Lebanon’s top politicians made their first joint appearance since massive anti-government protests erupted last month, attending a military parade as the country marked 76 years of self-rule on Friday. Protesters staged their own celebrations to mark a first year of “real independence”....

The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq could start delivering 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil to the Baghdad federal government by early 2020, Iraq's oil minister said. The oil would be delivered to state oil marketer SOMO which would export it via pipeline through the...

Iraqi security forces opened fire and launched tear gas on Friday at protesters on a bridge in central Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 22 others, police sources said. One death was caused by bullets and the other by a tear gas canister launched directly at the head, the sources...

A fractured spine, paralysed leg, hole in the back: Hamza took to the streets of Iraq's capital to demand a better life but now he has even less than ever. "This is my sacrifice for Iraq," said the 16-year-old, his strained voice barely audible over the phone in Baghdad. "If I...

Iran's Basij militia said the nationwide unrest sparked by fuel price hikes amounted to a "world war" against the Islamic republic that had been foiled. The protests erupted across the sanctions-hit country on Nov. 15, after the price of petrol was raised by as much as 200 percent....

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges which include bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu was charged in three different cases by the Israeli Attorney General. In the first case known as 1000, which...

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg filed paperwork Thursday with the Federal Election Commission to run for U.S. president as a Democrat, the latest sign that the former New York City Mayor is joining the crowded nominating contest. The filing allows Bloomberg to raise money in a bid for the...

A Turkish court confirmed the convictions against former journalists from Turkey's oldest newspaper Thursday, despite their sentences being overturned by a higher court. The judgement against 12 ex-staffers from Cumhuriyet was described as "scandalous" by rights groups, and further evidence...

Some 73 migrants, many suffering from hypothermia and burns, were rescued by a Spanish charity ship late on Wednesday from a packed rubber dinghy that had been drifting off the Libyan coast for nearly 24 hours. It is the latest rescue by the Open Arms vessel in the Mediterranean, where more...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Thursday praised the armed forces for taking "timely" action against "rioters" and suggested calm had been restored after days of unrest sparked by a hike in petrol prices. Authorities vowed to arrest leaders of the protests that started last Friday, in which...

A British-Iranian anthropologist held in Iran for three months has been released on bail, his wife told state news agency IRNA Wednesday. "Kameel Ahmady was released on Sunday evening on a 500 million (toman, $42,000) bail after three months of temporary detention," IRNA quoted Shafagh...

A French police officer was to appear in court Thursday on charges he hurled a paving stone at protesters during a "yellow vest" rally, the first member of the security forces to face trial after a wave of claims of police violence during the weekly protests. The court hearing comes just...

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin was set Thursday to task parliament with forming a government to avoid new elections, after Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz each failed to form a coalition. The country's political system has been in stasis since late 2018, with two elections...

Israeli forces arrested around 745 Palestinian children in the first 10 months of the current year, according to a non-governmental organization. In an annual report, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said that the children arrested by Israel experienced numerous rights violations....

 Mohammed Manea has tended honey bees northeast of Sanaa for years, but despairs that the production of "Yemen's gold" is under threat as the war engulfing the country drags on. The conflict has blighted millions of lives and brought the economy to the brink of collapse. Cottage...

Two people were killed and 38 wounded early Thursday after Iraqi security forces fired tear gas canisters at protesters near two key bridges in Baghdad, security and medical sources said. The cause of death in both cases was tear gas canisters aimed directly at the head, the sources said....

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has rejected an invitation by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to a regional summit next week, Pyongyang's state media said Thursday, in a stark illustration of the dire relations between the neighbours. South Korea is due to host a summit with Southeast...

Firefighters battled against hundreds of bushfires across Australia’s east coast on Thursday as scores of blazes sprang up in new locations, triggering warnings that it was too late for some residents to evacuate. In Sydney, the country’s most populous city, residents were urged to keep...

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two bills to back protesters in Hong Kong and send a warning to China about human rights, with President Donald Trump expected to sign them into law, despite delicate trade talks with Beijing. The House sent the bills to the White House...

Yemen’s Houthi movement said on Wednesday it intercepted an F-15 warplane of the Saudi-led coalition near the border with Saudi Arabia. “Our air defense systems have intercepted an F-15 fighter jet belonging to the countries of aggression in Saada province,” the group’s military spokesman...