US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller met Tuesday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul during an unannounced visit to Afghanistan. Miller, who is acting head of the Pentagon until President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month, and Ghani discussed the ongoing talks with the...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday voiced regret over a stalemate in maritime border talks between Israel and Lebanon and offered Washington's meditation. The two nations which remain technically at war opened negotiations in October after quiet US diplomacy, seeking to clear the...

Thousands of protesters rallied in Armenia's capital on Tuesday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resign over a controversial peace deal with Azerbaijan as the opposition launched a nationwide strike. Some 25,000 protesters flooded the centre of Yerevan, according to an AFP...

Sudan's Justice Ministry said Tuesday the U.S. Congress has moved forward on Washington's promise to end the African country's pariah status, passing legislation that grants Sudan some immunity from legal action by Americans against its involvement in militant attacks. The legislation, part...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the government is focused on the education and empowerment of Muslim girls in the country. Speaking at the centennial celebrations of India’s world-famous Aligarh Muslim University via video conferencing, Modi said school dropout of Muslim...

Iraq has signed a preliminary deal to receive 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in early 2021, the health ministry said. The country has been among the hardest-hit in the Middle East, with more than 580,000 reported cases although numbers have dropped dramatically...

The fifth edition of annual art festival “Syrien N’est Fait” begun alast week under, taking place exclusively online due to the coronavirus pandemic.  The festival, held in Paris every year, is dedicated to the Syrian contemporary art scene, from plastic art, to theatre, cinema,...

The coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Olympics will cost at least 1.64 trillion yen ($15.9 billion), organisers said Tuesday, unveiling a final budget swollen by the unprecedented postponement and a raft of pandemic measures. The extra costs -- up 294 billion yen ($2.8 billion) from figures...

Near the wreckage of Beirut’s port, a charity is bringing Christmas cheer to a city hammered by a devastating explosion, rising coronavirus infections and the worst economic crisis since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. The Solidarity Christmas Village, decked out with flashing fairy lights...

Often injured in high-risk jumps over obstacles in cemeteries and abandoned buildings, Gaza's parkour enthusiasts can now practice their niche sport on safer ground. The Palestinian territory's first parkour gym - equipped with wooden boxes over which youngsters can soar in twists and...

China on Tuesday said its newly-built indigenous rocket made a successful flight to space with five satellites. Deemed as a major push in China’s space program project, the 356-ton new rocket from Long March series is said “to become reusable 10 times by 2025, and by 2035,” Chinese daily...

 Israel sent envoys to Morocco on Tuesday to meet its king and hammer out an upgrade of ties that was forged by the White House in a parting foreign-policy push by U.S. President Donald Trump. Led by National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, the delegates were accompanied to Rabat by...

Israel on Tuesday was on course for a fourth national election in two years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main governing partner, Benny Gantz, failed to resolve a dispute over the budget. Parliament voted late on Monday against an attempt by both men to delay a deadline of...

 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is working with France in an attempt to find a way to lift border closures that have snarled one of Europe’s most important trade routes just days before the Brexit cliff edge. Much of the world closed borders to the United Kingdom...

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday he wanted to meet with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden as soon as possible to discuss the U.S.-Japan security alliance, the coronavirus pandemic and global warming. Suga, speaking at a symposium, also said Japan was preparing to...

Youssef Abdelkarim's storefront on one of Baghdad's most historic streets is a time capsule -- literally. Thousands of wristwatches fill the tiny shop, where three generations have repaired Iraq's oldest timepieces. The dusty display window on Rasheed Street features a single row of classic...

Four doctors who worked at an Afghan prison with hundreds of Taliban inmates were among five people killed Tuesday when a bomb attached to their car exploded, police said. The blast happened in a southern district of the city when the doctors were travelling to the Pul-e-Charkhi prison...

A fast-spreading new strain of the coronavirus which has emerged in the UK and its potential implications for public health have begun to be examined, according to a report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).  Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Dr. Ismail Balik,...

The UK has reported a new variant of coronavirus that officials say transmits more quickly, but there has been no evidence so far it is more likely to cause severe disease or mortality, the World Health Organization chief said Monday. "What we understand so far from the data that's been...

An American nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine traversed the strategically vital waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula on Monday, the U.S. Navy said, a rare announcement that comes amid rising tensions with Iran. The Navy’s 5th Fleet based in Bahrain said the Ohio-class...