After months of torture and interrogations in a Hamas prison, Palestinian activist Rami Aman says he was offered an unconventional proposition: Divorce your wife and you are free to go. Aman had recently signed a marriage contract with the daughter of a Hamas official, and the ruling...

Israeli senior ministers have yet to meet and discuss the official approach to the International Criminal Court’s, ICC, probe of allegations of war crimes lodged against the country, Jerusalem Post reported. The government has received official communication from international tribunal...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A popular Palestinian leader imprisoned by Israel has registered his own parliamentary list in May elections, his supporters said Wednesday, in a last-minute shakeup that could severely weaken President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party and help its militant Hamas rivals....

Israeli election officials Wednesday handed over the results of last week's vote to President Reuven Rivlin, nudging forward the country' elusive efforts to break political deadlock, form a government and avoid an unprecedented fifth consecutive round of balloting. Rivlin is now tasked...

Protesters on Wednesday shut down the Dhi Qar oil refinery in southern Iraq amid protests over the lack of job opportunities for local residents, according to eyewitnesses. Dozens of university graduates gathered in front of the Dhi Qar oil refinery in the center of the provincial...

BAGHDAD (AP) — It was a stark message: A convoy of masked Shiite militiamen, armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, drove openly through central Baghdad denouncing the U.S. presence in Iraq and threatening to cut off the prime minister's ear. The ominous display...

The European Union's top officials will travel to Turkey next week for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after EU leaders agreed to improve cooperation on migration and trade with Ankara. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel...

After a days-long stuck ship crisis, traffic in the Suez Canal has gone back to normal, said the head of the canal authority Monday. Osama Rabi's statement came after reports circulated that strong winds had driven the stranded ship back to its previous position in the canal....

The Iraqi security authorities have thwarted a planned attack by Daesh and arrested nine of the group's militants in separate areas of the country, Anadolu Agency reported. The Iraqi Ministry of Defence announced in a statement that its forces had thwarted a Daesh attack against the...

SUEZ, Egypt (AP) — Engineers on Monday “partially refloated” the colossal container ship that continues to block traffic through the Suez Canal, authorities said, without providing further details about when the vessel would be set free. Satellite data from MarineTraffic.com showed that...

AMER, Egypt (AP) — The sleepy farming village of Amer overlooks the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important waterways. Last week, the village was suddenly thrust into the limelight after a massive container ship, the Ever Given, got stuck nearby. The contrast between tranquil...

Iranian authorities on Sunday reinstated restrictions in the capital Tehran and other major cities amid a spike in new coronavirus infections. The restrictions include curbs on the movement between cities, with many areas designated as orange and red, from yellow and white, signaling high...

SUEZ, Egypt (AP) — Two additional tugboats sped Sunday to Egypt's Suez Canal to aid efforts to free a skyscraper-sized container ship wedged for days across the crucial waterway, even as major shippers increasingly divert their boats out of fear the vessel may take even longer to free....

SUEZ, Egypt (AP) — A giant container ship remained stuck sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal for a fifth day Saturday, as authorities made new attempts to free the vessel and reopen a crucial waterway whose blockage is disrupting global shipping and trade. Meanwhile, the head of the Suez...

A giant container ship remained stuck sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal for a fifth day Saturday, as authorities prepared to make new attempts to free the vessel and reopen a crucial east-west waterway for global shipping. The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between...

Hamas announced the appointment of a Palestinian woman as a member in its political bureau for the first time since its creation. Jamila Al-Shanti, 64, is the first woman to become a member of its bureau. Speaking to Anadolu Agency she said that she came to this position not by...

Lebanon's outgoing prime minister, Hassan Diab, said on Friday that experts had found "dangerous chemicals" at a warehouse at the Zahrani oil installations in the south. Diab said the country's atomic energy authority had identified the substances as "nuclear" after reviewing a report by...

A maritime traffic jam grew to more than 200 vessels Friday outside the Suez Canal and some vessels began changing course as dredgers worked frantically to free a giant container ship that is stuck sideways in the waterway and disrupting global shipping. One salvage expert said freeing...

ISMAILIA, Egypt (AP) — Dredgers, tugboats and even a backhoe failed to free a giant cargo ship wedged in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Thursday. More than 150 vessels are now backed up, with hundreds more headed to the vital waterway, and losses to global shipping are mounting. The...

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are set Thursday to provide new incentives to Turkey to improve cooperation on migration and trade despite democratic backsliding in the country and lingering concerns about its energy ambitions in the Mediterranean Sea. EU diplomats said before...