PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 19: The Afghan Taliban rejected reports in the Pakistani media that they were prepared to resume meetings with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad and repeated their refusal to deal directly with the Afghan government.

WASHINGTON, Jan 19: A U.S. court on Friday confirmed the arrest of a journalist for Iranian television, saying her testimony is required over an unspecified case but that she is not accused of a crime.

On a summer day in the mountains high above Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, the Tuyuksu glacier is melting like mad. Rivulets of water stream down the glacier's thin leading edge.

Italy is considering merging troubled banks Monte dei Paschi and Banca Carige with healthier rivals such as UBI Banca as it scrambles to avert a new banking crisis, sources familiar with the matter said.

MEXICO CITY, Jan 19: At least 20 people were killed and 54 were injured on Friday when a pipeline ruptured by suspected fuel thieves exploded in central Mexico as people were trying to fill up containers, the government of Hidalgo state said.

WASHINGTON, Jan 19: President Donald Trump will hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to broker a deal to coax the North to give up its nuclear weapons, the White House announced Friday.

LONDON, Jan 18: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s protege appealed to the British on Friday to stay in the European Union, saying her compatriots had not forgotten how Britain welcomed Germany back as a sovereign nation after World War Two.

WASHINGTON, Jan 18: North Korea’s lead negotiator in nuclear diplomacy with the United States is expected to hold talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and could also meet President Donald Trump on Friday during a visit aimed at clearing the way for a second U.S.-North Korea summit.

WASHINGTON, Jan 18: The US has announced a new missile defense policy aimed at addressing the challenges posed by Russia and China, which seeks to displace America in the Indo-Pacific region and has adopted an assertive posture in disputes over territorial boundaries with its neighbours, the Press Trust of India reported on Friday.

LONDON, Jan 18: Britain’s last-minute scramble to shape an EU exit, its biggest policy upheaval in half a century, stalled on Thursday as Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn dug in their heels for competing visions.