Major powers discuss Venezuelan crisis

BOGOTA, Colombia - Sweden is hosting talks between major global powers with stakes in dealing with Venezuela's political turmoil, the latest effort to jumpstart flagging attempts to find a peaceful solution to the country's crisis.

Trump loses Sarah Sanders in another White House departure

WASHINGTON - White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, a fierce loyalist of US President Donald Trump who channeled his combativeness toward the news media, will leave her job at the month's end for a possible political future in her home state of Arkansas, Trump said on Thursday.

Iran denies US claims on Gulf of Oman tanker attacks

DUBAI - Iran dismissed as "baseless" on Friday US accusations that it carried out twin attacks that left two tankers ablaze in the Gulf of Oman, escalating tensions across the region and sending world oil prices soaring.

More details of scholar's murder revealed

More evidence and details emerged as prosecutors laid out their case in the federal death penalty trial of Brendt Christensen in the slaying of 26-year-old missing Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, at the federal courthouse on Thursday.

IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Carter receives statesmanship award

Former US president Jimmy Carter has been selected to receive the first statesmanship award by the foundation of former Republican president George H.W. Bush, at an event where participants called for wisdom and vision to put right the relationship of the world's top two economies.

Second patient dies of Ebola in Uganda

The grandmother of the 5-year old boy who was the first confirmed case of Ebola in Uganda has also succumbed to the deadly disease while undergoing treatment in Uganda, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Brexit revealed to be turning public off news

Much has been made by both sides of the political divide over what the impact of Brexit will be, should it ever come about, but a new survey by the University of Oxford's Reuters Institute has revealed that it is already having one effect - turning people off following the news.

'Sweetener' strategy on trade dispute set to fail

The US-China trade tension is a cover for a strategic competition between the two countries, but what the United States is doing now is very shortsighted and is "bound to fail", according to the president of the Royal Institute of East-West Strategic Studies in Oxford, England.

China's past points way to future travel

Michele Pallmer is just one of many people today who uses a compass app on their smartphones, but it was not until she visited the Vienna International Center on the campus of the city's United Nations office that she discovered the device's Chinese origins.

India set to evacuate 300,000 in path of 2nd major cyclone this year

AHMEDABAD, India - Almost 300,000 people are set to be evacuated from India's western state of Gujarat and union territory Diu. Both areas appear to be in the likely path of India's second major storm of the season, which is due in two days, authorities said on Wednesday.

Yum! People eat 250g of plastic a year

PARIS - People worldwide could be ingesting five grams of microscopic plastic particles every week, equivalent in weight to a credit card, researchers said on Wednesday.