International Committee of the Red Cross

New Zealand’s foreign minister confirmed Monday that a New Zealand nurse has been held captive by the Islamic State group in Syria for almost six years, information long kept secret for fear her life might be at risk. The status of nurse and midwife Louisa Akavi, now 62, is unknown, but her employer, the International Committee of the Red Cross,...

Cyclone Idai’s death toll has risen above 750 in the three southern African countries hit 10 days ago by the storm, as workers restore electricity, water and try to prevent outbreak of cholera, authorities said Sunday. In Mozambique the number of dead has risen to 446 while there are 259 dead in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi...

A second week has begun of efforts to find and help tens of thousands of people after Cyclone Idai devastated a large swath of Mozambique. Members of the Indian and South African militaries are joining aid groups in flying over stretches of central Mozambique as they look for signs of life and people in need. No one knows how many...

Yemen’s Shiite rebels on Friday backed a U.N. call for a probe into a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the country’s north that killed dozens of people the previous day, including many children, in an attack that drew wide international criticism. Senior Yemeni rebel leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on Twitter that the rebels — known as Houthis — welcome the...

Yemen’s Shiite rebels on Friday backed a U.N. call for a probe into a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in the country’s north that killed dozens of people the previous day, including many children, in an attack that drew wide international criticism. Senior Yemeni rebel leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on Twitter that the rebels — known as Houthis — welcome the...

Desperate for food and basic medicines, many of the besieged and bombarded Syrian civilians in Damascus’ eastern suburbs of Ghouta waited on Monday as a 46-truck convoy organized by the United Nations and key aid agencies began entering the rebel-held enclave. The U.N.’s humanitarian office said the convoy with health and nutrition supplies, along with food for 27,500 people in...

Hundreds of civilians streamed out of a town in Syria’s besieged, opposition-held enclave of eastern Ghouta on Thursday, crossing on foot to government-held territory near the capital, Damascus, according to footage on state-run Syrian television. Al-Ikhbariya TV showed men, women and children walking out of the town of Hamouria, some carrying their belongings, including clothes and mattresses, over their heads....

The United States will contribute nearly $32 million in humanitarian aid to help Rohingya Muslim refugees, the State Department said Wednesday, in the Trump administration’s first major response to the mass exodus from Myanmar. The new money for food, medical care, water, sanitation and shelter comes as the U.S. joins a growing chorus of international condemnation over the minority group’s...

The 82 Nigerian schoolgirls recently released after more than three years in Boko Haram captivity reunited with their families Saturday as anxious parents looked for signs of how deeply the extremists had changed their daughters’ lives. Brightly dressed families rushed through the crowd in the capital, Abuja, and embraced. One small group sank to their knees, with a woman raising...

Five Boko Haram commanders have been released in exchange for the freedom of 82 Chibok schoolgirls, says a Nigerian government official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to reporters on the matter. The confirmation of the prisoner swap Sunday comes a day after the young women were liberated after more than three...

New aerial footage released by the International Committee of the Red Cross shows widespread devastation in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, which the organization called a “ghost town.” U.S.-backed Iraqi forces ran ISIS out of Ramadi in December. While the offensive was viewed as a victory, it left the once-bustling city which formerly was home to 1 million people largely...