Lebanon on Friday signed a request for financial help from the International Monetary Fund, initiating a long process the government hopes will ease the country’s worst post-war economic crisis. "Prime Minister Hassan Diab and Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni signed a request for assistance...

Three civilians were killed in shelling by forces loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar in Zintan city, northwestern Libya, on Friday. A medical source, who asked not to be named due to fear of reprisal, told Anadolu Agency the victims were civilians -- two of whom are women. Earlier...

US presidential candidate Joe Biden on Friday emphatically denied sexually assaulting a former staffer, saying the incident she claims occurred 27 years ago "never happened." "They aren't true. This never happened," Biden said in a statement regarding the accusations made by Tara Reade, a...

A bitter feud between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah appeared closer to resolution Friday after Abdullah said the two men had moved forward in talks. "We have made progress in negotiations & reached tentative agreement on a range of principles. Work on...

Iran on Friday rejected US claims it is helping Venezuela to rebuild its oil industry, saying the accusations are designed to increase pressure and disrupt the two countries' trade ties. Elliott Abrams, the envoy leading US efforts to topple Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, has...

A London judge Friday struck out elements of the Duchess of Sussex's high profile claim against a tabloid newspaper group for publishing a letter she wrote to her estranged father. The US one-time actress, who with her husband Prince Harry is waging an increasingly public war with some...

 Two medics in protective suits jumped out of a car in a deserted street in central Ankara and hurried inside a building - one carrying medical equipment and the other, paperwork. Some 15 minutes later, they sped off to their next appointment, one of nearly 6,000 teams deployed across...

Oil slipped to around $26 a barrel on Friday as weak demand due to the coronavirus crisis and excess supply pressured the market, even as OPEC and its allies began a record output cut. The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, has collapsed 60 percent in 2020 and reached a 21-year low last...

The death toll in Iran from the coronavirus surged to 6,091, as 63 new deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, state media said on Friday. A total of 1,006 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total infections to 95,646, Iran's state broadcaster...

As Madrid closes the massive makeshift hospital that was in the center of the fight against COVID-19, Spain registered 281 more COVID-19 deaths and 1,175 more infections on Friday. The data released by the Ministry of Health suggest that cases continue to decline in the country. In total,...

 Pakistani and Indian troops traded fire in the disputed region of Kashmir, killing three Pakistanis and a teenage Indian student, officials from the two sides said Thursday. In a statement, the military blamed Indian troops for initiating an "unprovoked cease-fire violation" in the...

A journalist who had worked for some of China's most powerful propaganda outlets has been jailed for 15 years after being accused of attacking the ruling Communist Party, court documents showed. The sentence handed down on Chen Jieren is one of the harshest moves yet against free speech by...

Iran has slammed Germany's ban on the activities of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on its soil, saying it would face consequences for its decision to give in to Israeli and US pressure. Germany branded Hezbollah a "Shiite terrorist organisation" on Thursday, with dozens of police and...

Egypt's army said on Thursday that 10 soldiers were either killed or wounded in a blast targeting an armoured vehicle in the restive northern Sinai. The attack occurred south the city of Bir al-Abed in the troubled North Sinai region, the epicentre of a long-running Islamist insurgency...

Australia will consider next Friday whether to relax coronavirus-related mobility restrictions, as the growth rate of new infections slows, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday following a national cabinet meeting. Morrison urged Australians to download an app aimed at tracing...

Libya's UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) conducted five air operations targeting militants loyal to renegade commander Khalifa Haftar at Al-Watiya airbase southwest of the capital Tripoli, a local official said early Friday. Al-Watiya is regarded as a key airbase in the...

Afghanistan, beset by a poor healthcare system, malnutrition, war and other vulnerabilities, likely is facing a “health disaster” from the coronavirus, a watchdog report to the U.S. Congress warns. The report released late on Thursday by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan...

Riot police hit Hong Kong's streets on Friday ahead of planned rallies by pro-democracy protesters who were looking to defy restrictions on gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic to voice anger against authoritarian Chinese rule. The semi-autonomous financial hub was upended by seven...

Donald Trump claimed he has seen evidence the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab, as he threatened tariffs on Beijing over its role in the global pandemic. The US president's assertion was immediately undermined by his intelligence chief and by his top diplomat, who said: "We don't...

Israel Thursday applauded Germany's decision to ban all activities of the Iran-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah as "a significant step in the global fight against terrorism". The German government labelled Hezbollah "a Shiite terrorist organisation" and announced raids on mosques and...