The Palestinians have abandoned their request for a vote at the UN Security Council Tuesday on rejecting the US Mideast plan, over a lack of international support, diplomats said. Introduced by Indonesia and Tunisia, the resolution risked not having nine out of 15 votes in its favor, the...

Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian military commander killed in a U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3 in Baghdad, had sought to bring stability to the Middle East, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday. “Commander Soleimani was a man who was pursuing stability and calm in the region,” Rouhani...

Greece plans to accelerate the creation of detention centers on its outlying islands in the Aegean Sea after a backlash against overcrowded camps by some migrants and nearby residents. Authorities said on Monday they would proceed with the purchase of land on the islands of Lesbos, Chios...

Saudi Arabia’s main stock index dropped for a third day, finishing below a mark it has held since December, as the coronavirus reduces demand for oil. The Tadawul index fell 1.3 percent, the most among major gauges in the Middle East and below its 100-day moving average for the first time...

On a crisp winter's day the snow glistens on the mountains above Tehran, but the mood is as heavy as the pall of pollution that often shrouds Iran's capital. In a country weighed down by sanctions, shaken by protests and stressed by military tensions with the United States, many Tehranis...

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff said on Monday that his team's tie-up with Lewis Hamilton is the "obvious pairing", with the future of the six-time world champion still unclear on the eve of the new season. Hamilton, 35, is out of contract at the end of the year and the British driver...

The European Union will host an extraordinary meeting of health ministers Thursday, along with a WHO envoy, to discuss the novel coronavirus outbreak. So far, only around 30 cases of the new strain have been detected in Europe, but the World Health Organisation warns that cases outside...

The United States has signaled to Iraq its willingness to extend sanctions waivers enabling the country to continue importing vital Iranian gas and electricity imports, three Iraqi officials said this week, a move that would be a key test of Baghdad-Washington ties. The decision comes amid...

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's ruling party celebrated Monday a win in parliamentary polls but the opposition claimed the election was "totally falsified". Faced with public discontent over a slowing economy, Aliyev, 58, hoped to boost the government's image by holding early elections...

The Turkish lira rebounded Monday in volatile trade to below 6 against the dollar, erasing much of Friday's sharp losses, after a bank regulator announced new limits on foreign-exchange transactions. Investors and traders said the currency's abrupt selloff and recovery, after weeks in a...

An Egyptian delegation arrived in Gaza Monday seeking to ease tensions, a Hamas security source said, after Israel again attacked the enclave with air strikes in response to projectiles fired by militants. Egypt has long served as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist...

The number of deaths from China's new coronavirus epidemic jumped to 902 on Monday after the hardest-hit province of Hubei reported 91 new fatalities. In its daily update, Hubei's health commission also confirmed another 2,618 new cases in the central province, where the outbreak emerged in...

Australia's months-long bushfires crisis will likely be over within days, officials said Monday as heavy rainfall extinguished several massive blazes and was forecast to douse dozens more as downpours swept south. Days of torrential rains have caused flash flooding in New South Wales and...

Storm Ciara lashed Britain with heavy rain and winds of more than 90 miles an hour (145 km/hour) on Sunday, forcing the cancellations of flights, train services and sports matches. More than 200 flood warnings were issued across the country by authorities, including one severe warning in...

U.S. President Donald Trump will request $2 billion in new funding for border wall construction in his 2021 budget, substantially less than he sought last year, according to senior administration officials. The lower request, due to be unveiled Monday, shows that the administration needs...

Italy on Sunday called on Egypt to release a young Egyptian researcher and activist based at Bologna University, saying it had reason to believe the security forces had tortured him. The incident has revived painful memories of the 2016 disappearance and murder of an Italian researcher in...

A reworked Palestinian resolution has dropped its initial condemnation of President Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan, opting for less confrontational language ahead of a UN Security Council vote, a copy obtained by AFP shows. The latest draft also no longer mentions the United States by...

An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a programme the US claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. The launch happened at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province, some 230 kilometers...

Libya's Azzawiya Oil Refining Company said Sunday it was forced to stop refining operations due to a lack of crude supplies and no inventory. A source from the company, a subsidy of Libya's state oil firm the National Oil Corporation (NOC), said two refining units with a capacity of 60,000...

 Iraq's incoming prime minister will face "hell" and be removed within days if he includes members of the political elite in his cabinet, a top aide to cleric Moqtada Sadr has warned. Premier-designate Mohammad Allawi has until March 2 to form a new cabinet, to be put to the...