Eight months into a strict, coronavirus-triggered border shutdown, nuclear-armed North Korea is widely expected to stage an attention-grabbing display of its latest and most advanced weaponry at a mass military parade in Pyongyang on Saturday. The cavalcade will mark the 75th anniversary of...

The United States is preparing to impose fresh sanctions on Iran’s financial industry as soon as Thursday, a Republican congressional aide briefed on the matter said, as Washington ramps up pressure on Tehran weeks ahead of a key U.S. election. The move, which would effectively shut Iran...

Kuwait’s parliament unanimously voted on Thursday to endorse veteran security chief Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad as crown prince after the new emir named him on Wednesday, the parliament said on Twitter. Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah assumed power as emir following the death of his brother...

Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Brazil have passed 5 million, with the country’s death toll approaching 150,000, health authorities confirmed Wednesday.   The country reported 31,553 new cases, bringing the total number of infections to 5,000,694.  More than...

In normal times, vice presidential debates don't matter much. But in an election year as wild as 2020, everything is magnified. Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday faced considerable pressure to boost coronavirus-stricken President Donald Trump's flagging reelection hopes as he...

The United States will go down to 2,500 troops in Afghanistan early next year, U.S. national security adviser Robert O’Brien said on Wednesday, offering greater detail about the pace and scope of the drawdown from America’s longest war. “When President Trump took office, there were over...

Tunisia was expected on Wednesday to announce a curfew in the capital after the governors of four provinces that make up greater Tunis called for action to halt a surge in coronavirus infections. “The decision has come too late but it will help us break the rise in cases,” said Imed...

US President Donald Trump has been clear from coronavirus symptoms for more than 24 hours, his physician said Wednesday. Sean Conley said in a White House memo that Trump said Wednesday morning that he feels "great" and his physical exam and vital signs "all remain stable and in normal...

As many as 115 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty this year due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the World Bank warned Wednesday. That is higher than the bank previously estimated, even as recently as August, when the worst case was put at 100...

When Jamal al-Fallah tried to withdraw money from his bank in Benghazi, he was told no cash was available, the result of financial problems in eastern Libya aggravating a cash shortage that has hit the whole country. With debts of tens of billions of dollars, and local banks suffering,...

Relatives and supporters of a Palestinian man held without charge by Israel said he was in critical condition in an Israeli hospital Wednesday following a hunger strike of more than 70 days. Maher al-Akhras, 49, began his hunger strike after he was arrested and placed into administrative...

Algeria launched its campaign Wednesday for constitutional reforms for a "New Republic" that the government hopes will satisfy a popular protest movement - to the apparent indifference of many. The constitutional changes, a flagship initiative of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, are set to...

France will hold a humanitarian aid conference for Lebanon in November, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Wednesday. The conference was initially planned for the end of October. Le Drian also told the French National Assembly that the Lebanon international contact group...

 The week that Israel and the United Arab Emirates normalised ties, Israeli diamond trader Zvi Shimshi headed to the United Arab Emirates to open a company in Dubai, a regional trade hub that is a major centre for the precious stones. He is among 38 Israelis whom the Dubai Multi...

The EU will keep working with Turkey in order to help settle conflicts and stop hostilities, such as those between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said the EU foreign policy chief on Wednesday. Responding to an EU parliamentarian’s repeated demands that the EU “act” against Turkey over its alleged...

Two scientists are sharing the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the tools to edit DNA, the molecular basis of all life on Earth, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Wednesday. Emmanuelle Charpentier, professor at the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in...

New York-based Delta Children, which makes cribs in China for retailers such as Walmart, briefly studied moving production to the United States as supply shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic added to its hefty bill from US import tariffs. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross predicted in...

Kuwait's new ruler Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Wednesday named Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah as crown prince of the US-allied OPEC member state, state news agency KUNA said, citing a statement from his office. Sheikh Meshal is deputy chief of the National Guard and a...

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani Wednesday warned that his country will not tolerate the presence of foreign fighters - "terrorists that Iran has fought for years" - near its northern border, where a conflict is raging between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Rouhani did not elaborate but Armenia...

Palestinians are installing a video surveillance system in a remote village in the occupied West Bank to keep an eye on nearby Israeli settlers who they accuse of frequent attacks. The project's founders hope the closed-circuit television cameras around Kisan, which lies in an area under...