The United States and Cuba on Tuesday signed a deal restoring commercial air traffic for the first time in five decades, allowing of dozens of new daily flights to bring hundreds of thousands more American travelers a year to the island as early as this fall. Immediately after the signing,… Read More

The U.N. Security Council has announced the death of former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Venezuela’s U.N. Ambassador Rafael Ramirez, the current council president, made the announcement at the start of a meeting on Yemen’s humanitarian crisis Tuesday and asked members to rise for a moment of silence. The 15 council… Read More

Iran says it is cracking down on Valentine’s Day celebrations and shops engaging in them will be guilty of a crime. Iranian news outlets reported the police directive Friday warning retailers against promoting “decadent Western culture through Valentine’s Day rituals.” Police informed Tehran’s coffee and ice cream shops trade union… Read More

Eight years after the financial crisis, the world is coming to grips with an unpleasant realization: serious weaknesses still plague the global economy, and emergency help may not be on the way. Sinking stock prices, flat inflation, and the bizarre phenomenon of negative interest rates have coupled with a downturn… Read More

Pope Francis heads into the heart of Mexico’s drug-trafficking country Tuesday for meetings with young people, whom he is holding up as the hope for a better future for a country wracked by the violence and gang warfare of the drug trade. Francis’ visit to Morelia, the capital of Michoacan… Read More

U.S. officials say there have been about 20 airstrikes against Islamic State militants in eastern Afghanistan in the past three weeks, as the U.S. expands its fight against the insurgent group beyond Iraq and Syria. The strikes come in the wake of a decision by the Obama administration to give… Read More