Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty ImagesHouse Democrats continue to move forward with their investigation inquiry into President Trump today as Congress returned from a two-week recess.If you’re just tuning in, here’s the latest on the inquiry:Another witness is testifying:US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent arrived at the Capitol this morning for…

The Russian units are patrolling a contact line between Syrian and Turkish forces, according to a statement Tuesday by Russia’s Defense Ministry. The line runs along the northwestern borders of the Manbij district.After Turkey launched a long-threatened offensive across the border into Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria last week, local Syrian Kurdish leaders struck a deal with…

Westerville, Ohio (CNN)Twelve Democratic presidential candidates will take the stage here at Otterbein University on Tuesday during a swirl of news back in Washington and on the other side of the world.Since Democrats last took the stage in September, House Democrats have opened an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump for his attempts to pressure…

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (CNN)After years battling to assert the Kremlin’s power on the international stage, Vladimir Putin is now on what seems like a victory lap of the Middle East.On Tuesday, Kremlin-backed forces further stepped up to fill the vacuum left in northern Syria by the US. Russian military police units patrolled the contact line…

Washington, DC (CNN)Google has met few daring ideas it doesn’t like. But three years ago, the idea of a self-driving bicycle was just too much. It mocked the concept of an autonomous bicycle in an April Fools’ Day video. Why would anyone need a bike that rode itself?Since then the electric bike and scooter-sharing craze…

Saudi Arabia’s national football team has faced off with Palestine in the occupied West Bank, a break in the norm for Arab sport teams. Historically, Arab countries have played against Palestine in a third country, in order to avoid applying for Israeli permits to enter the country. Tuesday’s unprecedented game, a double qualifying match for…

Beirut, Lebanon – Firefighters in Lebanon on Tuesday battled massive wildfires across the country, before moderate rains in the evening brought them under control in most affected areas. With more than 100 blazes erupting from north to south over the past two days, Raymond Khattar, the director-general of Lebanon’s Civil Defense, described the forest fires…

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr appearing for his arraignment in New York City [Alec Tabak/Reuters] [Daylife] American actor Cuba Gooding Jr pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to pinching a woman’s buttocks in a nightclub last October, four months after he was charged with groping a woman in a separate incident. Manhattan prosecutors said Gooding pinched the…

Nigeria’s president on Tuesday ordered a crackdown on abuse at Islamic schools, after a second police raid in less than a month revealed men and boys subjected to beatings, abuse and squalid conditions. Nearly 300 had been held captive at a school in the Daura area of Katsina, the home town of President Muhammadu Buhari,…

Sanliurfa, Turkey – Despite mounting international pressure, fresh US sanctions and the potential of a direct confrontation with Syrian government forces, Ankara is pressing ahead with its week-long military operation in northeast Syria. Following the seizure of border towns and villages from Kurdish fighters, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday pledged to push on…

The government of Bangladesh has recently put severe restrictions on Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Many have had their mobile phones taken away. And some Rohingya children have been forced to drop out of Bangladeshi schools. Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury reports from Cox’s Bazar.

Dozens of flights from Barcelona’s airport have been cancelled or delayed, a day after massive protests and violent clashes in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region over the sentencing of nine Catalan separatist leaders. At least 45 flights had to be scrapped on Tuesday, and many passengers had to spend the night at the airport after the protests on…

What is billed as the largest defence industry trade show in Northeast Asia has just opened in Seoul. Seoul ADEX 2019 comes as South Korea has announced its biggest increase in military spending in a decade, with much of the region seemingly embarking on an arms race. Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride reports.

In 30 of the past 32 elections, the candidate who won in Ohio won the presidency that includes President Donald Trump. This is why the state was chosen for the Democrats’ fourth candidates’ debate. This is the first debate since impeachment proceedings for President Trump, and every candidate on the dais wants him impeached. Al…

Today, the UN ends its 15-year long peacekeeping presence in Haiti.Ostensibly sent to reinforce security, build rule of law and promote human rights, UN peacekeepers leave a more problematic legacy, marred by human rights violations. Notably, this week’s drawdown comes nine years after peacekeepers sparked one of the deadliest cholera epidemics of modern times in…

(CNN)Basketball star LeBron James has finally weighed in on the ongoing NBA-China dispute, criticizing Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey as being misinformed about the situation. The league is embroiled in a standoff with China after Morey tweeted his support for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. Although Morey quickly apologized and deleted his original…

