Iraq executed 21 men convicted of "terrorism" Monday at the notorious Nasiriyah prison in the country's south, medical and police sources said. The Iraqi men from various provinces had all been convicted under a 2005 Counter-Terrorism Law, which carries the death penalty, but there were no...

Stock markets jumped higher Monday on news that a second coronavirus vaccine showed promise, bolstering hopes even as new infections surged around the world. Pharmaceutical company Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5 percent effective, according to preliminary data. Markets rallied...

: Israeli protesters shouted down a group of European diplomats on Monday who were visiting the site of a planned settlement expansion in east Jerusalem that would make it even harder to establish a viable Palestinian state and could anger the incoming US administration. The diplomats went...

The "worst financial crisis" ever faced by the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees could lead to "disaster" in the Gaza Strip and insecurity in Lebanon, the organisation's chief has warned. Founded in 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East...

In a sun-baked and dusty wasteland in remote eastern Sudan, crews are labouring to rebuild a refugee camp for the 25,000 people who have fled heavy fighting in neighbouring Ethiopia's Tigray region. Exhausted and terrified men, women and children from the conflict zone have struggled...

For the second time this month, there's promising news from a COVID-19 vaccine candidate: Moderna said Monday its shots provide strong protection, a dash of hope against the grim backdrop of coronavirus surges in the U.S. and around the world. Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5%...

Iran confirmed 486 new coronavirus-related fatalities on Monday, taking the nationwide death toll to 41,979, according to the country's Health Ministry. Some 13,053 more people tested positive for the virus over the past 24 hours, pushing the tally up to 775,121, ministry spokeswoman Sima...

Pakistan authorities sealed off a major road into the capital Islamabad for a second day Monday as a far-right religious party held fresh anti-France protests. A rally in the neighboring city of Rawalpindi which attracted up to 5,000 people on Sunday spilled over into Monday, with around a...

The Turkish Presidency on Monday submitted a motion to the parliament to deploy Turkish troops in Azerbaijan. The motion, which was submitted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, seeks to deploy troops for peacekeeping in Upper Karabakh region for one year. The...

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday will focus on plans for reviving a pandemic-battered U.S. economy as he prepares for his new administration, while President Donald Trump vowed to press ahead with long-shot court challenges to the election results. With the number of coronavirus cases...

Dr Khaled was queueing for petrol when he got an urgent call — a patient was bleeding from an artery. Normally, he would drive straight to his hospital in Damascus to help, but leaving now would mean giving up the position he had held for 18 hours in the queue. “If I don’t refill my car...

At sunrise in Gaza, the strip's coastal path begins to fill up with pedestrians, as growing numbers of Palestinians have taken up walking to relieve stress trapped inside the Israel-blockaded enclave. Life in Gaza, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas since 2007, was mentally taxing even...

Saudi Aramco said on Monday it has hired a group of banks ahead of a multi-tranche U.S. dollar-denominated bond issuance, as the world's largest oil company seeks to raise cash amid lower oil prices. Goldman Sachs, Citi, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and NCB Capital were hired to arrange...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered a tightening of state emergency anti-coronavirus systems in the face of the worldwide pandemic, as he presided over a meeting of the politburo of the ruling Workers Party, state news agency KCNA said on Monday. The meeting came amid economic and...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, government sources said Sunday. Johnson will self-isolate in Downing Street, where he will continue to work, said a spokesman. “Prime Minister...

The UN-brokered Libyan Political Dialogue Forum has been postponed until next week due to a lack of consensus on who will lead the transition process. Stephanie Turco Williams, head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), announced at a press conference on the closing day of the forum...

Egypt’s Mostaqbal Watn (Nation’s Future) Party took a commanding lead in parliamentary polls on Sunday as the election commission announced results from a second round of voting. Pre-selected lists headed by the party, which strongly supports Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, won all...

Peru's interim president, Manuel Merino, resigned on Sunday, less than a week into his new administration, after protests calling for his removal left two dead and dozens injured, plunging the country into yet another political crisis.  "I want to let the whole country know that I'm...

Turkey has registered 3,223 more COVID-19 patients over the past 24 hours, according to figures by the Health Ministry on Sunday.  The country's overall COVID-19 count now stands at 414,278 cases, the data showed. As many as 2,561 more patients also recovered during this period,...

Amid stalled peace talks with the Taliban, Afghanistan on Sunday issued a list of at least 1,100 insurgents killed in ongoing clashes during the past 25 days. According to the Interior Ministry, scores of key Taliban commanders and foreign militants have been killed by Afghan forces in this...