PARIS (JTA) — Several thousand people, many of them Jews, rallied in several cities in France to protest a court’s ruling not to try a Muslim man who confessed to killing his Jewish neighbor while shouting about Allah. Republique Square in Paris became crowded with protesters over the ruling last month on the fate of […]

BAGHDAD (JNS) — Iraq’s parliament voted on Sunday to expel U.S. forces from the country in the aftermath of Thursday’s U.S. elimination of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, Maj. Gen, Qassem Soleimani, in an airstrike at Baghdad Airport. The nonbinding resolution calls on the Iraqi government to cease the agreement that allowed the […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the U.S. strategy in countering Iran is to target the country’s “actual decision-makers” rather than to focus on Iranian proxy forces in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. Pompeo was explaining U.S. strategy in the aftermath of the U.S. drone strike that killed Iran’s […]

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to return Sunday to the U.K., where he faces criticism for not cutting short his holiday to deal with soaring Mideast tensions. Johnson, who celebrated the New Year on the Caribbean private island of Mustique after leading his Conservative Party to a strong majority in […]

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Al-Shabab extremists overran a key military base used by U.S. counterterror forces in Kenya before dawn Sunday, destroying U.S. aircraft and vehicles, Kenyan authorities said. It was the al-Qaida-linked group’s first attack against U.S. forces in the East African country, and the military called the security situation “fluid” several hours after […]

ROME (AP) — A drunken driver speeding on a mountain road plowed into a group of young German tourists in northern Italy early Sunday, killing six people and injuring 11 others, Italian authorities said. The deadly crash occurred in a village of Valle Aurina, northeast of Bolzano in the Alto Adige region, shortly after 1 […]

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The body of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike, arrived Sunday in Iran to throngs of mourners, as President Donald Trump threatened to bomb 52 sites in the Islamic Republic if Tehran retaliates by attacking Americans Soleimani’s death Friday in Iraq further heightens tensions between Tehran […]

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities activated a newly created “serious response” level as fears spread about a mysterious infectious disease that may have been brought back by visitors to a mainland Chinese city. Eight possible cases have been reported of a viral pneumonia that has also infected at least 44 people in Wuhan, […]

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A new Iranian general has stepped out of the shadows to lead the country’s expeditionary Quds Force, becoming responsible for Tehran’s proxies across the Mideast as the Islamic Republic threatens the U.S. with “harsh revenge” for killing its previous head, Qassem Soleimani. The Quds Force is part of the 125,000-strong Revolutionary […]

SYDNEY (AP) — Milder temperatures Sunday brought hope of a respite from wildfires that have ravaged three Australian states, claiming 24 lives and destroying almost 2,000 homes. Saturday was a day of high tension as soaring temperatures and strong winds fanned fires in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, forcing thousands to flee and […]