World

Rubio Widens Exemption for US Aid After Freeze
Rubio Widens Exemption for US Aid After Freeze

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday widened exemptions in a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance, saying the United States would keep funding humanitarian items such as shelter and medicine. President Donald Trump on returning office last week ordered a 90-day pause to review assistance by the United States, the world's largest donor in ...

Rwanda, DR Congo Leaders in Crisis Summit as Goma's Fate Hangs in Balance
Rwanda, DR Congo Leaders in Crisis Summit as Goma's Fate Hangs in Balance

The president of crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo was set to meet his Rwandan counterpart at an emergency summit on Wednesday, as fighters backed by Kigali appeared on the brink of seizing the key city of Goma. The M23 armed group took control of Goma's airport on Tuesday, a security source said, following days of intense clashes that ...

15 Dead in India Stampede at Hindu Mega-Festival
15 Dead in India Stampede at Hindu Mega-Festival

A pre-dawn stampede at the world's largest religious gathering killed at least 15 people in India Wednesday, with many more injured after a surging crowd spilled out of a police cordon and trampled bystanders. Deadly crowd incidents are frequent occurrence at Indian religious festivals, including the Kumbh Mela, which attracts tens of millions of ...

Syria: Senior Russian Officials In Damascus For The First Time Since The Fall Of Assad
Syria: Senior Russian Officials In Damascus For The First Time Since The Fall Of Assad

Two senior Russian officials met new government leaders in Damascus on Tuesday, a first since the fall of the Kremlin's ally, ex-president Bashar al-Assad, in December. Moscow wants to keep its two major military bases in Syria. Quoted by the Russian press agencies, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that he and his delegation had ...

Ukraine: Putin Says He Is Ready to Negotiate but Rules Out Zelensky
Ukraine: Putin Says He Is Ready to Negotiate but Rules Out Zelensky

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that talks with Ukraine were possible but not with its President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he deemed "illegitimate". US President Donald Trump has put pressure on both sides to end the nearly three-year conflict, saying last week that Zelensky wanted to negotiate a "deal" to stop the fighting. "If ...

Netanyahu to Meet Trump on February 4
Netanyahu to Meet Trump on February 4

US President Donald Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a meeting at the White House on Tuesday on February 4, the Israeli premier's office said. "Prime Minister Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to be invited to the White House during US President Trump's second term," the statement said. The Trump-Netanyahu ...

Turkish Airstrikes Kill 12 Civilians in Northern Syria
Turkish Airstrikes Kill 12 Civilians in Northern Syria

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Tuesday that two days of Turkish strikes had killed 12 civilians in Kurdish-held areas of northern Syria. Turkish-backed forces launched an offensive against the SDF in November that has seen them capture several Kurdish-held enclaves in the north despite US efforts to broker a ceasefire. The ...

Israel Ends All Relations with UNRWA, Citing Security Concerns
Israel Ends All Relations with UNRWA, Citing Security Concerns

Israel will cease all contact with the UN's Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and any other body acting on its behalf, its UN envoy said Tuesday, after repeatedly accusing the organization of undermining its security. UNRWA's offices and staff in Israel play a major role in the provision of healthcare and education to Palestinians, but ...

Jordan Establishes a Humanitarian Air Bridge to the Gaza Strip
Jordan Establishes a Humanitarian Air Bridge to the Gaza Strip

Jordan began air deliveries of 20 tonnes of aid to Gaza on Tuesday, a government spokesman said, as masses of displaced Palestinians returned to the north of the war-wrecked territory. Fourteen Jordanian air force helicopters and two provided by the Italian military took off from King Abdullah II air base in the country's north to fly ...

Israel to Remain in Newly Occupied Parts of Syria 'Indefinitely'
Israel to Remain in Newly Occupied Parts of Syria 'Indefinitely'

The Israeli military will remain “indefinitely” in the recently occupied parts of Mount Hermon in Syria, announced Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday. Katz said that Israel’s security “will not be dependent on others for our defense – whether here or in any other place.” Ahmad al-Sharaa, the head of Syria’s new ...