World

Dubai Cares, part of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, has launched a new programme in Zimbabwe titled ‘WASH UP! Girl Talk’, in partnership with Sesame Workshop. The Dh3.4-million ($952,000) programme aims to empower primary school-aged children to practise and promote healthy water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) behaviour, …

After two days of rising hopes across the country, Taliban leaders on Sunday brusquely rejected the government’s proposal to extend a three-day cease-fire and said they were ordering all insurgent fighters to resume operations against “the foreign invaders and their internal supporters.” The insurgents’ terse announcement came as thousands of …

Melania Trump, the most reticent first lady since Pat Nixon, has done an admirable thing. She has lent her voice to those who oppose the Trump administration’s heinous policy of separating migrant children from their parents. The statement issued through her spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, cautious as it is, bears careful reading: …

Russia and Saudi Arabia will ask Opec to hike production by 1.5 million barrels a day in the third quarter of 2018, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Saturday. Opec and Russia decided together in 2016 to cut their supply in order to push prices up following a crash …

Afghanistan’s High Peace Council will hold a news conference on Sunday amid an unprecedented Taliban ceasefire and a day after President Ashraf Ghani said he would extend a government ceasefire but set no timeframe. Dozens of Taliban militants entered the Afghan capital and other cities on Saturday to celebrate the …

A Danish court ordered the government on Friday to compensate 18 civilians who were tortured during the Iraq war in an operation carried out by Iraqi security forces along with a Danish battalion. In total, 23 plaintiffs had sued Denmark after they were arrested and subjected to “torture and inhumane …

The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has allocated an economic aid package of Dh11 billion ($3 billion) for the Ethiopian government to support sustainable socioeconomic development in that country. The purpose of the funding from the UAE’s leading national entity for development aid is twofold, said a press release …

Husam Idris dreams of returning to his bakery in the Syrian city of Aleppo. But three years after escaping the war, he worries that a new law allowing the Syrian government to seize homes for redevelopment will scupper his plans. People wait at the Syrian embassy in Berlin, Germany, June …

Jorg Sartor does not like to turn newcomers away from his food bank, especially single mothers like the young Syrian woman with her 5-year-old son who had waited outside since before dawn. But rules are rules. And for the moment, it is Germans only. ““The whole country is up in …

The leader of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a U.S. drone strike, an Afghan official said Friday. Mullah Fazlullah Khorasani was Pakistan’s most-wanted militant and blamed for attacks including a 2014 school massacre that killed 132 children and the 2012 shooting of schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who was later awarded …

Opec members Iran and Venezuela could lose almost 30 per cent of their oil output next year due to US sanctions and economic upheaval, requiring extra supplies from the group’s Gulf members, the International Energy Agency said. In its first detailed forecast for 2019, the IEA said new oil output …

by Graham E. Fuller   The fascinating, elaborately choreographed diplomatic pas de deux in Singapore between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un mesmerized the world over two days. Most pundits look at the (perhaps more than) half empty glass of water on the table. Indeed, most Democrats and all Trump-haters …

President Trump, in an interview Tuesday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, complimented North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after their Singapore summit as a “strong guy” and a “great negotiator,” and argued his once-fiery rhetoric directed toward Kim worked. “He’s got a very good personality, he’s funny, and he’s very, …

Ever since the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence in 1991, Greece has been fighting the country over its name. Today the 27-year impasse ended as two nations finally came to a resolution: The former Yugoslav republic is getting a new name, the Republic of North Macedonia. “There is no …

A suicide bomber killed at least 13 people at the entrance of an Afghan government building Monday, the day before a truce with Taliban insurgents was supposed to take hold. The Health Ministry said 13 employees of the Ministry of Rural Development were killed and 25 were wounded when the …

Germany’s chief prosecutor has issued an international arrest warrant for one of Syria’s most senior military officials, lawyers said Friday, in a landmark step for legal efforts against members of President Bashar al-Assad’s security apparatus. The move against Jamil Hassan, head of Syria’s powerful Air Force Intelligence Directorate, marks an …

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday, hours after arriving in Singapore and ahead of an historic summit with US President Donald Trump. Lee will have a separate meeting with Trump on Monday. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un talks with …

A second Brexit referendum on the terms of Theresa May’s Brexit deal is now “possible,” a senior member of her government said on Thursday. Speaking in Berlin, UK foreign office minister Alan Duncan said that a public vote on May’s deal could now take place. “It would, I suppose, just …

Austria will expel “several” foreign-funded imams and shut seven mosques in a crackdown on “political Islam”, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced on Friday. Kurz said the moves came after an investigation by the religious affairs authority into images which emerged in April of children in Turkish-backed mosques playing dead and reenacting …

Argentina has cancelled a World Cup warm-up match with Israel, apparently under political pressure over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. Striker Gonzalo Higuain told ESPN they had “finally done the right thing”. But Israel’s defence minister said it was “too bad” Argentina’s footballers did not “withstand the pressure of …

When Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, met with top Chinese and Russian officials before a planned summit meeting with President Trump, the American leader raised a red flag. But North Korea’s announcement that Mr. Kim is also planning to meet President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has brought no similar …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is not trying to split the European Union. His remarks come ahead of a visit to Austria, his first trip to a Western European country in nearly a year. He told Austria’s ORF station he wanted a “united and prosperous” EU, calling the …

