South Koreans massed in the streets of central Seoul Saturday, preparing for the largest protest yet against scandal-plagued President Park Geun-hye. Police expected up that a demonstration on the main street leading to the presidential Blue House could draw as many as 170,000 people,...

Spain's king will begin his first state visit to Saudi Arabia Saturday, with the possible sale of five warships to the oil-rich kingdom on top of the agenda, sparking protests from rights groups. Felipe VI will be accompanied during his three-day visit by Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis and...

An American drone strike thought to have struck Islamist militants in Somalia actually killed 10 members of a regional force allied with the United States, according to results of a Pentagon investigation that have not yet been made public. The September incident sheds light on the...

(The Guardian)- The battered pound has posted its best two-week performance in eight years after the surprise US election result took investor focus off the UK’s Brexit challenges. Market concerns shifted to the euro instead, on fears that Donald Trump’s victory will trigger a wave of...

The German government on Friday reached agreement on a long-delayed plan to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, clinching a deal ahead of next week's high-level global climate talks in Morocco. The agreement ends months of bickering in Chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right...

French President Francois Hollande and U.S President-elect Donald Trump had a phone conversation on Friday in which they agreed to clarify positions on key issues such as the Middle East and Ukraine, said a source in Hollande's camp. The source told Reuters that the phone conversation lasted...

Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia claim to have seized several villages in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Jizan province, the Houthi-run SABA news agency has reported. SABA quoted a military source as saying late Thursday that Houthi militiamen had taken control of the villages of Al-Kars and...

Saudi Arabia's government has set aside 100 billion riyals ($26.7 billion) to pay debts that it owes to private sector companies after payment delays that have lasted months, an official document seen by Reuters shows. To help curb a huge budget deficit caused by low oil prices, the...

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr claims Mikel Obi is being "punished" by Premier League club Chelsea for playing at the Rio Olympics. Mikel, 29, missed most of Chelsea pre-season as he helped his country win a bronze medal at the football event of the Summer Olympic Games. He has yet to play...

ISIS fighters have executed scores more people around Mosul this week and are reportedly stockpiling ammonia and sulfur in civilian areas, possibly for use as chemical weapons, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said Friday. A mass grave with over 100 bodies found in the town of...

Riot police and armored vehicles filled the otherwise empty streets of central Cairo early on Friday as security forces built up a heavy presence in anticipation of popular protests over deteriorating economic conditions. A little-known group calling itself Movement of the Poor has called...

Almost 1,600 square kilometers (617 square miles) of land in northern Syria has been cleared of Daesh terrorists as part of Operation Euphrates Shield. In the last three days, Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army forces (FSA), have reached within eight kilometers of the Al-Bab district, in the...

(Rudaw)- ISIS militants launched chemical weapons attacks on Qayyara in the weeks after Iraqi forces retook control of the town, a new report from Human Rights Watch confirmed.  The attacks, in September and October, “caused painful burns to at least seven people consistent with...

(Independent)- The mood is damp and oh so ugly. It is difficult to believe that in two months’ time, the first black President of the United States will hand over the keys to the White House to a man who got there on an Islamaphobic, xenophobic ticket and ended up being congratulated by a former...

President-elect Donald Trump's positions on Middle East issues, if carried out, could bring yet more volatility to the world's most combustible region. Besides vowing to rip up the international nuclear deal with Iran, Trump says he will ramp up the war on Islamic State militants; he could...

It wasn't coarse language that got Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte attention this time; it was his crooning. He and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak performed karaoke at a state dinner in Malaysia on Thursday. Duterte sang Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" while Najib...

The United States is continuing to reinforce its military forces in Europe as planned, irrespective of President-elect Donald Trump's future intentions, the Pentagon said Thursday. Trump, who will take office in January, raised serious concerns in Europe by promising during his campaign that...

Michelle Obama carried on an awkward White House tradition when she hosted Melania Trump for tea Thursday. It was their first meeting, coming on the heels of the ugliest campaign in recent history. They talked about raising children and took a tour of the White House’s private residence...

(Daily Sabah)- Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Thursday he knew who killed Yasser Arafat as he marked the 12th anniversary of the former leader's death but stopped short from giving a name. Speaking in front of thousands, Abbas said "you ask me who killed him, I know -- but my...

(Middle East Eye)- Egyptian authorities have frozen the assets of a prominent human rights group that works with torture victims, the head of the organisation said on Thursday. The move came months after authorities tried on two separate occasions to shut down the El Nadeem Centre for the...