Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund reached a much-awaited preliminary agreement Wednesday for the release of $700 million from a $3 billion bailout fund approved by the international lender in July.The standby credit fund is meant to save cash-strapped Pakistan from default.The two sides reached the staff-level agreement during talks…

Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom House of Commons voted against an amendment demanding its government call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.The amendment was added to the government’s legislative agenda for 2024 on Wednesday, but wasn’t passed by Members of Parliament.According to Reuters, the Scottish National Party…

Authorities in Madagascar imposed a night-time curfew in the capital after some polling stations were set on fire ahead of Thursday’s presidential elections that most opposition candidates are boycotting.President Andry Rajoelina has pushed for a vote seeking reelection to a second term as the island nation has been roiled by…

A heavily armed gang surrounded a hospital in Haiti on Wednesday, trapping women, children and newborns inside until police rescued them, according to the director of the medical center who pleaded for help via social media.Jose Ulysse, founder and director of the Fontaine Hospital Center in the sprawling Cite Soleil…

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a video Wednesday showing what it said were weapons in a Hamas-run hospital inside the Gaza Strip amid international criticism that Israel has targeted medical facilities in its war with the terror group.Israel, as well as many experts, have long said that Hamas uses hospitals…

The FBI added Haitian gang leader Vitel’Homme Innocent to the agency’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list for his alleged role in kidnapping 16 Americans and the killing of another.A Nov. 7, 2022, federal indictment charged Innocent with conspiracy to commit hostage-taking and hostage-taking for his alleged role in the armed…

A police officer being investigated in the killing of a 17-year-old of North African origin that touched off riots around France was freed from jail Wednesday while the probe continues.The prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, where Nahel Merzouk was shot, said magistrates concluded that continued detention of…

Spain’s acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday defended his controversial amnesty deal for Catalonia’s separatists in parliament a day before the Socialist leader seeks the endorsement of the chamber to form a new government.Sánchez has the support of six smaller parties to ensure that he can reach the absolute…

Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa warned Wednesday that the southern African country is “heading into a dangerous direction” following the murder of Tapfumaneyi Masaya.Masaya, a 51-year-old activist and member of Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change, was seized by a group of unidentified individuals before being carried into a vehicle and…

A French court issued a warrant for Syria’s president and senior Syrian officials for allegedly using banned chemical weapons against civilians, marking the first non-International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for a head of state. The warrant, which applies to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad and two other…