Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that a National Assembly of unelected delegates would meet in February for the first time since 2016, part of a reform plan critics view as a stalling tactic to weather a political crisis. Belarus has been rocked by mass protests since...

Iran's state gas company said on Monday it had slashed supplies to neighbouring Iraq over arrears of more than $6 billion, after the Iraqi electricity ministry said the cuts placed Baghdad and other cities at risk of serious power shortages. "The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity owes more than...

Nearly two years after the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir, Sudan is taking steps to rejoin the international community from which it was long shunned. That includes its film industry. For the first time in its history, Sudan has a submission for the Academy Awards. Produced by a...

Iran warned Israel on Monday not to cross its "red lines" in the Gulf in the final days of Donald Trump's presidency and following a reported Israeli submarine deployment. Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh stressed the Islamic republic would defend itself against any American...

Pfizer has postponed the delivery of new batches of its coronavirus vaccine to eight European nations including Spain, the Spanish health ministry said Monday, a day after the EU began its immunisation campaign. The Spanish branch of Pfizer informed Madrid on Sunday night of the delay in...

Loujain al-Hathloul, who was sentenced on Monday to five years and eight months' prison, has become emblematic of the fight for women's rights in Saudi Arabia. The 31-year-old long campaigned for women to be able to drive and for an end to the kingdom's notorious guardianship system, which...

Covid and a traumatic presidential election left the US reeling in 2020, but even with Donald Trump gone and Joe Biden promising to heal the nation there'll be no quick return to normal in 2021. For many in the world's richest country, 2020 was the year that seemed never-ending -- an...

Saudi Arabia has extended its suspension of commercial passenger flights by at least one week and possibly two amid concerns over a new variant of the coronavirus. Saudi Arabi will however allow flights in "exceptional cases", an interior ministry official said according to the official...

Temperature checks, queues for tests and inspections at airports -- Chinese authorities have stepped up health checks to snuff out the threat of a coronavirus resurgence. China, where the virus first emerged around a year ago, largely contained its outbreak, and its economy has roared back...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday signed into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, restoring unemployment benefits to millions of Americans and averting a federal government shutdown in a crisis of his own making. Trump, who leaves office on Jan. 20 after losing...

Most British businesses have made preparations for the end of the Brexit transition period, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said on Monday, adding it was important they were ready for changes to trading and regulatory rules. Asked if businesses were ready for the end of the transition...

A Chinese court handed a four-year jail term on Monday to a citizen-journalist who reported from the central city of Wuhan at the peak of last year’s coronavirus outbreak, on grounds of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” her lawyer said. Zhang Zhan, 37, the first such person known to...

Lionel Messi will miss Barcelona's last match of the calendar year after the Catalan giants announced on Sunday that ankle treatment will keep him out of their midweek La Liga match with Eibar. In a statement, Barca said Messi "is completing the treatment for his right ankle, and is...

 United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, in his capacity as the ruler of Abu Dhabi, on Sunday established a Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs that will also oversee matters relating to petroleum and natural resources. The current Supreme...

Voters went to the polls in Niger on Sunday for an election that could seal a first peaceful handover between elected presidents, against the backdrop of a bloody jihadist insurgency. The West African country, unstable since gaining independence from France 60 years ago, is ranked the...

UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, called on Sunday for reaching a solution to the conflict in war-torn Yemen by 2021. "2020 has been another year of cruelty for Yemenis with the continuation of bloodshed, displacement, economic freefall, and the outbreak of COVID-19." Griffiths said in...

 Russia's president Vladimir Putin will receive the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian state TV channel on Sunday. "He said he will be vaccinated, he made this decision and was waiting until all formalities are completed," the...

 Iraq’s capital Baghdad and other cities are at risk of serious power shortages after Iran slashed gas exports, the electricity ministry said on Sunday, potentially placing further pressure on the government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Iran has reduced gas exports to Iraq to...

Brexit offers Britain a chance to do things differently in financial services, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday, but it will co-operate with the European Union on an approach to the sector despite little detail on the topic in its trade deal. From Jan. 1, British-based financial...

Israel was set Sunday to begin its third coronavirus lockdown, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced optimism that a "world record" vaccination drive will restore a degree of normality within weeks. After a sharp rebound in detected infections, Netanyahu's government announced three...