France can play a productive role in the Middle East by taking a “realistic and impartial approach”, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, in a phone call on Tuesday, according to Iranian state media. Tensions between Iran and France increased...

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun on Tuesday told Arab states that dealing with Lebanon required wisdom otherwise the country would be pushed “towards the fire”. Aoun’s warning followed an Arab League meeting on Sunday whose closing communique condemned the Iran-backed Lebanese Shi‘ite...

A car bomb killed at least 21 people and wounded dozens in a flashpoint town north of Baghdad Tuesday, a security official told AFP. Tuz Khurmatu, home to a mixed Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen population, was the scene of deadly violence in mid-October when Iraqi forces retook it from...

Tunisia will continue with a package of painful economic policies, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said Tuesday, despite resistance from labor unions and business associations to changes that will raise taxes and put thousands out of work. The North African country is under pressure from...

(Reuters) - A sound detected on Monday in the South Atlantic, near where an Argentine navy submarine with 44 crew went missing five days ago, is not believed to have come from the ill-fated vessel, a navy spokesman said. The sound detected by probes initially raised hopes that crew...

Lebanon’s army chief urged “full readiness” at the southern border to face the “threats of the Israeli enemy and its violations,” the army said in a tweet on Tuesday. Army Commander General Joseph Aoun called on soldiers to be ever vigilant for the “good implementation” of the U.N....

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would prefer a new election to ruling with a minority after talks on forming a three-way coalition failed overnight, but Germany’s president told parties they owed it to voters to try to form a government. The major obstacle to a three-way deal was...

President Donald Trump put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday, a designation that allows the United States to impose more sanctions and risks inflaming tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programs. The Republican president, who has...

About 300 wives and children of foreign extremists captured in Mosul have been transferred from northern Iraq to Baghdad "for expulsion to their home countries," an official told AFP Monday. "This is the second wave of expulsions, and two or three more will follow," said Nureddin...

The head of the World Food Program says millions in Yemen face the risk of more deaths as aid deliveries cannot get to the needy because the blockade by the Arab coalition is still in place. Stephen Anderson says it's "heartbreaking" that millions depend on sustained access to...

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by The International Criminal Court for genocide and war crimes related to the Darfur conflict, will visit Russia Thursday, the Kremlin said. The visit will be the long-time Sudanese leader's first official trip to Moscow. "We can...

Kenya’s Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta in last month’s repeat presidential vote, paving the way for him to be sworn in next week. Chief Justice David Maraga said all six judges dismissed the two legal challenges to the vote, but...

North Korea may conduct additional missile tests this year to polish up its long-range missile technology and ramp up the threat against the United States, South Korea’s spy agency said on Monday, adding that it was monitoring developments closely. North Korea is pursuing nuclear...

The U.N. refugee agency has urged Japan to resettle more asylum seekers, its chief said on Monday, pressuring the country to help solve a global crisis after giving refugee status to just three people in the first half of the year. Japan is one of the developed world’s least welcoming...

Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court ruled on Monday that a referendum held on Kurdish independence was unconstitutional and that the results of the vote were void, a court spokesman said. Kurds voted overwhelmingly to break away from Iraq in a referendum held on Sept. 25, defying the central...

Fifteen people were killed and five more injured when a stampede broke out in a southwestern Moroccan town on Sunday as food aid was being distributed in a market, the Interior Ministry said. A hospital source put the death toll at 18, adding that most victims were women who had been...

Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanese prime minister in a televised broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, will visit Egypt on Tuesday to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Hariri’s office said on Sunday. Hariri has since Saturday been in Paris, where he...

An Israeli cabinet minister said on Sunday that Israel has had covert contacts with Saudi Arabia amid common concerns over Iran, a first disclosure by a senior Israeli official of such contacts. In an interview on Army Radio, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz was asked why Israel was...

 Saudi Arabia and other Arab foreign ministers criticized Iran and its Lebanese Shi‘ite ally Hezbollah at an emergency meeting in Cairo on Sunday, calling for a united front to counter Iranian interference. Regional tensions have risen in recent weeks between Sunni monarchy Saudi...

Dozens of prisoners were freed by Afghan special forces during a raid on a Taliban jail in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday. Up to 30 civilians and police were rescued from the prison in Helmand province, where the militants have a large presence, during the operation late...