European Union leaders sought to minimize Spain’s crisis with Catalonia on Thursday and avoid encouraging separatists across the bloc, describing Barcelona’s secession bid as a domestic issue and declining a mediation role.Leaders did not hold a discussion of Catalonia’s bid to break away from Spain and judged they had nothing to gain by angering Madrid, […]

President Vladimir Putin launched one of his most stinging critiques of US foreign policy on Thursday, listing what he called some of the biggest betrayals in US-Russia relations.He declined to say if he would run for a fourth presidential term in an election set for March, though he is expected to stand after dominating Russian […]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday begins the first full round of talks on forming a three-way “Jamaica” coalition that she needs to work or else risk her time in power coming to an end after 12 years.The talks between Merkel’s conservative bloc, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens are styled as “exploratory”, […]

What the Syrian Kurds are actually calling for is the federalization of the whole state, says Shahoz Hasan, recently elected as co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).“We are open for a dialogue with the central government. We do not want the partition of Syria, do not harbor plans of separating from the […]

On the eve of a weeklong trip to the Middle East, South Asia and Europe, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with two US news outlets, directing tough rhetoric toward China and setting low expectations for a breakthrough in the diplomatic freeze between Qatar and its neighbors.First, in an interview with Bloomberg News, Tillerson […]

Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants for 110 people connected to a seized company over alleged links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says orchestrated last year’s attempted coup. The suspects include managers, partners and employees of the publishing group, Kaynak Holding and related companies, RT reported. The police operation was carried out in […]

A Syrian government statement demanding Turkish troops’ withdrawal from the northwest city of Idlib is made to feed the domestic public opinion and should not be taken seriously, a senior MP with Turkey’s ruling party has told Al Jazeera.Damascus on Saturday urged “immediate and unconditional withdrawal” of Turkish troops that have been deployed to Idlib […]

The death toll from the most powerful bomb blast witnessed in Somalia’s capital rose to 231 with more than 200 injured, making it the deadliest single attack ever in the Horn of Africa nation, police and hospital sources said Sunday.Doctors struggled to assist horrifically wounded victims, many burnt beyond recognition. Officials feared the toll would […]

Hungry, destitute and scared, thousands of new Rohingya refugees crossed the border into Bangladesh from Myanmar early on Monday, Reuters witnesses said, fleeing hunger and attacks by Buddhist mobs that the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing.Wading through waist-deep water with children strapped to their sides, the refugees told Reuters they had walked through bushes […]

The head of the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group in Southeast Asia, who figures on the US “most wanted terrorist” list, was killed on Monday in the battle to reclaim a militant-held Philippines city, officials said.Isnilon Hapilon’s reported death came during a final push to end the nearly five-month siege of Marawi, a battle that […]