The Israeli military says it has struck and destroyed an anti-aircraft battery in Syria after its planes were fired upon in Lebanese airspace. A military spokesman said the Israeli planes were on a routine reconnaissance mission over the Lebanon-Syria border area on Monday when they came under fire from the Syrian side of the border, […]

Pope Francis demanded Monday that world governments collectively commit to end rising world hunger by resolving the conflicts and climate change-related disasters that force people to leave their homes in search of their daily bread.Francis drew a standing ovation Monday at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, where he marked the UN’s World […]

Austria’s shift to the right in a parliamentary election has paved the way for young conservative star Sebastian Kurz to become the country’s next leader and opened a path for the resurgent far right to return to power.The People’s Party, which named 31-year-old Foreign Minister Kurz its leader only in May, secured a clear victory […]

Kurdish forces were withdrawing from Kirkuk on Monday as Iraqi federal forces moved into the disputed city and seized oil fields and other infrastructure amid soaring tensions over last month’s Kurdish vote for independence.Kurdish officials accused the Iraqi army of carrying out a “major, multi-prong attack,” and reported heavy clashes on the city’s outskirts, but […]

China’s 88-million-strong Communist Party of China (CPC) will open its 19th National Congress in Beijing on Wednesday. This key event occurs once every five years to set the Party’s national policy goals and elect its top leadership. The congress will review the party’s work since 2012 and chart…

The situation on the Korean Peninsula “has reached a touch-and-go-point and nuclear war may break out at any moment,” North Korean Deputy Ambassador Kim In Ryong told the UN General Assembly’s disarmament committee on Monday.“The entire US mainland is within our firing range and if the US dares to invade our sacred territory even an […]

Taliban militants struck government targets in many provinces of Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing at least 69 people, including a senior police commander, and wounding scores of others.The deadliest attack hit a police training centre attached to the police headquarters in Gardez, main city of Paktia Province, Reuters reported.Two Taliban suicide car bombers paved the way […]

US-backed forces fighting the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group in Raqqa say “major military operations” in the city have ended and that the militants have lost control of their self-declared capital.The development marks a decisive victory in the fight against IS, though US officials said there were still pockets of resistance in the city, CNN […]

Catalonia refused on Tuesday to bow to the Spanish government’s demand that it renounce a symbolic declaration of independence, setting it on a political collision course with Madrid later this week. The Spanish government has threatened to put Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of the economy, under direct central rule if its government does […]

One of Malta’s most renowned investigative journalists was killed Monday when a bomb exploded in her car just after she had left her home. Daphne Caruana Galizia ran a popular blog that exposed high-level corruption, including those at the very top.Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Monday that he would “leave no stone unturned” […]