As night grips Jerusalem’s walled Old City, its ancient alleyways become a ghost town of haunting shadows and light. Mornings used to reveal bright picture-postcard scenes of tourists from around the world stopping to buy souvenirs at Palestinian shops as they made their way to biblical...

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech have applied to the European drugs regulator for conditional authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine, following similar steps in the United States and Britain, the companies said on Tuesday. The application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) comes after the...

Torn between health and economic concerns, Tunisia had relaxed its pandemic restrictions and reopened its borders in June, which resulted in a spike in infections and aggravated the country’s healthcare crisis. Anadolu Agency talked to some medical staff in Tunisia on main challenges they...

A draft bill requiring Iran’s government to pursue uranium enrichment of 20%, and to disregard other restraints put on its nuclear programme by an accord reached with foreign powers in 2015 cleared its first hurdle in parliament on Tuesday. The legislation was proposed in the wake of the...

The UN said Tuesday that $35 billion would be needed for aid in 2021, as the pandemic leaves tens of millions more people in crisis, and with the risk of multiple famines looming. The world body's annual Global Humanitarian Overview estimated that 235 million people worldwide will need some...

Azerbaijani soldiers on Tuesday hoisted their country's flag in the final district given up by Armenia under a peace deal that ended weeks of fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. A column of Azerbaijani military trucks entered the Lachin district overnight, taking over the...

World champion Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss this weekend's Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain, Formula One's governing body FIA announced Tuesday. "In accordance with COVID-19 protocols and public health authority guidelines in Bahrain he (Hamilton) is now...

Iran basketball team unbelievably lost to Syria in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 qualifiers on Monday. The Persians, who had humiliated the Syrian team 94-48 in last year’s February, lost 77-70 to the team in Doha, Qatar in Group E. George Earl Kell III had an...

The trial of Algerian opposition activist Karim Tabbou, a key figure in the Hirak anti-government protest movement, started Monday after a series of delays, one of his lawyers said. The 47-year-old is charged with "damaging the morale of the army". "The trial of Karim Tabbou...

Thousands flooded Iraq's southern hotspot of Nasiriyah on Monday as a resident died from wounds sustained in clashes last week between anti-government protesters and supporters of a controversial cleric. Ridha al-Rikaby was hit in the head by a bullet on Friday when followers of Shiite...

Twenty-nine arms control and human rights organizations have signed a letter opposing the sale of $23 billion worth of missiles, fighter jets and drones to the United Arab Emirates and asking the U.S. Congress to block the deal. “The hope is to stop these sales altogether,” said Seth...

US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday formally tapped ex-Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen to lead the Treasury, as he named officials to try to revitalize the world's largest economy. The United States is struggling with a massive Covid-19 outbreak that's caused tens of millions of...

Sudan has confirmed that an Israeli delegation visited Khartoum, a week after the mission, a pan-Arab news channel reported. The Sovereign Council, its highest ruling body, sought to play down the importance of the visit, saying it was not political. "We did not announce it at the time...

 OPEC held talks on Monday on whether to extend existing oil cuts for three to four months or lift output gradually from January, as the coronavirus crisis continues to pummel fuel demand. Officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and others, a group...

Maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel scheduled for Wednesday have been postponed, and U.S. mediators will now contact the two old foes separately, Israeli and Lebanese officials said on Monday. The negotiations were launched in October with delegations convening at a U.N. base...

Lebanese medical student Lara Mustafa faces eviction from Russia and the end of her dream of becoming a doctor if her parents, hit by Lebanon’s worst financial crisis in decades, cannot send her money to pay for rent and expenses. Another medical student, Wassim Hachem, 24, had to drop out...

French activists fear that a proposed new security law will deprive them of a potent weapon against abuse - cellphone videos of police activity - threatening their efforts to document possible cases of police brutality, especially in impoverished immigrant neighborhoods. French President...

China will impose sanctions on four people with links to U.S. democracy promotion efforts, it said on Monday, over what it called interference in the Asian financial hub of Hong Kong, following U.S. strictures on four Chinese individuals. Relations between the two nations have deteriorated...

The European Union will begin discussions on Monday on how best to improve transatlantic relations after the departure of U.S. President Donald Trump, EU officials said. Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries are due to consider five broad policy areas on which they see greater opportunities...

Yemeni health worker Fairouz Sanad lugs a coolbox of polio vaccines from house to house, dripping the liquid into children’s mouths hoping to stop an outbreak of the paralysing virus largely eradicated globally. As the world focussed on COVID-19 this year, the United Nations in August...