World News Headlines

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel announced plans on Sunday to boost its Iron Dome missile interceptor system, citing successful tests of the largely U.S.-funded system conducted in light of what it called "a variety of unprecedented threats". A Defence Ministry statement said a fifth battery of the rockets used so far to fend …

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - For all the hopes that China's forthcoming leadership change will herald a new wave of market reforms, foreign bankers don't expect to get the level playing field they crave any time soon. Trends are positive, but progress can be frustratingly slow. "My outlook is basically optimistic, particularly …

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government could propose cutting labour charges for selected sectors and companies as part of its plan to kickstart competitiveness, the junior minister for small and medium-sized business said on Sunday. In an interview with TV channel France 5, Fleur Pellerin said small-to-medium enterprises …

TIANJIN, China (Reuters) - Dong Zizhou casts his fishing net from the shore and fixes his gaze on a stand of 15 unfinished skyscrapers rising like concrete skeletons beside the Hai River, heralding China's ambition to develop the world's largest financial centre. The towers in Tianjin's Yujiapu Financial District, and two …

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced skepticism on Sunday over an apparent concession from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on a major sticking point in any future peace negotiations. Comments by Abbas on Thursday that he had no permanent claim on the town of Safed, from which he was …

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaiti security forces fired tear gas to disperse an unauthorized demonstration on Sunday by thousands of opposition supporters against new voting rules for parliamentary elections on December 1. OPEC member and U.S. ally Kuwait has so far avoided the mass pro-democracy unrest that has toppled rulers …

The Palestinian president has set off a strident debate by shattering a once-inviolable taboo, publicly suggesting his people would have to relinquish claims to ancestral homes in Israel.

The Gulf has been the slow burn of the Arab uprisings.

Syrian rebels firing mortars and rocket-propelled grenades captured an oilfield in the country's east on Sunday after three days of fierce fighting with government troops protecting the facility, activists said.

France's president pledged Sunday that his country will stand against instability in Lebanon, two weeks after the assassination of a senior Lebanese intelligence official sparked clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian groups.

A car bomb exploded near a major hotel in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Sunday, wounding several people, a pro-government television station reported.

Egypt's ancient Coptic Christian church named a new pope on Sunday, chosen in an elaborate ceremony where a blindfolded boy drew the name of the next patriarch from a crystal chalice.

Thousands of nationalists marched through the Russian capital Sunday, chanting slogans including "Moscow is a Russian city" to express their resentment of dark-complexioned migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Britain's culture secretary says the government could order a full public inquiry into the British Broadcasting Corp.'s handling of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.

Italy's prime minister pledged Sunday not to abandon Afghanistan as his country pulls out its troops, saying Rome will "transform" its support but not leave altogether.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made his first public appearance since speculation about his health rose sharply last week.

It’s no secret that there’s been little love lost between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who began their terms within months of each other – and now both face reelection.

Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church chose a new pope today, putting a new leader at the helm of Egypt's largest Christian sect at a time of increasing difficulty for the minority.