effort to sway US politics and that about 126 million Americans may have seen the posts during that time.Facebook’s latest data on the Russia-linked posts — possibly reaching around half of the US […]

The United States has announced new restrictions concerning engagement with the Myanmar military over the violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State. Washington is also weighing economic measures against those involved in the reported atrocities.“We express our gravest concern over recent events in Rakhine State and the violent, traumatic abuses Rohingya and other […]

Palestinians in the UK have welcomed Jeremy Corbyn’s decision not to attend events organized by a pro-Israel group celebrating the Balfour Declaration centenary.A long-term critic of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, the leader of the opposition Labour Party has not yet explained his reasons for not attending “About Balfour 100”—a series of countrywide events in […]

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson got a frosty welcome to Pakistan Tuesday after Washington turned up the heat on Islamabad for allegedly providing “safe havens” for Taliban militants.America’s top diplomat was quietly greeted by a mid-level Pakistani Foreign Office official at the military airport in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, an AFP photographer saw—a […]

The emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, warned of the collapse of the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council—an alliance of Persian Gulf countries—should the crisis with Qatar remain unresolved.In a statement at a Kuwaiti Parliament session on Tuesday, the emir warned (P)GCC leaders of the potential dangerous military and political intervention that may […]

Xi Jinping was elevated to the pantheon of China’s most powerful leaders Tuesday as his name was enshrined in the Communist Party Constitution alongside Chairman Mao.The inclusion of Xi’s eponymous guiding philosophy for the nation at the end of a weeklong congress could lay the foundation for him to remain China’s paramount leader far beyond […]

The Italian government is ready to open negotiations with Lombardy and Veneto after the two wealthy regions voted overwhelmingly for greater autonomy, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday.Unlike a recent referendum on independence in Catalonia, which sparked a political crisis in Spain, the Italian votes this weekend were legal, but not binding on Rome, […]

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that his country’s armed forces had largely completed their military mission in Syria’s northwestern Idlib Province.As he was hailing its completion, he pointed out that control of Syria’s Afrin region remained an issue, TRT reported.Afrin is under the control of YPG, which is the armed wing of   […]