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Islamic State media operatives appear to have regrouped, at least in part, intent on showing the world that the terror organization is living up to its motto of “remaining and expanding” despite its lack of a physical caliphate. For almost a month, the group’s core…

South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar has agreed to a face-to-face meeting with President Salva Kiir, a step that could energize the lagging talks on a government for the civil war-wracked country. In a letter dated July 8 and sent to President Kiir's security adviser,…

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Women in the Syrian city of Raqqa say their lives have changed dramatically after U.S.-backed forces freed their city from the Islamic State terror group. ...

Women in the Syrian city of Raqqa say their lifestyle drastically changed after U.S.-backed forces freed their city from the Islamic State terror group. The Syrian Democratic Forces liberated the city in October 2017. Since then, Raqqa residents have been determined to bring a sense…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be facing his biggest political challenge, with the resignation of his former economic czar Ali Babacan threatening to split his ruling AKP Party. Party discontent is escalating amidst economic malaise and deteriorating human rights. "Under the current conditions, Turkey…

Ride-hailing application Uber, after successful launches in Ghana and Nigeria, is looking to expand in West Africa to Senegal's capital, Dakar.  But in a city full of taxis, and drivers without smartphones, the Silicon Valley company will have to overcome a lot of challenges to…

The world is dealing with climate refugees, people whose homes have been inundated by rising sea levels. But in Wales, residents of one seaside town are confused and angry because of a political decision to let nature have its way and let the town sink…

U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta has defended a plea deal he helped broker with Jeffrey Epstein in 2008 in Florida. The billionaire financier, who socialized with U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, is detained in New York where federal prosecutors have…

A Spanish court ruled on Wednesday that singer Julio Iglesias was the father of a 43-year-old man, resolving a paternity dispute that had lasted three decades after the singer refused to take a DNA test. Javier Sanchez-Santos was born in 1976 to Portuguese dancer Maria…

Thailand's new civilian government will retain the power to arbitrarily detain critics despite the imminent easing of junta-era security controls, prompting warnings from rights groups of enduring "martial law". Nearly 2,000 people have been tried in military courts since now-prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha seized power…

Wealthy American financier Jeffrey Epstein, charged with sex trafficking in underage girls, is now confined to a cell in a fortress-like concrete tower jail that has been criticized by inmates and lawyers for harsh conditions. After his arrest on Saturday at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport…

Spain’s Socialists said on Tuesday they would give up trying to install their leader Pedro Sanchez as prime minister if he fails to win two investiture votes this month, raising the prospect of yet another parliamentary election. Those comments compounded the tension in already fraught…

Mexico's moderate Finance Minister Carlos Urzua resigned on Tuesday with a letter that shocked markets by citing "extremism" in economic policy, before President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador quickly named a well-regarded deputy minister to replace him. In the unusually strongly worded resignation note made public…

A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled President Donald Trump cannot silence critics on his Twitter account, maintaining that blocking them violates the Constitution's right to free speech. The 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled in a 3-0 decision Tuesday the First Amendment…

Lawmakers must pass legislation easing "abhorrent conditions" facing children held at the southern border, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday as she tried taking the offensive on an issue that badly split Democrats and has raised questions about their unity on other issues.   Pelosi,…

Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is among the least popular since the country's return to democracy three decades ago, but his rating in a poll released on Monday showed his numbers stabilizing. The Datafolha polling institute found that 33% of respondents said Bolsonaro was doing…

Aficionados of Western classical music have carved out a niche for themselves in Iran, where cultural expression remains tightly controlled by strict rules imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. And perhaps surprisingly, musicians in their 20s and 30s perform for overwhelmingly young audiences. Last week,…

The first Democratic presidential debate for the 2020 elections brought a decades-old civil rights issue back into the public spotlight: whether to bus children to racially integrate schools. One of the most defining moments of the debate came when U.S. Senator Kamala Harris challenged former…

When people are recovering from an illness or injury, they often don't think of nutrition, but it may be key to getting their health back. When Monika McComb returned home from the hospital, she didn't think about nutrition as being essential for a full recovery.…

A 50-member delegation of Afghan elites is in Qatar for peace talks with Taliban leaders, with the hopes of ending the 18-year-long conflict in Afghanistan. The two-day summit, facilitated by Germany and Qatar, is an “historic opportunity for all of them to bridge trust deficit,…

Iraq's security and paramilitary forces began Sunday a military operation along the border with Syria aimed at clearing the area of Islamic State group militants, the military said in a statement. Although Iraq declared victory against IS in July 2017, the extremists have turned into…

She vowed to stay out of politics and even dropped the French far right's signature name - Le Pen - from her moniker. But Marion Marechal, a former star lawmaker who's still only in her 20s, is now tip-toeing back into the political arena, and…

African leaders met on Sunday to launch a continental free-trade zone that if successful would unite 1.3 billion people, create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development. After four years of talks, an agreement to form a 55-nation trade…

A life-size rough wooden sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump was unveiled Friday near her hometown of Sevnica in southeastern Slovenia.  Commissioned by Berlin-based American artist Brad Downey and carved with a chainsaw by local folk artist Ales Zupevc, the statue serves as a perhaps wry accompaniment…

An apparent gas explosion at a shopping plaza in Plantation, Florida, injured several people on Saturday, authorities and local media reported. Video posted to Twitter showed the force of the blast scattered debris across a parking lot and blew out several windows at a nearby…

A war monitor and first responders group say an airstrike has killed at least 13 people in a village in northwestern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the dead, most of them internally displaced persons, include seven children and three women. They died…

Iraq is celebrating the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's decision to name the historic city of Babylon a World Heritage Site in a vote in Azerbaijan. Friday's vote comes after Iraq bid for years for Babylon to be added to the list of World Heritage Sites.…