AFP, JERUSALEM: US President Donald Trump does not believe Israeli settlement growth in Palestinian territories is “good for peace”, he told a paper Friday, in his most direct comments on the matter since inauguration. In the interview published in Hebrew by the Israel Hayom newspaper, Trump…

AFP, KABUL: Kabul on Friday endorsed US general John Nicholson’s call for thousands of additional troops in Afghanistan to stave off a resurgent Taliban, ahead of what is expected to be another intense fighting season. Afghan forces, beset by record casualties, desertions and “ghost soldiers”…

AFP, WASHINGTON: The US Senate narrowly confirmed Tom Price as President Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary Friday, appointing a fierce Obamacare critic who aims to implement a Republican promise to tear up the divisive health care reform law.Price, a congressman from Georgia and former…

AFP, BRUSSELS: A power cut plunged several neighbourhoods of Brussels into darkness overnight after an unknown problem hit the grid, the Belgian capital’s electricity distributor said Friday. “We are getting electricity again from (grid operator) Elia. We are gradually starting to restore…

AFP, BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked US President Donald Trump in a phone call to remove his country from a contentious travel ban list, a statement said on Friday. Iraq is one of seven Muslim-majority countries whose citizens are barred from entering the United States for 90 days…

AFP, PARIS: Four people including a 16-year-old girl were arrested on Friday by anti-terrorist police in Montpellier in southern France on suspicion of preparing an attack, a police source said. “An attack has been foiled,” said the source, adding that the four were arrested after buying…

AFP, GENEVA: The woman’s shadowed eyes stare out from a black niqab with the poster’s tagline urging Swiss voters to reject “uncontrolled…

AFP, JAKARTA: Twelve Indonesians, including three children, have been killed on the holiday island of Bali after landslides triggered by heavy rains engulfed several villages, an official said Friday. Several houses were also buried and badly damaged in the incident, which took place overnight from…