(CNN) — With the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge enjoying a five-day tour of Pakistan this week, royal watchers have shifted their gaze to the region. Bordered by China, Afghanistan, Iran and India — and with a population of more than 200 million people — it’s no surprise that Pakistan is a country of geographical…

(CNN)Before a Fort Worth police officer killed a woman in her home on Saturday, the department was already under scrutiny. In December 2016, Jacqueline Craig, who is black, called police to complain that a neighbor had grabbed and choked her son. Craig and the officer, who is white, argued. He wrestled her and her daughter…

Hong Kong (CNN) — Hong Kongers have been protesting for more than four months and demonstrations are becoming more violent and disruptive. The city’s leaders have maintained Hong Kong is still open for business, but is it still safe to visit? The situation has changed significantly since June 9, when protest organizers estimated more than…

Washington (CNN)A wide range of American military personnel and defense officials are expressing a deep sense of frustration and anger at the Trump administration’s refusal to support Syrian Kurds facing a Turkish military assault, over half a dozen US military and defense officials have told CNN.Several US military and defense officials, including personnel deployed to…

Heavy fighting continues as Turkey presses ahead with its military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, now in its seventh day. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the offensive aims to remove the Kurdish-led forces from the border area and create a “safe zone” to which millions of Syrian refugees can be returned. The move…

Syrian Kurds fleeing the fighting in northeast Syria are starting to arrive in northern Iraq after Turkey’s operation in the region to rout the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces begins. Authorities there say they could be the first of tens of thousands of refugees. Plans are being made to accommodate the new arrivals, but the priority…

The White House’s alleged effort to pressure Ukraine so alarmed former National Security Adviser John Bolton that he alerted a lawyer, his former aide said on Monday, according to the United States’s media. Bolton also warned that President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who has emerged as the point man in the president’s alleged drive…

South Africa’s embattled former President Jacob Zuma is expected in court on corruption charges, in what would be his first graft trial despite multiple accusations. Zuma stands accused of taking kickbacks before he became president from a 51-billion-rand ($3.4bn) purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military equipment manufactured by five European firms, including French…

Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments and Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other jointly won the Booker Prize on Monday in a surprise double award of Britain’s most prestigious literary prize. The authors will split the 50,000 pounds ($62,800) annual prize, the judging panel said. The award honours “the best novel of the year written in English and…

US President Donald Trump on Monday imposed sanctions on Turkey over Ankara’s military operation in northeast Syria, and called for an immediate ceasefire. Turkey launched the cross-border assault on Kurdish fighters last Wednesday after Trump withdrew some US troops from the region, drawing sharp criticism from fellow Republicans who accused him of abandoning allies who…

A white police officer who shot and killed an African American woman in her Fort Worth, Texas, home  in the presence of her eight-year-old nephew was charged with murder on Monday after resigning from the force.  The Fort Worth Police Department said its officers were responding to a call from a neighbour, who reported to…

Quito, Ecuador – Jose Pilataxi danced around a fire in the centre of the Ecuadorian capital Quito on Sunday night celebrating with thousands of other protesters over the cancellation of an austerity package that sparked violent protests across the country for 11 days and brought the economy to a standstill. “I’m very very happy for the…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited Saudi Arabia in his first trip to the kingdom in over a decade, signing oil agreements and discussing regional security, in particular, Saudi Arabia’s ongoing rivalry with Iran. A mounted guard escorted Putin’s limousine to King Salman’s Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh after his arrival on Monday, his first visit since 2007.…

Turkish-backed rebel Syrian forces have launched an operation to seize the strategic city of Manbij from Kurdish forces, as Ankara’s military offensive into northern Syria carves out a new front in the country’s years-long war. Monday’s drive came as Syrian government troops started moving towards the country’s border with Turkey after Damascus forged an agreement with the Kurdish-spearheaded Syrian Democratic…

A source with knowledge of Fiona Hill’s testimony today said that she had high praise for President Trump’s ousted ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who had been targeted by Rudy Giuliani and his associates and criticized by Trump.She made her opinions known about Yovanovitch’s removal, the source said.Hill’s deposition is still ongoing.Deputy Assistant Secretary George…

London (CNN)The pageantry may be over, but the UK’s bumper Brexit week has only just begun.After making Queen Elizabeth quite literally hoof it over to the Houses of Parliament and read out his plans for the forthcoming legislative session, Boris Johnson needs to get back to the real task in hand — getting a Brexit…

