With the US partial government shutdown now entering its 27th day, this funding standoff is already the longest in federal history. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump has expressed no qualms about extending the shutdown for a “long time” if Democrats refuse to budge on border wall funding. According to sources close to the president, that may […]

BEIRUT  – A bomb attack claimed by Islamic State killed U.S. troops in northern Syria on Wednesday, weeks after President Donald Trump said the group had been defeated there and that he would pull out all American forces. A U.S. official who declined to be named said four U.S. troops had been killed and three […]

MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle implied on Tuesday without citing evidence that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is being blackmailed by President Trump. Ruhle hosted a panel discussion about why Graham has pivoted from being a past critic of Trump to one of the president’s biggest allies in the Senate. “It could be that Donald Trump or somebody knows something […]

A court in China has sentenced a Canadian to death for drug smuggling in a ruling which will worsen a diplomatic row between the two countries. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was originally given a 15-year jail term in 2018 but after an appeal the court said the sentence was too lenient. Monday’s ruling comes weeks after […]

The death toll from a suspected gas explosion in central Paris has risen to four after rescue workers found the body of a woman in the rubble. Two firefighters and a Spanish tourist were also killed in Saturday’s blast at a bakery near a popular area. Dozens more people were injured in the blast, which […]

Heavy snowfalls brought chaos to parts of Germany and Sweden on Friday, leaving roads blocked, trains halted and schools shut. The Red Cross helped drivers stuck on a motorway in the southern German state of Bavaria and a nine-year-old boy was killed by a falling tree. The front of a Swiss hotel was hit by […]

The US will work with allies to “expel every last Iranian boot” from Syria, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says. Mr Pompeo warned there would be no US reconstruction aid for areas controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad until Iran and its proxies had left. He also criticised ex-President Barack Obama’s Middle East policy, saying […]

President Donald Trump has walked out of a meeting with Democratic leaders as negotiations broke down on the 19th day of a US government shutdown. The Republican president ended talks after Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer stuck by their refusal to fund his planned US-Mexico border wall. Mr Trump called his meeting with the pair […]

Turkey’s president has strongly rejected US calls for his country to protect Kurdish fighters in Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said such statements made by US National Security Adviser John Bolton at the weekend were “unacceptable”. Mr Bolton was in Ankara to seek guarantees that a Kurdish militia battling the Islamic State group would be […]

Actor Kevin Spacey has appeared in court to face a charge of indecent assault and battery stemming from an allegation of groping in 2016. A not-guilty plea was entered on the two-time Oscar winner’s behalf by his lawyers during the hearing in the US state of Massachusetts. He is accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old […]