Iran sentenced a French-Iranian academic to five years in prison on national security charges on Saturday, her lawyer told AFP. Fariba Adelkhah was "sentenced to five years for gathering and conspiring against national security, and one year for propaganda against the Islamic republic,"...

A court in Istanbul on Friday accepted an indictment against four pilots, an airline company official and two flight attendants accused of helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn escape from Japan to Lebanon via Turkey, and set a trial date for July 3. Prosecutors are seeking up to...

 French health authorities reported 104 new coronavirus deaths Friday, or a slowing increase of 0.4%, bringing the total to 27,529, still the fourth-highest in the world. In a statement, the ministry added the number of confirmed cases had risen to 141,919, up from 141,356 Thursday,...

Brazilian Health Minister Nelson Teich resigned Friday after less than a month on the job over what an official said was "incompatibility" with President Jair Bolsonaro's approach to fighting the country's spiralling coronavirus crisis. Teich, a 62-year-old oncologist, joined the far-right...

US President Donald Trump Friday said he hoped a COVID-19 vaccine would be available by the end of the year, and announced he was appointing a former pharmaceutical executive to spearhead the effort. "We are looking to get it by the end of the year if we can, maybe before," Trump said, as...

Jordan's king warned Israel of a "massive conflict" if it proceeds with plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, as European Union foreign ministers met Friday to discuss what action the bloc might take in response to such a move. Israel has vowed to annex Jewish settlements...

Seventeen attacks have been recorded since January against health facilities in Tripoli and its suburbs, the scene of deadly fighting for over a year, the UN mission in Libya said Friday. There have been "17 attacks/shelling on health facilities" in Libya since the start of this year, the...

Lionel Messi believes he is better off not thinking too much about the risk of being infected by the coronavirus as Spanish soccer clubs step up their return to activity, saying he looks forward to getting back to playing matches. Messi and his Barcelona team mates have been back at the...

Yemen's Saudi-backed government reported 21 new coronavirus cases Friday, including three deaths, the coronavirus committee said on Twitter. The committee added that 13 of the new cases were in Aden, and eight in Hadramout, including the three deaths. The Aden-based government committee...

Lebanon, whose currency has been pegged to the dollar for 23 years, is ready to float the pound only after it secures billions in aid, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Friday. Speaking to AFP after talks started Wednesday with the International Monetary Fund on a plan to rescue Lebanon's...

Gunmen who stormed a hospital in the Afghan capital this week had come to "kill the mothers," a medical charity said, as survivors expressed shock and horror at the gruesome attack. At least 24 people were killed -- including newborns, mothers and nurses -- when three armed men rampaged...

Despite the deadlock in post-Brexit EU trade talks and the disruption of coronavirus, London still refuses to consider delaying a December deadline -- and the outbreak may even have toughened its stance. When Britain left the European Union in January, both sides agreed to a standstill...

Hong Kong's police watchdog Friday exonerated officers for their handling of violent democracy protests last year, concluding that public anger towards the city's force was the result of online smear campaigns. The report by the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) into the protests...

Dr. Marwa al-Khafaji’s homecoming after 20 days in a hospital isolation ward was met by spite. Someone had barricaded her family home’s gate with a concrete block. The message from the neighbors was clear: She had survived coronavirus, but the stigma surrounding the disease would be a more...

Formula One's Belgian Grand Prix could be raced behind closed doors on August 30, local authorities announced on Friday. Despite a ban on mass gatherings in the country until August 31 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Wallonia's Minister-President Elio Di Rupo said the event could go ahead....

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday rejected German Chancellor Angela Merkel's accusations that Russian hackers had spied on her. "Five years have passed. Not a single concrete fact has been provided," Lavrov said in a live interview with Russia's RBK media group.

European Union foreign ministers will weigh later Friday what action the bloc could take should Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu push ahead with plans to annex the West Bank in coming months. The ministers had planned to welcome the formation of a new government and offer EU...

Democratic candidate Joe Biden said that if he wins the presidency he would not use his power to pardon Donald Trump or stop any investigations of Trump and his associates. "It is not something the president is entitled to do, to direct a prosecution or decide to drop a case," Biden said...

The Yemeni army announced Friday that scores of Houthi militia members were killed in clashes in Al-Bayda governorate.  The press office of the Yemeni military said many Houthis were also injured in the fighting. The Houthis have yet to comment on the incidents. Yemen has been...

The UN General Assembly will cast ballots in-person for five new non-permanent Security Council seats, its president said Thursday, effectively ruling out electronic voting despite the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to UN members obtained by AFP, President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande said...