AMMAN  – Russian and Syrian jets stepped up their bombing of an Islamic State bastion along the Jordan-Israel border in southwestern Syria, as the militants pushed into areas abandoned by other rebel groups, diplomatic and opposition sources said. Islamic State-affiliated forces entrenched in the Yarmouk Basin, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Jordan, also […]

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman on Saturday responded to a call to resign by saying he wouldn’t. Huntman’s family-owned newspaper ran a column urging him to step down after President Trump’s joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the piece published in The Salt Lake Tribune, which is owned by Hunstman’s brother, Huntsman said that he […]

Alexandre Benalla has handled security for Macron before and after he won the presidency. An aide to French President Emmanuel Macron is being investigated after he was named as the man in a video beating a demonstrator during France’s May Day protests. In the video, Alexandre Benalla, an assistant to Macron’s chief of staff, first appears […]

Moscow (AFP) – Officials from Moscow and Kiev were set to gather in Berlin on Tuesday for EU-backed talks on the future of the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine in a bid to minimise disputes when the current contract expires next year. Russian gas giant Gazprom has already dramatically reduced the volume of gas […]

An 11 million-ton iceberg is parked precariously close to the tiny village of Innaarsuit — a glacial faceoff that pits 169 residents of Greenland against the biggest iceberg many have ever seen. Their fate could depend entirely on the weather forecast. If a strong enough wind blows at the right time, the berg could be […]

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE – On the eve of his meeting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump rattled allies once more by labeling the European Union a “foe” with regard to trade. In a pre-summit interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” program aired on Sunday, Trump lumped in the EU with China […]

MEXICO CITY –  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a Cabinet-level delegation arrived in Mexico Friday to meet with both the sitting president and president-elect after a sea-change election there that could offer a chance for the neighbors to repair strained relations — or make them worse. U.S.-Mexico ties have deteriorated significantly under President Donald Trump, […]

BEIJING  – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday pledged a package of $20 billion in loans, and about $106 million in financial aid, to Middle East nations, as part of what he called an “oil and gas plus” model to revive economic growth in the region. Beijing has ramped up engagement in the Middle East […]

ANKARA  – Tayyip Erdogan was sworn in again as Turkey’s president on Monday, assuming sweeping powers he won in a referendum last year and sealed in a hard-fought re-election victory two weeks ago. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for 15 years, says the powerful new executive presidency is vital to drive economic growth, ensure […]

Celebrity chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain, who died by suicide in June, left the bulk of his estate to his 11-year-old daughter, Ariane Busia-Bourdain. His will, obtained by USA TODAY Friday from Manhattan’s Surrogate Court, was filed by estranged wife Ottavia Busia-Bourdain Thursday. The document shows that Bourdain’s $1.2 million in assets was made up of $425,000 in savings […]