A drone strike caused a massive explosion last week at a munitions depot run by an Iranian-backed militia near Iraq's capital, Baghdad, according to an Iraqi government report obtained Wednesday. The finding deepens the question of who is behind a string of at least four mysterious explosions that have hit militia bases in Iraq over the past month.

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 07:39:02 -0400

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday Tehran may act "unpredictably" in response to the United States' "unpredictable" policies under U.S. President Donald Trump. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since President Trump’s administration last year quit an international deal to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and began to ratchet up sanctions. President Trump cannot expect to be unpredictable and expect others to be predictable.

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 07:18:33 -0400

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to tell German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday that unless she agrees to change the Brexit deal, Britain will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 without a deal. More than three years after the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, it is still unclear on what terms - or indeed whether - the bloc's second largest economy will leave the club it joined in 1973.

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 07:12:43 -0400

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that Britain should not expect changes to the existing Brexit deal, adding that the situation had not changed with the change of government in Britain. "We have prepared a treaty and nobody should expect any of its provisions to be changed," Scholz told a news conference. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin later on Wednesday and tell her that unless she agrees to change the Brexit deal, Britain will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 without a deal.

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 06:35:39 -0400

Germany says it plans to take a more active role in Arctic affairs, citing the far north's growing ecological, political and economic significance as a result of climate change. Cabinet passed a resolution Wednesday declaring its intention to send German experts to advise the Arctic Council. It also plans to campaign for an expansion of environmental protection areas in the Arctic and explore the potential that the increasingly ice-free Northwest and Northern Passages have for shipping during the summer.

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 06:35:34 -0400