Washington (CNN)Facing scathing criticism from Republican lawmakers and members of his own military, President Donald Trump on Monday was working toward applying harsh new sanctions on Turkey following its incursion into northern Syria. But even as he was preparing the economic punishment, a bipartisan group on Capitol Hill was finalizing their own sanctions, threatening to…

Last week, the Trump administration ordered US troops to step aside from the border in northern Syria, effectively paving the way for Turkey to launch an offensive against US-backed Kurdish forces who they regard as enemies.In the days since then, the world has watched major changes unfold in northern Syria, including shuffling allegiances and rapid…

(CNN)The Fort Worth police officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson in her home Saturday morning resigned Monday, interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said.The officer was served a written administrative complaint Sunday, placed on detached duty and stripped of his badge and firearm, Kraus said.”My intent was to meet with him today to terminate his employment…

At least five people have been killed in Guinea during demonstrations called to oppose a possible change to the constitution that could allow President Alpha Conde to run for a third term. Police opened fire in clashes with demonstrators in the capital, Conakry as protests in the city of Mamou, an opposition stronghold east of the…

Blasting trumpets, royal heralds and a speech written upon goat-skin vellum – purely in terms of pomp and pageantry, Monday’s ceremonial state opening of the United Kingdom’s Parliament once again failed to disappoint. But behind the bling, there remained an overwhelming sense that all of this spectacle and theatre is exactly that and little more.…

The government blames Taliban attacks and threats for a low voter turnout of an roughly 26 percent of the more than nine million registered voters. Officials say biometric data machines supposed to prevent fraud have complicated and delayed the process. And that has left many people saying they will not be able to trust the…

Mozambicans head to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the general elections. The two dominant parties, Frelimo and Renamo, face each other in the civil war which ended in 1992. More than a million people died. Ever since then, Frelimo has been declared the winner of every election while Renamo has complained of what…

Turkey’s offensive into Kurdish-held territory escalates. Syrian government forces appear to be positioning themselves for a direct confrontation with Turkish troops with reports that they are due to advance towards the city of Manbij. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated the offensive will intensify in the coming days. Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has shrugged off concerns over a Syrian army deployment along the border, as he indicated that Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria will intensify. Syrian army troops deployed to the northern town of Tabqa, near Raqqa, and entered the northeastern town of Tel Tamer, state media reported on…

The meeting has come after some rebel groups signed a draft agreement in Juba last month, detailing a plan for the talks and trust-building measures [File: Samir Bol/Reuters] Peace talks between a delegation from Sudan’s newly-created sovereign council and a number of rebel leaders are under way in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. The discussions, which started…

The national security adviser of the United Arab Emirates, Tahnoun bin Zayed, has been visiting Tehran on a secret mission aiming to defuse the tensions in the Gulf, a senior security source in the UAE told London-based news outlet Middle East Eye (MEE). MEE contacted the UAE Embassy media office in London but did not receive a…

Huckle is seen in a handout image provided by Britain’s National Crime Agency [Reuters] One of Britain’s most notorious paedophiles, who abused up to 200 Malaysian children, has been stabbed to death in prison, the Press Association news agency has reported. Richard Huckle was murdered at HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire on Sunday, sources said.…

US teenager Cori “Coco” Gauff surged into the top 100 of the world tennis rankings for the first time on Monday following her maiden tour victory in Austria. The 15-year-old Gauff gained 39 places to 71st in the latest standings released by the governing Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). On Sunday, she defeated former French Open…

Hong Kong (CNN)Chinese President Xi Jinping warned adversaries on Sunday that any attempt to split China will “end in crushed bodies and shattered bones” according to state-media, as anti-government protesters in Hong Kong returned to the streets for a 19th consecutive weekend. Though Xi didn’t explicitly name Hong Kong in his comments, his references to…

(CNN)Republican lawmakers will face fraught questions most have tried to dodge over President Donald Trump’s fight against impeachment as they return to Washington for a week pulsating with political drama.Then, the end of a two-week congressional recess on Tuesday will heighten tensions over the most consequential duel over the fate of a presidency in at…

(CNN)An elementary school teacher in Australia’s Queensland state who passed out in class while intoxicated has been banned from teaching for two years.The female teacher, who was unnamed due to concern for her mental health, had a history of substance abuse and mental health disorders, according to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT), which…

(CNN) — A Taiwanese tourist was arrested and fined for wearing a particularly revealing bikini on the beach at the Philippines’ newly reopened resort island of Boracay, local media reported.The tourist, who has not been named, sparked controversy by donning a string bikini on the island’s famous white-sand beaches on October 9, according to the…

Poland’s ruling nationalist party has declared victory in parliamentary elections.Exit polls show the Law and Justice party is on course to win an even bigger majority.Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons reports from Warsaw.

Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday sentenced nine Catalan separatist leaders to between nine and 13 years in prison for sedition over their role in the region’s 2017 failed bid for independence. The sentences were lower than demanded by the prosecution which had sought up to 25 years behind bars for former Catalan Vice President Oriol…

The royal couple will meet Pakistan’s president and prime minister during their five-day visit [File: Money Sharma/AP] Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, are to arrive in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Monday for the first royal trip to the country in more than a decade. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge…

Medan, Indonesia – Khairul Bukhari is in mourning. On October 3, Golfrid Siregar, his friend and colleague at the biggest environmental group in Indonesia, was found in an underpass in the city of Medan on the island of Sumatra with a serious head wound. Three days later he was dead.  Since then, Bukhari has been…

Heavy fighting continues as Turkey presses ahead with its military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, now in its sixth day. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the offensive aims to remove the Kurdish-led forces from the border area and create a “safe zone” to which millions of Syrian refugees can be returned. More: In…

Tens of thousands of troops and rescue workers worked through the dawn in Japan on Monday to fight floods and help stranded residents one of the most-powerful typhoons to hit the country in six decades left at least 35 people dead.  Typhoon Hagibis – which means “speed” in the Philippine language, Tagalog – left the capital,…

Syrian government troops will deploy along the border with Turkey to help Kurdish fighters fend off Ankara’s military offensive in northern Syria, the Kurdish-led administration in the region said.  The move, announced on Sunday, represents a major shift in alliance for Syria’s Kurds and came hours after the United States said it was withdrawing its troops…

The United Arab Emirates is reportedly running a campaign to have Al Jazeera registered as a foreign agent in the US. Shutting down the Al Jazeera network was one of the main demands of the blockading countries when they cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar more than two years ago. Registering as a foreign agent would…

Hunter Biden has announced he will step down from the board of directors of a Chinese-backed private equity firm at the end of the month as part of a pledge not to work on behalf of any foreign-owned companies should his father win the presidency. Biden, the 49-year-old son of Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden,…

Independent law professor Kais Saied looked set ot win Tunisia’s presidential runoff, as exit polls forecast an overwhelming victory against his rival. Polls carried in Tunisian media on Sunday projected that Saied would win with between 72 and 77 percent of the vote. His opponent, Nabil Karoui who was in jail for most of the campaign,…

(CNN)President Donald Trump is ordering most of the remaining US forces out of northern Syria, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday, a development that has paralyzed the fight against ISIS and ceded US and Kurdish battlefield gains to Moscow and Damascus.”We have American forces likely caught between two opposing, advancing armies and it’s a very…

(CNN)President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday ramped up their threats to sanction Turkey, responding to growing criticism over the fallout from the country’s military offensive in northern Syria following Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces from the area.In an interview with ABC, Mnuchin said the US was “ready to go at…

(CNN)Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei beat the women’s marathon world record by more than a minute Sunday in winning the Chicago Marathon.Her unofficial time of 2 hours, 14 minutes and 4 seconds beat Paula Radcliffe’s record, set at the 2003 London Marathon, by 81 seconds. The 25-year-old smoked the competition. It was almost 7 minutes before the…

(CNN)A tournament that began in defeat for Coco Gauff ended with the popular teen claiming her first tennis title. The 15-year-old from Florida became the youngest WTA winner since Nicole Vaidisova in 2004 when she downed 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in Linz, Austria, on Sunday. Gauff lost in the qualifying…

An African American woman has been fatally shot in the United States by a white officer inside her home early on Saturday after police were called to the residence for a welfare check, authorities said. The shooting in Forth Worth, Texas, occurred after a neighbour called the police non-emergency line to report that the front…

Imran Khan and Hassan Rouhani have held talks in the Iranian capital, Tehran, as part of a Pakistani initiative to defuse rising tensions in the Gulf and mediate between regional foes, Iran and Saudi Arabia.  Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister, arrived in Tehran on Sunday – the first leg of a tour that also includes a stop…

Hundreds of supporters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group have escaped from a camp in northeastern Syria amid an ongoing Turkish offensive in the Kurdish-controlled region, according to local authorities. The ISIL affiliates fled the detention facility in Ain Issa on Sunday after attacking guards and storming its gates,…

