An investigator for the UN Human Rights Council urged member states Thursday to pressure Saudi Arabia to free women activists before a G20 nations summit which Riyadh will be hosting in November. At least a dozen prominent women's rights activists were arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2018 as it...

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused "criminal hooligans" Thursday of driving the violence in protests that have erupted in Belgrade and other cities over the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Clouds of tear gas and smoke filled central Belgrade Wednesday evening for...

Sebastian Vettel should abandon hopes of racing in Formula One next year and take a break from the sport, influential Red Bull advisor Helmet Marko said Thursday. The 77-year-old Austrian knows Vettel well and believes there are no serious vacancies on the 2021 grid when he is dumped by...

The US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a New York prosecutor investigating President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization in connection with hush-money payments can obtain his financial records, including his tax returns. The 7-2 ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts means...

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi paid his respects on Wednesday to the family of slain scholar and government advisor Hisham al-Hashemi, pledging to "avenge" his death. Hashemi, 47, was a specialist in jihadist movements and had developed a vast network of top decision makers, armed...

 Iran reported a new single-day record death toll of 221 from the novel coronavirus on Thursday, after weeks of rising numbers in the Middle East's worst-hit country. "Unfortunately in the past 24 hours we have lost 221 of our compatriots to the COVID-19 disease," health ministry...

Williams driver George Russell will be powered by a new Mercedes engine at this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix, the second round of the 2020 championship, at the Red Bull Ring. The highly-rated Briton had power problems during last weekend’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix during which he...

Two Palestinian mothers are being held in solitary confinement in Israel without access to medical care, according to their families and a human rights activist. After nearly four weeks in isolation, Muna Naddaf from the Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association managed to...

Libya's permanent representative to the UN said that his country "no longer accepts the UAE's presence in its political dialogues". This came during Taher al-Sunni's speech at the UN Security Council session on Libya, late Wednesday in New York. "The UAE is involved in supporting the...

Five million people in Australia's second-biggest city began a new lockdown Thursday, returning to tough restrictions just weeks after they ended as Melbourne grapples with a resurgence of coronavirus cases. Residents have been told to stay at home for six weeks after other measures to...

Emirates laid off more pilots and cabin crew this week in another round of job cuts as the Gulf airline shrinks its workforce due to the coronavirus pandemic, four sources said. The Dubai state-owned carrier is cutting thousands of jobs, including pilots and cabin crew as it manages a cash...

 In Yemen's Taiz, cemetery supervisor Dabwan al-Makhlaafi had to hire mechanical diggers to keep up with demand for new graves at a cemetery originally built for fallen government fighters, as coronavirus spreads through the war-torn country. "Workers were not able to keep up with the...

Oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as concerns about renewed COVID-19 lockdowns in the United States outweighed signs of a recovery in U.S. gasoline demand. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell 14 cents, or 0.3%, to $40.76 a barrel by 0229 GMT, after rising 0.7% on...

Global coronavirus cases exceeded 12 million late Wednesday, according to a running tally by US-based Johns Hopkins University.    The number of deaths from the virus has reached 548,822, with recoveries topping 6.5 million.  The US remains the worst-hit country with over...

George Floyd said he couldn't breathe more than 20 times, called out for his children and late mother and said officers would "kill" him before he died in Minneapolis police custody, new evidence showed. Floyd, a black man, died on May 25 when a white police officer knelt on his neck for...

US coronavirus cases shot past 3 million on Wednesday, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. The Maryland university's tally counted 3,009,611 confirmed infections and 131,594 fatalities in the US, while 936,476 people have recovered from the disease since it first...

A powerful Iran-backed militia said Wednesday there would be "escalation" if Iraq's prime minister continues to clamp down on armed groups, as tensions spiked following the killing of a prominent analyst, pitting the state against rogue elements. Hostilities have flared as Iraq reels...

Steve, a German Shepherd, used to get his morning exercise by frolicking on Gaza's Mediterranean beaches. But since the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers Hamas imposed a ban on exercising pet dogs in public in mid-June, owner Ossama Al-Dahdouh has to walk Steve on the roof of his...

One of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top defence lawyers dropped his client Wednesday, sources said, after the premier was denied permission to receive private funding for his legal team. Netanyahu, who is standing trial over corruption allegations, which he denies, had...

France's new Prime Minister Jean Castex has said he will take a targeted approach with the onset of further COVID-19 outbreaks, with a nationwide confinement however to be avoided at all costs. In a Wednesday morning interview with French broadcaster BFMTV, Castex pledged to continue...