Saud Salem Al Mazrouei, director of the Hamriya Free Zone Authority and the Sharjah International Airport Free Zone Authority, signed an investment agreement with Ramesh Parekh, chairman of Gandhar Oil Refinery India, to establish an integrated project to produce white oil, liquid paraffin, hydraulic liquid, transformer oil, rubber processing oil, …

North Korea’s top three military officials have been removed from their posts, a senior U.S. official said, a move analysts said on Monday could support efforts by the North’s young leader to jump-start economic development and engage with the world. Kim Jong Un is preparing for a high-stakes summit with …

The United Nations has never been shy about attacking the United States. In recent years, U.N. officials accused the Obama administration of failing to address police brutality and sexual assault in the military. After a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville last year, the U.N. team tasked with monitoring the implementation of …

An attack targeting a meeting of Afghanistan’s top religious body on Monday left at least seven people dead and nine others wounded, according to Kabul police. Ghafor Aziz, the police chief of Kabul’s 5th District, said officers were working to secure the area after the attack. A suicide bomber struck …

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he plans to visit North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, North Korean state media reported on Sunday, potentially the first meeting between Kim and another head of state in Pyongyang. “I am going to visit the DPRK and meet HE Kim Jong Un,” Assad said …

Russia has entered its latest missile corvette into service with Moscow’s Mediterranean Fleet, a powerful formation of warships involved in the war in Syria and currently preparing for annual summer war games. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet held a ceremony Friday to induct the Buyan-M-class missile corvette Vyshny Volochyok on the first day of …

The UAE and Russia signed on Friday a Declaration of Strategic Partnership to cooperate in various sectors such as politics, security, economy and culture, along with cooperation in the humanitarian, scientific, technological and tourist domains. The declaration was signed by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi …

Denmark has joined some other European countries in banning garments that cover the face, including Islamic veils such as the niqab or burqa. In a 75-30 vote with 74 absentees, Danish lawmakers on Thursday approved the law presented by Denmark’s centre-right governing coalition. The government says that it is not …

by Rodrigo Campos, Daniel Bases —  NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and high-ranking North Korean official Kim Yong Chol entered a second day of meetings in New York on Thursday as they tried to settle nuclear weapons disagreements and set the stage for an historic summit …

Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko has died after being shot near his home in Kiev, Ukrainian police say. Mr Babchenko, 41, was found bleeding at the entrance to his block of flats by his wife and died in an ambulance. After writing about a crashed Russian military plane in 2016, Mr …

Afghanistan is at risk of become an unintended victim of the Donald Trump administration’s sweeping sanctions against Tehran, announced as part of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in early May. A major port complex is being developed on Iran’s southern coast that is set …

Lukoil, Russia’s second biggest oil producer, said on Tuesday it had decided not to go ahead with plans to develop projects in Iran at the moment due to the threat of U.S. sanctions, a company official said. The United States plans to impose new sanctions on Iran after pulling out …

Syria has recognised two Russian-controlled regions of Georgia – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – as independent states, angering Georgia. The Georgian Foreign Ministry responded by saying it was breaking off diplomatic relations with Syria. Separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in 2008 with massive help from …

Syria has assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, which negotiated the global ban on chemical weapons. Western governments protested the new leadership, which took effect Monday. The head of the conference changes every four weeks among UN member countries in alphabetic order. “The …

Brent crude headed for its longest run of losses in almost four months as Saudi Arabia and Russia said they are discussing reviving output to ease consumer anxiety after prices jumped to levels last seen in 2014. Brent futures that traded above $80 (Dh294) a barrel last week slumped near …

The head of the world’s chemical weapons watchdog has questioned whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared his entire arsenal. Ahmet Uzumcu, director general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), highlighted that attacks involving chlorine barrel bombs and deadly nerve agent sarin have continued despite the landmark …

China’s military took “immediate action” on Sunday against “unauthorized” sailing by US warships in South China Sea waters claimed by Beijing. China’s defense ministry said in a statement that two US warships, the Antiem guided missile cruiser and the USS Higgins destroyer, entered disputed waters around the Paracel Islands before …

Oil prices are expected to remain volatile in the coming days due to lack of clarity from Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and non-Opec members on the magnitude of production increases, analysts said. For the first time since the production cut agreement came into effect early last year, …

At least four Russian combatants have been killed by militants in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zour. Two military advisers died when the Syrian army battery they were directing was attacked. Five other Russians were injured and two died later of their wounds, the defence ministry said. Syria’s army …

The biggest of the oil producers whose output cuts have helped shrink a global glut and driven prices to a 3 1/2-year high signalled for the first time that they are discussing easing the curbs. While scaling back the supply caps is “on the table,” no decision has been made, …

U.S. President Donald Trump’s cancellation of a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatens further strain on U.S.-China ties amid a trade dispute that had been intertwined with Beijing’s pressure on isolated Pyongyang. The United States and China are also increasingly at odds in the disputed South China …

Two unidentified men walked into a restaurant in the Canadian city of Mississauga and set off a bomb, wounding more than a dozen people, and then fleeing, authorities said. The blast went off in the Bombay Bhel restaurant at about 10:30 pm on Thursday. Fifteen people were taken to hospital, …