ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan urged the Taliban on Tuesday to start talks soon with the Afghan government to end decades of conflict, telling visiting officials of the group that an intra-Afghan dialogue could help ensure regional stability.

The meeting between Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jerry Falwell Jr, a towering force in the U.S. evangelical Christian movement whose endorsement played a key role in President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, has resigned as president of Liberty University, the school said on Tuesday.

Falwell’s dramatic departure as

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The president of the U.N. Security Council, Indonesia, said on Tuesday it was “not in the position to take further action” on a U.S. bid to trigger a return of all U.N. sanctions on Iran because there is no consensus in the 15-member body.

Thirteen council members expressed their opposition on Friday, arguing that Washington’s move is void given it is using a process agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal between

(Reuters) - Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a plan to tackle climate change that calls for the U.S. government to spend more than $400 billion a year to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The plan is the latest in

DUBAI/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Top UAE and Israeli defence officials on Tuesday held their first publicly-acknowledged phone call since their countries’ agreement to normalise ties, officials said, heralding possible security cooperation.

The conversation between Minister of State for Defence Affairs Mohammed al-Bawardi and Defence Minister Benny Gantz came amid Israeli dissent at the prospect that the U.S.-brokered deal could grant the Gulf power access to advanced weaponry previously denied to it, such as F-35 stealth fighter jets.

In their

GABORONE, Botswana (Reuters) - The Botswana government said there was no guarantee that it would be able to renew a new 10-year sales agreement with De Beers before the end of December, when the current one expires, as the coronavirus pandemic has delayed negotiations.

“The ideal situation would be to end

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is the only member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network that has not formally blocked Huawei from 5G networks, but it has effectively done just that, delaying a decision long enough to force telecom companies to exclude the Chinese gear maker.

The strategy allows Canada to

(Reuters) - Top meat importer China has suspended imports from some foreign meat packing plants where workers became infected with coronavirus - but not others.

WHY IS CHINA SO WARY OF FROZEN FOOD IMPORTS?

China is the world’s top meat importer, bringing in huge volumes in recent months because of a shortfall at home.

Authorities in Beijing found heavy traces of the coronavirus in the meat and seafood sections of the Xinfadi market, a large wholesale food market in Beijing, after an outbreak there in June.

Though there was

KINSHASA (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo said on Tuesday it has ended the world’s largest measles outbreak that has killed more than 7,000 children since it was declared 14 months ago.