Beijing quietly celebrates Olympic win
July 31, 2015
BEIJING — China wins again.The Chinese capital was awarded the right Friday to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, defeating long-shot rival Almaty, Kazakhstan.The win secured Beijing’s place in history as…
Debris unlikely to solve mystery of missing Malaysian plane, experts say
July 31, 2015
More than 16 months after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished en route to Beijing, experts say there is little hope that a bit of wing found on an Indian Ocean…
Jewish extremists torch Palestinian homes, killing toddler, authorities say
July 31, 2015
DUMA, West Bank — Arsonists set fire to two Palestinian homes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, burning a toddler alive and injuring three others in an attack that…
Discovering a piece of Flight 370 won’t help investigators find the rest
July 31, 2015
While confidence increased Friday that a piece of airplane wing that washed ashore on an Indian Ocean island this week belonged to an airliner that disappeared more than 16 months…
British leader pledges tougher line to block migrant crush across Channel
July 31, 2015
LONDON — Britain’s prime minister pledged Friday to send extra fencing and sniffer dogs across the English Channel to the French port of Calais as part of escalating efforts to…
Female Ukrainian war hero facing 25 years in Russian jail
July 31, 2015
MOSCOW — The contentious trial of a female Ukrainian war hero charged in the deaths of two Russian journalists began in southern Russia on Thursday, amid public protest from the…
Debris washed up on island could be clue to missing Malaysia Flight 370
July 30, 2015
BEIJING — The cold case known as Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been jolted by a piece of flotsam that washed ashore, and now investigators are scrambling again.Authorities in France…
The U.S. now has an embassy in Cuba. But relations are hardly normal.
July 30, 2015
HAVANA — In nations all over the world where the United States has an embassy, U.S. diplomats promote trade and assist American companies looking to make business contacts.And now, the…
Man stabs six at gay pride parade in Jerusalem, critically wounding one
July 30, 2015
JERUSALEM – Israel’s gay community came under attack Thursday evening, after a Jewish extremist stabbed six people during the annual Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem. Israeli police said the assailant,…
Afghan talks postponed amid fallout from news of Taliban leader’s death
July 30, 2015
KABUL — Taliban officials Thursday confirmed the death of the group’s founder and picked his former deputy as successor even as they put the brakes on peace talks with Afghan…
Complete freedom, always just eluding the grasp of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei
July 30, 2015
BEIJING — Ai Weiwei is now free to travel, but he is hardly free.Last week, Chinese officials returned his passport, ending a four-year travel ban. On Thursday, the art-world darling…
Omar’s death revelation could divide militants, undermine peace talks
July 30, 2015
KABUL — By the time Mohammad Omar’s death in 2013 was confirmed Wednesday, he had long been the ghost leader of the Taliban. His Afghan acolytes had not seen or…
Taliban leader Mohammad Omar is said to have died in 2013
July 30, 2015
Mohammad Omar, the cloaked, one-eyed zealot who led the Taliban, died more than two years ago, the Afghan government said Wednesday, confirming rumors of his demise that had intensified in…
Former Soviet republic pins its hopes on winning Olympic bid this week
July 29, 2015
MOSCOW — For one young traveler from Kazakhstan, the low point might have been when American acquaintances bet him that his home country was fictional. Other citizens endure blank looks…
Pro-Assad militants killed in Israeli strike, Hezbollah-allied TV station says
July 29, 2015
BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike killed at least two pro-government fighters in the volatile border zone in southern Syria on Wednesday, according to a report by a television station affiliated…
Saudi-led coalition plans ground attacks in Yemen after taking key city
July 29, 2015
BEIRUT — After four months of setbacks, fighters backed by Saudi Arabia have seized the offensive in Yemen’s war, taking control of a major city and pressing to expand ground…
For Chinese investors, a crisis of faith
July 28, 2015
