According to the Russian Defence Ministry, Russia's Chief of the armed forces Gerasimov has discussed the situation in Syria with the US counterpart Dunford during the voice call.
The US President Trump has blamed Democrat lawmakers for the Federal Government shutdown on Saturday, as they decided to play shutdown politics instead of making a deal.
Germany was lobbying among its European allies to weigh new sanctions against Iran to prevent Trump from closing the international deal restraining nuclear program of Tehran.
According to the senior members of the German SPD, they were assured that the party would approve formal coalition negotiations with Chancellor Merkel's conservatives at the congress.
Mitiga airport, the only functioning airport in Libya's capital Tripoli, reopened on Saturday after a weeklong closure caused by the deadly clashes, which damaged passenger jets.
According to a Turkish official, after liberation of Afrin Turkey plans to capture the city of Manbij from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
In an interview the President of France Emmanuel Macron stated that the United Kingdom would be able to negotiate a customized deal with the European Union.
According to the International Olympic Committee, North Korea will be represented by 22 athletes that will compete in three sports, including a joint team with South Korea in women's ice hockey.
According to a Kurdish official, the Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi met on early Saturday in the city of Baghdad with the Kurdish leader Nechirvan Barzani.
The Irish republican party Sinn Fein said on Saturday that Mary Lou McDonald was set to lead the party after Gerry Adams steps down having served over 30 years on the post.
On Saturday, China's largest commercial property company Dalian Wanda Group reported its revenue slipped for the second straight year, dropping 10.8% in 2017.
On Saturday, South Africa's national broadcaster eNCA said the ANC wanted to force Jacob Zuma to resign as president, however, the Congress declined to comment on the report.
The news agency TASS reported that the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister had informed about the decision of Russian and US diplomats to discuss North Korea in Moscow.
The Turkish army shelled several Kurdish positions located in the Afrin region, Syria, striking shelters and hideouts used by PKK, PYD, and YPG.
The US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis expressed his concerns about the government shutdown potentially affecting military operations.
Official media reported on Saturday that Myanmar was in the process of finalising Rohingya repatriation preparations in spite of mounting doubts over the programme in the UN.
On Saturday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused a US missile destroyer of entering its waters and thus violating the state's sovereignty.
During his visit to Peru, Pope Francis urged for a greater transparency among the country's public entities, private firms and civil society, calling corruption a social "virus".
Twitter announced it would notify certain users about being potentially exposed to the content created by an alleged Russian propaganda service during the 2016 US presidential election.
A survey published on Friday showed that there was no clear frontrunner in Costa Rica's presidential election next month, meaning there would probably be a second-round runoff.
The Unification Ministry of South Korea reported on Saturday that the unexpected cancellation of North Korea's visit to South Korea to prepare for the Winter Olympics was "not a permanent cancellation".
The US Senate was short of the votes required to approve the spending bill to keep the Federal government running, although the high-level negotiations continued.
Pope Francais has issued a ringing defence of the Amazon's environment and the people, saying that giant businesses could not be allowed to destroy planet's natural habitat.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Archer Daniels Midland, the US grain merchant, has proposed a merger with Bunge, a move that could initiate a battle with Swiss rival Glencore.