President Vladimir Putin moved quickly Monday to push through an overhaul of Russia's political system that has fuelled speculation he plans to hold on to power when his term expires. Less than a week after announcing the reforms, Putin Monday submitted a bill with the package of...

A European-led naval mission in the Straits of Hormuz - a vital shipping route for world transport that has been impacted by military tensions in the Middle East - has won more political support from countries, said the French government Monday. The French foreign affairs ministry said the...

A peaceful solution to Libya's protracted conflict remains uncertain despite an international agreement struck in Germany, analysts say, as a fragile ceasefire between warring factions bought only a temporary truce. On Sunday in Berlin, world leaders committed to ending all foreign meddling...

At least ten people were killed Monday and scores injured when a seating area collapsed during a major Orthodox Christian celebration in Ethiopia, with fears the death toll could rise. The accident occurred just before 8am (0500 GMT) Monday in Gondar, a historic city in the country's north,...

The longest transport strike in France in decades appeared to be petering out on Monday, with most Paris metro and national train services back up and running, offering relief to weary commuters. But while the return to work marked a tentative victory for President Emmanuel Macron, who has...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday he would appoint three ministers in portfolios he previously held but was forced to resign from following criminal charges. He named three members of his conservative Likud party to head the welfare, agriculture and diaspora...

A legal chambers in the U.K. has called on judicial authorities to issue an arrest warrant for the incumbent Egyptian president for his role in the death of Mohamed Morsi, the country's first democratically-elected president. The International Justice Chambers (Guernica 37) in a statement...

Ukraine will press Iran to hand over the black boxes from the crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane at a meeting with a visiting Iranian delegation Monday, Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko told reporters. Ukraine would convey the message to visiting Minister of Roads and Urban Development...

 Iran said Monday that it had not closed the "door to negotiations" but will consider withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) if a dispute over its atomic programme goes before the UN Security Council. Disputes over the nuclear agreement with world...

Saudi Arabia, which is leading a military coalition against the Houthi rebels in war-torn Yemen, condemned Monday a missile attack that killed more than 100 Yemeni soldiers. Saturday's missile strike blamed on the Iran-aligned Houthis follows months of relative calm in the conflict between...

Australia's bushfires and other climate change effects are devastating the habitats of critically endangered species and driving the native platypus towards extinction, according to surveys highlighting the country's vulnerability to rising temperatures. The unprecedented blazes that have...

Pakistani authorities refused to let a top human rights lawyer leave the country, citing her "anti-state activities", she told AFP on Monday, in what appeared to be the latest example of an ongoing rights crackdown. Jalila Haider, who last year featured on a BBC list of 100 inspiring and...

Iran said Monday its Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will skip this week's World Economic Forum after organisers changed the event he had been planning to take part in. The annual summit, which kicks off in the Swiss resort of Davos on Tuesday, has been overshadowed by escalating...

Lebanon's under-fire president is set to meet Monday with top security officials to discuss rare violence over the weekend that left hundreds wounded in the protest-hit country. For two nights in a row, demonstrators angered at delays in forming a government have lobbed stones, firecrackers...

Thousands of Iraqi anti-government protesters grappled with security forces in a bid to shut streets across the country on Monday, a deadline they had given authorities to implement long-awaited reforms. Rallies have rocked Iraq since October but fearing they would lose momentum amid...

Iranian artists, athletes and media personalities have lent their voices to anti-government protests in the Islamic republic over the accidental downing of a passenger plane that killed 176 people. Among them have been actors vowing to boycott a film festival, a star volleyball player who...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Syrian ‘Invisible Jails’ documentary by Orwa Al-Ahmad has recently won five international awards, including the prize for Best Director at the Kosice festival, the jury prize at the Beyond Earth Film Festival, the Best Documentary Award, and Best Director at the...

Oil prices rose to their highest in more than week on Monday after two large crude production bases in Libya began shutting down amid a military blockade, setting the stage for crude flows from the OPEC member to be cut to a trickle. Brent crude LCOc1 futures were up by 74 cents, or 1.1%,...

Iran still remains in its 2015 nuclear deal despite rolling back its commitments to the pact, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Monday, criticizing European powers for failing to salvage the agreement. “Tehran still remains in the deal ... the European powers’ claims about...

China on Monday reported a third death from a newly discovered virus while confirming 136 new cases, according to local media. Health authorities in Wuhan province reported that a patient had died Saturday and said 59 new cases had been confirmed on Saturday and 77 on Sunday, taking the...