A Palestinian rights activist has praised a report this week by a Beirut-based U.N. agency that promotes development in Arab countries for concluding that Israel established an "apartheid regime." Omar Barghouti said Thursday that the report published this week by the United Nations Economic...

Iraqi authorities said Thursday that more than 150,000 people have fled fighting in and around west Mosul since security forces launched an operation to retake it from extremists last month. The International Organization for Migration released displacement figures Wednesday indicating that...

 Iraqi government forces attempted to encircle Mosul's Old City Thursday in a bid to bottle up ISIS fighters holding out there, but progress was slowed by car bombs and booby-traps in houses and alleyways, officers said. The army and security forces have made significant gains in recent...

Billions of dollars will be pumped into a massive hydro-electric project in Australia, the prime minister said Thursday, as the country faces a growing power crisis after a huge blackout and heatwave strained supplies. The expansion of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in New South Wales state...

Libya's former prime minister Khalifa Ghweil was wounded in heavy fighting in the capital Tripoli Wednesday but his injuries are not life threatening, sources close to him said. Militia loyal to the ex-premier exchanged artillery fire with forces of the U.N.-backed government for several...

China is retaliating over South Korea's agreement to host the U.S. THAAD missile defense system because it does not understand it is aimed only at defending against North Korea, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam said Thursday. South Korean firms feel they are being retaliated...

The Israeli air force carried out raids on Gaza early Thursday after a rocket was fired from the Palestinian enclave towards Israel, sources on both sides said. Neither of the attacks caused casualties, the Israeli army and Palestinian sources confirmed. The firing of projectiles towards...

Nearly two years in the dock over an anti-fascist rapper's murder have done little to blunt the swagger of Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn. The ultranationalist party remains the fourth largest in parliament, and the Greek authorities continue to grapple with how to confront the aggressive...

While Iranians would bear the brunt of Donald Trump's visa ban, which has been blocked on the orders of a U.S. court, international officials say the country has quietly emerged as one of the most generous towards refugees. "The leadership demonstrated by the Iranian government has been...

Saudi Arabia's King Salman oversaw the signing of deals worth potentially $65 billion as he began a visit to Beijing Thursday, as the world's largest oil producer looks to cement ties with the world's second-largest economy. The octogenarian monarch, who has overseen the launch of an...

Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco will resume oil product shipments to Egypt some six months after halting them suddenly, the Egyptian Petroleum Ministry said on Wednesday, signalling a potential thaw in relations after months of tension. The ministry said in a statement that it was...

President Donald Trump's revised travel ban underwent its first legal challenge in federal court Wednesday before a judge who could conceivably halt it a day before it is scheduled to take effect. The 90-minute hearing was held in Greenbelt, Maryland not far from Washington and Judge...

 U.S.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the United States will not continue participating in the Human Rights Council unless the U.N. rights agency undergoes "considerable reform." He gave no time frame for reforms to take place, saying in a letter to eight non-governmental...

Eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a crowded street in the Iraqi city of Tikrit Wednesday, a local official said. The car was parked in al-Atibaa Street ("Doctors Street" in English) in downtown Tikrit, which is often crowded as it has many clinics....

French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux said Wednesday that security forces would start dismantling another migrant camp on the north coast near the port of Dunkirk "as soon as possible" after clashes there. The number of people staying in the Grande-Synthe camp has swelled to about...

 A Saudi soldier was killed by gunmen late on Tuesday in the Eastern city of Qatif, in an incident the interior ministry said was carried out by "terrorist elements." The security patrol came under fire upon approaching a suspicious vehicle, the statement carried by state news agency...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday said the "spirit of fascism" was rampant on the streets of Europe, comparing the treatment of non-Europeans there to that of the Jews in World War II. "The spirit of fascism is running wild on the streets of Europe," Erdogan said in a...

The White House acknowledged late Tuesday that Donald Trump paid $38 million in taxes in 2005, a rare view into the president's jealously guarded finances that was leaked to the U.S. media. Trump reported an income of $150 million, and paid an overall tax rate of around 25 percent. But the...

 Nearly 100,000 Iraqis have fled the battle to retake west Mosul from ISIS, the International Organization for Migration said Wednesday. Iraqi forces launched a major push last month to recapture west Mosul, which is the most populated urban area still held by ISIS, with an estimated...

Four female suicide bombers blew themselves up near a bus station in northeastern Nigeria early Wednesday, killing two people, the country's disaster agency said. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the blasts occurred at about 1:15 am (0015 GMT) in the Usmanti area on the...