The second round of U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s energy sector -- the country's main source of income -- came into force this week, which could have the effect of reducing Iran's crude oil exports. Some observers fear the move could lead to rising living costs and push a significant...

Prosecutors are investigating a top city official in southern Sweden over Islamophobic remarks. Christopher Larsson, vice mayor of the southern coastal city of Karlskrona, is accused of committing a hate crime in a social media posting last year. On Facebook, arguing that...

Jewish settlers on Friday morning vandalized Palestinian buildings and vehicles in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Salfit, according to a Palestinian activist. Activist Wissam al-Dik told Anadolu Agency that a group of settlers had entered the city’s Kafr al-Dik district at dawn,...

On Oct. 30, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for the cessation of hostilities in Yemen. He said in a statement that missile and drone strikes by Iran-allied Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates should stop and air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition must cease...

The U.S. envoy for Afghan reconciliation will visit Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar with an American delegation later this month, the State Department announced Thursday, amid looming peace talks. Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad's travel will take place from Nov. 8-20 and...

The fiancée of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi expressed shock and sadness Thursday upon hearing the latest reports on his killing. "I'm unable to express my sorrow to learn about [the] dissolving [of] your body Jamal! They killed you and chopped up your body, depriving me and your...

The United States will no longer allow people who enter the country illegally to claim asylum, officials said Thursday, unveiling a controversial new crackdown on immigration. The restriction on asylum claims will seek to address what a senior administration official called the "historically...

Italian police discovered 270 kg of heroin hidden in a container that arrived aboard a ship from Iran, the biggest such haul for at least 20 years in Italy, police said Thursday. The freighter had set sail from the Iranian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas and stopped off in Hamburg, Germany...

President Donald Trump's strategy to contain Iranian power in the Middle East by forging Arab allies into a U.S.-backed security alliance was in trouble even before the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Now, three U.S. sources said, the plan faces fresh complications....

German shipbuilder Luerssen has suspended production of coastguard vessels it was building for Saudi Arabia and placed large numbers of staff on short hours, blaming uncertainty over whether Berlin would grant future weapons export licences. After dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi...

If Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad heads a post-civil war Syria, Syrians who are refugees in other countries will not be able to return, according to a leading Turkish parliamentarian. "Of course, the Syrian people will make the main decision on who will replace Assad," Volkan...

Ongoing violence in Yemen’s Al-Hudaydah province between the country’s Saudi-backed government and Houthi rebels “puts tens of thousands of already vulnerable people at risk”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday. “The violence [in Al-Hudaydah] is now in close proximity to...

Archeologists discovered a series of 40,000-year-old cave paintings, oldest known figurative art, in the Indonesian island of Borneo. The paintings were found in the Lubang Jeriji Saleh cave hidden behind the cluster of secluded karst mountains located in the East Kalimantan province at...

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Friday, the presidential press office said Thursday. The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations and regional issues during the meeting in Turkey, according to a statement from the...

The Kremlin said Thursday that the Washington investigation into alleged interference by Moscow in the 2016 U.S. election was not Russia's problem, after President Donald Trump sacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "This investigation is a headache for our American colleagues, it has...

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said Thursday he was ready to swear in ten new ministers named in a reshuffle that he had originally rejected, easing a high-level political standoff that has alarmed donors. Prime Minister Youssef Chahed announced the reshuffle on Monday – but...

Iran's oil minister predicts a painful time for international oil customers as U.S. sanctions take hold, saying waivers Washington granted to eight major oil-importing countries are not enough for market demands. Iranian state TV Thursday quoted the minster, Bijan Zanganeh, as saying he...

Air pollution in New Delhi hit hazardous levels Thursday after a night of free-for-all Diwali fireworks, despite Supreme Court efforts to curb the smog-fuelling partying. Major monuments including the India Gate and Red Fort were hidden by a toxic haze. Commuters donned masks as visibility...

President Trump’s combative relationship with the media deteriorated further Wednesday with a news conference where he called some reporters rude and accused a PBS reporter of posing a racist question when she asked him about white nationalists. “It’s such a hostile media,” Trump said...

Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman whose conviction and death sentence for blasphemy was reversed last week by the Supreme Court has been released from prison, officials said late Wednesday. Bibi, a mother of five, had been released from a prison in Multan, a city in southern Punjab...