Heavy fighting continued on Sunday as Turkey presses ahead in the fifth day of its military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria. Ankara says the offensive aims to remove the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of rebels led by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), from the border area and create a “safe zone” to which…

Six months after devastating cyclones left more than 1,300 people dead in Mozambique, it’s citizens will try to put the tragedy aside long enough to vote in a general election. It is a task that will not be easy, especially since thousands remain homeless and are living in camps. Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb brings us…

Heavy fighting continues as Turkey presses ahead with its military operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, now in its fifth day. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the offensive aims to remove the Kurdish-led forces from the border area and create a “safe zone” to which millions of Syrian refugees can be returned. More: Fleeing civilians ‘fear the shelling…

Security forces in Bangladesh have killed more than a dozen Rohingya refugees in recent weeks. Police say they were suspected of being involved in the murder of a politician. But rights groups dispute that claim. Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury reports from Cox’s Bazar.

News / Malaysia Malaysian fishermen say poor-quality seawater is causing financial losses. by Florence Looi13 Oct 2019 11:56 GMT Fish farmers in northern Malaysia are calling on the government to tackle marine pollution. They say the poor quality of seawater has caused them financial losses. Al Jazeera’s Florence Looi reports from the state of Penang.…

New Delhi, India – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who met in a southern Indian temple town for a two-day informal summit, agreed to establish a new mechanism to balance bilateral trade and decided to “prudently” manage their differences. The world’s two most populous countries, however, did not issue a joint statement…

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 100th Nobel Peace Prize to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali, for “his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation” and for his “decisive initiative” to end the long-running military stalemate with neighbouring Eritrea. I was one of the people who nominated Abiy Ahmed – not…

Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Saturday that he’s not aware he’s under investigation for his involvement in the unraveling Ukraine scandal, calling it a “political attack.”When asked if he was, Giulani told CNN: “No, nothing but leaks, which has to tell you whether they are or are not investigating, it’s a political…

Rugby World Cup 2019 in picturesIreland’s Keith Earls runs past the Samoan defense during the Rugby World Cup Pool A game at Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium between Ireland and Samoa, in Fukuoka on Saturday. Rugby World Cup 2019 in picturesIreland’s Tadhg Furlong reacts after scoring a try against Samoa. The Irish led the game 26-5 at…

Galway, Ireland (CNN)In the middle of the night, Imam Ibrahim Noonan answered the phone and heard an unfamiliar Irish voice.The man on the line told Noonan he didn’t agree with Muslims in general, or want them in Ireland. He said he didn’t want Irish culture to change and that he belonged to a far-right group,…

Seoul (CNN)Michelle Quinde is a BTS megafan.When the latest album from the South Korean boy band came out in April, she bought the CD, even though she doesn’t own a CD player. When the seven-member group went to the United States in May, she went to all six of their concerts. And when BTS’ single…

(CNN)The third branch of government last week began to exact a revenge on the President. And there’s likely to be more bad news for Donald Trump from the federal courts system as the US House’s impeachment inquiry progresses.Seven separate federal courts dealt major blows to Trump, on everything from his immigration policy to attempts to…

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have held a summit dominated by trade talks. The two met in Mamallapuram in southern India and called for a new era in relations between the world’s two most populous nations. Al Jazeera’s Anchal Vora reports from Mamallapuram, India.

Millions of people around the world suffer from blindness; but in some cases, their condition could easily be cured. Cataract blindness – a clouding of the clear lens of the eye – is a leading cause of blindness in the developing world, where most cases occur. Although it is fully curable, patients often go untreated…

Armed men have stormed a mosque in Burkina Faso as worshippers were praying inside, killing at least 16 people and sending residents fleeing, security sources said. The attack took place at the Grand Mosque in the northern village of Salmossi on Friday evening in the Oudalan region bordering Mali.  One source told AFP news agency that 13 people…

Igoumenitsa Greece – For the past two years, the residents of Greece’s northwest province of Epirus have been tripping up on short wooden stakes planted about a foot high in the ground. They stand in rows that continue interminably through villages, over meadows and mountains, blue ribbons fluttering from their tops.  Few Epirots are aware…

Final campaign rallies have taken place in Mozambique in the run-up to Tuesday’s general election. This will be the sixth vote since the end of the civil war in 1992. This time around, the ruling party faces a strong challenge from its main rival. Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb reports from Maputo.

