World News

President Donald Trump will sharply reduce the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 by mid-January, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday, stopping short of a threatened full withdrawal from America’s longest war after fierce opposition from allies at home and abroad.

Iran warned on Tuesday of a “crushing response” in the wake of reports US President Donald Trump convened top advisers last week to ask if he had options to strike Iranian nuclear sites during his final weeks in office.

This would seem to be all the truer about the most radical and fanatical Sunnis, al-Qaeda, and their counterpart fanatical Shi’ites, the Iranian regime.

A powerful Hurricane Iota made landfall on the coast of Nicaragua late Monday, sparking warnings of a life-threatening storm surge and flash flooding in a region recently battered by Hurricane Eta.

Pro-western opposition candidate Maia Sandu has won Moldova’s presidential election after a run-off vote against incumbent Igor Dodon, who was openly supported by Russia.

Hungary and Poland blocked approval of the European Union’s 1.8 trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) budget and coronavirus rescue package after accusing the bloc of interfering in their domestic affairs.

Hurricane Iota made landfall in Nicaragua on Monday evening after strengthening to an incredibly powerful Category 5 storm. Several other Central American countries also braced for the storm’s impact.

Egyptian officials have announced the striking discovery of almost 100 ancient coffins, some with mummies inside them, and around 40 golden statues in Cairo’s Pharaonic necropolis, Sky News reports. The findings are being temporarily exhibited by the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara.

European leaders say their citizens should prepare for a bleak winter as the coronavirus rages across nations. Countries from West to East Europe warned it is too early to plan for Christmas travel because COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

China and 14 other countries agreed Sunday to set up the world’s largest trading bloc, encompassing nearly a third of all economic activity, in a deal many in Asia are hoping will help hasten a recovery from the shocks of the pandemic.

The U.K.’s chief Brexit negotiator said Sunday before renewed talks that a trade deal with the European Union may not succeed, but he was still hopeful of a resolution.

The United States and Israel worked together to track and kill a senior Al Qaeda operative in Iran earlier this year, a bold intelligence operation by the two allied nations that came as the Trump administration was ramping up pressure on Tehran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Paris Saturday for the first stop on a planned seven-country tour.

Iran will reduce the access international nuclear inspectors have to its sites following a new watchdog report indicating Tehran is stockpiling more than 12 times the amount of enriched uranium allowed under the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Thick mud and debris coated many villages around the Philippine capital on Friday after a typhoon killed at least 42 people and caused extensive flooding that sent people fleeing to their roofs, officials said.

China on Friday “congratulated” Joe Biden with his claimed victory in the November 3 presidential elections, despite ongoing White House investigations into reported voter fraud.

France said Friday its forces had killed the top leader of the al-Qaida terror group in Mali known for killing civilians, including many Christians.

Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister asked the army to help enforce a nightly curfew while introducing constitutional changes that critics said were meant to keep him in power. Viktor Orbán claimed the military was needed to maintain order during a coronavirus state of emergency that allows him to rule by decree.

Rights group Amnesty International said Thursday that “scores and probably hundreds” of civilians have been massacred in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. Witnesses blamed forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which rules Tigray, for the bloodshed. They said the TPLF carried out the massacre after Ethiopia’s federal government troops defeated them in the Lugdi area.

Russia and Sudan have drafted a bilateral agreement that would allow for a Russian naval logistics base in Sudan, Radio Free Europe reported Thursday. The Sudanese are top importers of Russian arms in Africa, and Russia has economic and geopolitical interests in oil and minerals-rich Sudan.