BEIJING — Another day, another stock rout. And the Chinese government can’t seem to stop the slip.Chinese stocks sank again Tuesday, with the Shanghai Composite dropping 1.7 percent, on top…
Despite economic gains, Obama’s work in Africa is unfinished
July 28, 2015
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — In the end, President Obama may have gotten closer to the bones of ancient mankind than to ordinary Africans on what was probably his last trip…
WorldViews: Israelis scold Huckabee for saying Iran deal sends them to ‘door of the oven’
July 28, 2015
The fallout over Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s controversial remarks on the Iran nuclear deal has now reached Israel.Over the weekend, Huckabee derided the deal announced in Vienna between six…
Egypt’s timid press lashes out at harsh measures aimed at media, journalists
July 28, 2015
CAIRO — They’ve cheered for officials at news conferences. They’ve smeared government critics. Egypt’s reporters threw their support behind a 2013 coup, becoming a mouthpiece for the new military-backed regime.Read…
Lawyer urges Iran prison release for Post journalist
July 28, 2015
The lawyer for a Washington Post journalist facing trial in Iran on charges including espionage pressed Tuesday for his immediate release from prison following the nuclear accord between Tehran and…
Pakistan turns up heat against powerful party in bid to secure Karachi
July 28, 2015
KARACHI, Pakistan — A two-year-old government effort to restore order in this Pakistani port city has halved the notoriously high murder rate, but security officials’ tactics have intensified confrontation with…
Historic bid to become Afghanistan’s first female justice falls 9 votes short
July 28, 2015
KABUL — The day is still etched in the Afghan judge’s mind more than a decade later — when she was in Washington, when she met with Supreme Court justices…
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, scientist and former president of India, dies at 83
July 27, 2015
Former Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a scientist who was known as the father of the country’s military missile program, died July 27 after collapsing while delivering a lecture. He…
In Ethiopia, Obama seeks progress on peace, security in East Africa
July 27, 2015
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — President Obama convened a meeting with the leaders of several African nations and the African Union on Monday aimed at ending the fighting in South Sudan,…
21 killed in gun battle at wedding in northern Afghanistan
July 27, 2015
KABUL — A gun battle between supporters of two rival warlords killed 21 people at a wedding party in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province, police said Monday.The violence occurred overnight in…
U.S.-Turkey deal aims to create de facto ‘safe zone’ in northwest Syria
July 27, 2015
Turkey and the United States have agreed on the outlines of a de facto “safe zone” along the Turkey-Syria border under the terms of a deal that is expected to…
U.S. planning to press harder against North Korea on human rights
July 27, 2015
After the Obama administration’s groundbreaking nuclear deal with Iran, there have been calls to replicate that pact with North Korea, a rogue state that already has nuclear-weapons capability.From Washington to…
Syria’s embattled leader publicly acknowledges battlefield setbacks
July 26, 2015
BEIRUT — In a rare acknowledgment, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Sunday that his forces have lost some territory to rebels because of “manpower” problems.The embattled leader made the admission…
Israel wants U.S. to release its spy but not as compensation for Iran deal
July 26, 2015
JERUSALEM — Israel reacted with cautious optimism Sunday to the news that the spy Jonathan Pollard might be released on parole from a U.S. prison in November after serving 30…
Why England’s women’s soccer team won’t be playing at the 2016 Olympics
July 26, 2015
LONDON — Earlier this month, British Prime Minister David Cameron invited England’s women’s soccer team to Downing Street to congratulate the players on their roaring success at the World Cup.…
Turkey strikes Kurdish militants in Iraq, ends truce of more than 2 years
July 26, 2015
BEIRUT — Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish militants in northern Iraq early Saturday, expanding and complicating the air war launched by Turkey against the Islamic State in Syria the day before.The…
He survived famine in North Korea. Can he make it in America?