Santiago, Chile – Thousands of protesters have marched in Chile’s capital, Santiago, denouncing discrimination against the country’s indigenous peoples amid the annual Columbus Day commemorations.  Protesters brought Santiago’s city centre to a standstill on Saturday as they rallied for the release of detained activists facing prosecution for campaigning against extractive industries, including logging and copper mining, on indigenous lands.  The crowds also…

Turkey’s military says it has taken control of a key Syrian border town as Ankara presses ahead with its offensive against Kurdish fighters despite facing mounting international criticism over the operation. The Turkish defence ministry said its troops seized Ras al-Ain from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Saturday – a claim that was immediately rebutted…

Tunis, Tunisia – A week after the parliamentary election and three weeks since the first presidential poll,  some seven million voters are set to choose the country’s president in a runoff vote, where the outcome and aftermath are all but certain. On Sunday’s ballot paper are media magnate Nabil Karoui, who was released from prison…

Quito, Ecuador – Lineth Calapucha distributed blankets and clothes to other protesters in a cultural centre in the Ecuadorian capital Quito on Friday as the sounds of bombs from tear gas and pepper spray echoed outside. It was the ninth day of anti-government protests that began as calls for President Lenin Moreno to abandon fuel…

Akcakale, Turkey-Syria border – As fighting raged in Ras al-Ain on Saturday, with Turkey’s military claiming to be in control of the key Syrian border town, civilians continued to flee the violence. Ahmed Naso, who fled his home in Ras al-Ain when Turkey launched its offensive on Wednesday, said airstrikes that day “came out of nowhere” and…

(CNN)The commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces told a senior US diplomat, “You are leaving us to be slaughtered,” demanding to know whether the US is going to do anything to protect Syrian Kurds as Turkey continues its military operation targeting America’s Kurdish allies in Syria.”You are not willing to protect the people, but…

(CNN)At just 22, Max Verstappen has already reached some notable milestones. In 2015 aged 17, he became the youngest driver to compete in a Formula 1 race. A year later he crossed the finish line in Spain as the youngest winner of an F1 race while also becoming the first from the Netherlands to stand…

New York (CNN)Video game company Blizzard Entertainment walked back some penalties on an esports player who aired support for the Hong Kong protests after gamers around the world called for a boycott of the company. Blizzard explained Friday that it disqualified Hearthstone player Ng “Blitzchung” Wai Chung for shouting the protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong,…

New York (CNN Business)Last month Shep Smith decided that he had simply had enough.With President Trump actively distorting the truth and many of his own colleagues helping him do it, the Fox News star prided himself on anchoring a newscast that countered the network’s pro-Trump opinion shows.The way Smith saw it, he was making sure…

(CNN)Under normal circumstances, Coco Gauff wouldn’t have made the main draw at this week’s tournament in Linz, Austria. But after getting a bit of luck, the 15-year-old has taken full advantage to become the WTA’s youngest tennis finalist since Nicole Vaidisova in 2004 after beating Andrea Petkovic 6-4 6-4 Saturday. Gauff became a crowd favorite…

Cite Ettadhamen, Tunisia – For most of the past decade Murad Joba, 42, has flitted from one part-time job to another in order to make ends meet. He is among the estimated 15 percent of Tunisia’s population that is currently unemployed and last held a full-time position in 2010 when toppled leader Zine El Abidine Ben…

Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has established a commission to investigate the deaths of more than 100 people in recent anti-government protests.  In a statement on Saturday, Abdul Mahdi said the inquiry panel will investigate and bring to justice soldiers who acted illegally and will include representatives from the armed forces, parliament, the human rights commission and…

Turkish forces and their allies say they have seized control of the centre of Ras al-Ain, a key Syrian border town, after four days of heavy fighting. Kurdish forces are disputing the claim. But advances on the ground have meant a setback in relations with some countries especially the United States. And Iran, which had…

A British woman responsible for a dramatic intelligence leak in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq has said she hopes a new film about her efforts will refocus attention on the flawed evidence that led to war. Katharine Gun, a former employee of the United Kingdom intelligence agency GCHQ, believes that the film, called Official…

Two men have been killed and more than six million people advised to evacuate as a powerful typhoon bore down on the Japanese capital, Tokyo, bringing with it the heaviest rain and winds in 60 years. Typhoon Hagibis, which means “speed” in the Philippine language Tagalog, made landfall on Japan’s main island of Honshu on…