The United States imposed sanctions Friday on three Iranian-backed Iraqi militia leaders over their alleged role in violently suppressing protests that have shaken Iraq. The militia leaders are accused of ordering their forces to fire on civilians protesting government corruption and high unemployment. Since the protests began in October, around …
Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez unveiled his cabinet on Friday evening, laying out his core team days before the center-left leader takes office facing a stalled economy, rising debt fears and painful inflation. Fernandez named Martin Guzman as economy minister, who will need to help steer debt restructuring negotiations with international …
President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration was looking into relaxing water-saving regulations for toilets, sinks and showers, saying consumers end up using even more water by flushing multiple times and trying to get clean with weaker water streams. “People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times as opposed to …
The largest concentration of black African churches outside of Africa can be found in South London. Each week, about 20,000 people attend one of the mostly Pentecostal churches in the city. Reporter Marthe van der Wolf has more from London. …
Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, are facing declining enrollments as are many other American universities. But North Carolina A&T, the country’s largest HBCU, has boasted of growth as it continues to welcome international students to its campus. In Greensboro, Esha Sarai has more. …
Hundreds of thousands of people went on strike in cities across France, causing a shutdown of public transport and drastically reducing teaching and hospital staff Thursday. Public and private sector workers are protesting President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms that include extending minimum retirement age and rewarding employees for each day worked. …
Children love the song. Parents call it an “earworm” because once they hear it, it continues to pop uninvited into their heads: “Baby Shark” is a two-minute music video that has been dubbed into 11 languages and endeared itself to toddlers across the world. Now, a 12th version is in …
Most students and their families quickly dive into rankings when searching for the “best colleges and universities.” However, Georgetown University, itself on many of those “best college” lists, has veered from rankings based on grade-point averages, admission rates and SAT scores, and come up with a new metric, ranking institutions …
Bleak news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Americans are dying younger and that life expectancy in the U.S. is falling. It might be time to call dogs to the rescue. Dogs are so attuned to humans that many people think of them as family, Sandi …
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of a “point of no return” in climate change as a result of inadequate efforts to stop it. The U.N. chief spoke in Madrid on Sunday ahead of a 10-day climate conference attended by 25,000 people from around the world. Spain has offered …
In next year’s U.S. presidential election, most voters will have one or more additional choice beyond the nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties. And there are indications that a relatively obscure third-party candidate has the potential to decide the election’s outcome. That happened in 2016 when a smattering of …
A trade deal between the U.S. and China has stalled because of newly signed U.S. bipartisan legislation supporting pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, according to the news website Axios. The news site quotes a source close to U.S. President Donald Trump’s negotiating team as saying the trade talks were “now …
New Orleans police say 11 people were wounded in a shooting early Sunday on the edge of the city’s famed French Quarter. A police news release said two people were in critical condition. No arrests were announced by midday Sunday. Police Supt. Shaun Ferguson told The New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune …
A passenger bus plunged off a bridge onto a frozen river in Siberia on Sunday, killing 19 of the more than 40 people on board, authorities said. A tire on the bus burst as it was crossing the bridge over the Kuenga river in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region. The vehicle, …
Israel has announced a plan for a new Jewish settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims and is a longtime flashpoint for violence. Palestinian officials condemned the move. Israel’s new defense minister Nafatali Bennet announced his approval for a new Jewish …
Three anti-government protesters were shot dead and at least 58 others were wounded in Baghdad and southern Iraq on Saturday, security and medical officials said, as Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi formally submitted his resignation to parliament. Lawmakers were expected to either vote or accept outright Abdul-Mahdi’s resignation letter in a …
Apple says it will reevaluate how it identifies “disputed borders” after receiving criticism for displaying Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula as part of Russia on maps and weather apps for Russian users. Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told Reuters on Friday that the U.S. technology giant was “taking a deeper look at …
Schools and universities have been shut in parts of Iran, including the capital, Tehran, because of high levels of pollution, state media reported Saturday. The decision was announced late Friday by Deputy Governor Mohammad Taghizadeh, after a meeting of an emergency committee for air pollution. “Due to increased air …
They left Vietnam carrying dreams of small fortunes and the heavy burden of family expectations. But they died in a box, and came home in coffins. For the 39 migrants who set off from one of the poorest parts of their Southeast Asian country in search of work in Britain, …
An approaching typhoon is threatening to complicate the hosting by the Philippines of the largest biennial games in Southeast Asia, already marred by logistical foul-ups that the president vowed to investigate. President Rodrigo Duterte is set to welcome Saturday the first few thousand athletes, coaches and sports officials from the …
Supporters cheered late Friday as once-powerful opposition leader and two-time Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori left the prison where she had been held while being investigated for alleged corruption. Peru’s Constitutional Tribunal approved her release. Smiling broadly, the daughter of jailed ex-President Alberto Fujimori walked out of the women’s prison …
As he prepared to announce his candidacy for president on Sunday, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a page from an old political playbook. Appearing in a black church in the city’s Brooklyn borough last week, the multibillionaire media mogul apologized for long pushing a now-defunct policing tactic …
For medieval history buffs, the Czech town of Kutna Hora has two great attractions: St. Barbara’s Church, often called a cathedral because of its grandeur, and the Sedlec Ossuary, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints outside the town. St. Barbara’s is one of the best examples of Gothic architecture …
The Taliban said Friday they were ready to restart peace talks with the United States, a day after President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and said he believed the radical group would agree to a cease-fire. Trump’s Thanksgiving Day visit was his first to …
Dozens of French activists blocked an Amazon warehouse south of Paris in a Black Friday-inspired protest, amid increased opposition to the post-Thanksgiving sales phenomenon that has seen a group of French lawmakers push to ban it altogether. Protesters from climate group Amis de la terre (Friends of the Earth) spread …
When AIDS was first identified, more than 40 years ago, it was considered a death sentence. Since then, it has become a chronic but treatable disease. The yearly World AIDS Day observance is a way to make people realize AIDS is still with us and, despite advances, the epidemic isn’t …