July 25, 2015
NEW YORK — Joseph Kim is facing a momentous decision that might be familiar to some fortunate young Americans. Should he accept Bard College’s offer of a full ride? Or…
Pakistan’s most famous TV journalist lives like a fugitive on the run
July 25, 2015
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The most famous television journalist in Pakistan lives like a fugitive. Hamid Mir tells no one where he is going, how he will get there or where…
Gay rights in Eastern Europe: A new battleground for Russia and the West
July 25, 2015
The first time this tiny Baltic nation held a gay pride march, the minuscule crowd was pelted with rotten eggs and bottles under the copper-green spires of Riga’s medieval old…
World Digest: July 24, 2015
July 24, 2015
ChileSeven charged in ’86 death of U.S. residentA Chilean judge on Friday charged seven former members of the military in the burning death of a U.S. resident who was killed…
King: How Israel may be damaging the alliance between blacks and Jews
July 24, 2015
“Do u know what Obama Coffee is? Black and weak.”— A June 21 tweet by Judy Mozes, wife of Israeli interior minister and vice prime minister Silvan Shalom.Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes,…
Burundi’s President Nkurunziza wins controversial third term
July 24, 2015
BUJUMBURA, Burundi — Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has won a third term in office, an electoral official announced Friday, amid controversy over whether his new term is constitutional.Nkurunziza won 69 …
A year after the Gaza war, good times are back on Tel Aviv’s beaches
July 24, 2015
For many Israelis, especially those who live beside the Mediterranean Sea, going to the beach is a summer ritual, a time for serious bronzing and endless paddleball — and for…
Turkey strikes Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time
July 24, 2015
BEIRUT — Turkish leaders pledged further action against the Islamic State on Friday after Turkish jets bombed Islamic State targets in Syria for the first time, opening an important front…
Obama visits a rising Africa, but one still plagued by economic problems
July 24, 2015
NAIROBI — President Obama arrived Friday night in a Kenyan capital transformed since his last visit in 2006 — a city of rising glass towers, new shopping malls and brightly…
Turkey agrees to allow U.S. military to use its base to attack Islamic State
July 23, 2015
BEIRUT — Turkey has agreed to let the United States use Turkish soil to launch air attacks against the Islamic State, signaling a major shift in policy on the part…
U.S.-trained Iraqi forces prepare for Ramadi offensive against Islamic State
July 23, 2015
BAGHDAD — U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers are preparing for an offensive against the Islamic State in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, defense officials said Thursday, in a key test of the…
Senate opponents of Iran deal draw hard lines against White House
July 23, 2015
The Obama administration and Senate opponents of its nuclear deal with Iran drew hard lines during an acrimonious opening hearing on the accord Thursday, leaving little apparent room for compromise.Republicans…
European regulators file antitrust claims against 6 major U.S. studios
July 23, 2015
The European Union filed antitrust claims Thursday against a British broadcaster and six major U.S. film studios, including global powerhouse Disney, accusing the companies of unfairly limiting pan-European access to…
In Yemen’s grinding war, if the bombs don’t get you, the water shortages will
July 23, 2015
SANAA, Yemen — For months, citizens of this war-torn country have been terrorized by bomb explosions and mortar attacks. Now another threat is growing, which could be just as deadly.Yemenis…
High up on a Pakistani mountain, a success story for moderate Islam
July 23, 2015
KARIMABAD, Pakistan —Visitors to this stunningly beautiful valley, towered over by five snow-capped mountains, sometimes feel as if they are standing at the edge of the earth — or, maybe,…
Carter vows to help Saudi Arabia contain Iran’s regional ambitions
July 22, 2015
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi and U.S. leaders agreed Wednesday to curb Iran’s military reach across the Middle East, amid fears that last week’s nuclear deal with Tehran would encourage…
WorldViews: Discovery of ‘oldest’ Koran stirs new passions in British city
July 22, 2015
LONDON — For decades, an ancient relic from the Middle East was unknowingly tucked away in an unlikely place: A library in the British Midlands, thousands of miles from its…
WorldViews: Hey, remember the Khorasan group? Its leader is dead.
July 22, 2015
On Tuesday afternoon, the Pentagon confirmed that it had killed a key militant leader in Syria. Muhsin al-Fadhli, 34, was hit by an airstrike on July 8 while traveling in…