Iran's top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced support on Monday for reducing tensions in the Gulf as he hosted his counterpart from traditional mediator Oman for talks in Tehran. The visit by Oman's minister of state for foreign affairs, Yusuf bin Alawi, came a week after he held a...

Saudi Arabia is hosting a two-day media summit that began on Monday, just days after a crackdown on writers and bloggers and a year after journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder. Riyadh, which appears to be intensifying a crackdown on free expression, is seeking to shore up its international...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made clear Monday that the United States did not plan a military intervention in Venezuela even as he vowed that leftist leader Nicolas Maduro would one day fall. In a speech on Latin America, Pompeo renewed President Donald Trump's promise to battle socialism...

Russia started pumping gas to China on Monday through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, also known as the eastern route. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping took part in the launch ceremony via teleconferencing, the Kremlin said in a statement published...

Mohammed Akki left his home in Morocco’s Middle Atlas mountains to seek regular work and a better life in the town of Azrou, but he still lives on the margins in a country enjoying an investment boom. Every morning, Akki walks miles into Azrou, where he may or may not find work as a day...

Iran is stilling its oil despite U.S. sanctions on Tehran's exports, the country's Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri was quoted on Monday as saying by state TV, adding that Washington's "maximum pressure" on Tehran had failed. "Despite America's pressure ... and its imposed sanctions on our...

Pep Guardiola says he is satisfied with the state of mind of his Manchester City players even though they twice lost the lead to draw 2-2 with Newcastle and slip further behind Premier League leaders Liverpool. Guardiola, whose defending champions are 11 points adrift of Jurgen Klopp's team...

Iraq's rival parties were negotiating the contours of a new government on Monday, after the previous cabinet was brought down by a two-month protest movement demanding more deep-rooted change. After just over a year in power, premier Adel Abdel Mahdi stepped down last week after a dramatic...

Iraq has been rocked by two months of anti-government protests that brought down premier Adel Abdel Mahdi on Sunday, but its lucrative oil industry has been curiously insulated from the turmoil. AFP looks at how the energy industry of OPEC's second-largest producer has weathered the...

Thirteen Pakistanis, including eight children, died when a fire swept through their makeshift dwellings on a farming estate in the Jordan Valley, Jordan's civil defence said Monday. There were three other injuries in the fire that broke out after midnight that initial signs showed could...

Hong Kong protesters geared up for a week of lunchtime rallies on Monday, a day after a mass demonstration showed the anti-government movement can still draw people to the streets even after sweeping recent gains by democrats in district elections. After a rare lull in demonstrations...

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran and other issues, the White House said in a brief statement. “The leaders discussed the threat from Iran, as well as other critical bilateral and regional issues,” the White House said in...

At least five children were killed and 10 others injured on Sunday when forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar launched an airstrike in Swani, a residential area in the south of the Libyan capital, according to the Ministry of Health. Libya's UN-recognized Government of National...

The White House said Sunday it will not participate in a new hearing in the House Judiciary Committee this week. The Judiciary Committee's first hearing on the impeachment of President Donald Trump over his dealings with Ukraine is scheduled for Wednesday. In a letter to Judiciary...

Iraq has been rocked by two months of anti-government protests that brought down premier Adel Abdel Mahdi on Sunday, but its lucrative oil industry has been curiously insulated from the turmoil. AFP looks at how the energy industry of OPEC's second-largest producer has weathered the latest...

From taboo-busting religious support to easy credit and fervent jingoism, Saudi Arabia pulled out all the stops to prop up Aramco's IPO but it is unlikely to be the blockbuster it once hoped for. The world's most profitable company is seeking to raise around $25 billion -- a fraction of the...

Venezuela's opposition Sunday said it will investigate alleged wrongdoing within its ranks after a media outlet reported that a group of opposition lawmakers had unduly advocated for a businessman linked to the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Opposition leader Juan Guaido said he...

Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, under fire over his handling of the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, said Sunday he would step down after his replacement is chosen in January. Muscat declined to make a link with Caruana Galizia's 2017 murder, saying in a televised address...

 Saudi Arabian authorities have released 11 citizens who were detained for several days last month for questioning over suspected links to foreign entities, a Saudi official told Reuters. The new wave of detentions came as the kingdom assumes the presidency of the Group of 20 countries...

Angry protesters set fire to the house of the military commander of Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq on Sunday, according to a local police source.    "Hundreds of demonstrators burned the house of Jameel al-Shimmary, who was tasked with handling security in the province," the...