As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo started a Middle East tour in Israel Monday, Islamist group Hamas called on regional leaders to "break their silence" on Israel's blockade of Gaza. Israel has bombed the coastal Palestinian strip, which is ruled by the group, almost daily since August 6,...

 A fire at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility last month was the result of sabotage, the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation told state TV channel al-Alam on Sunday. “The explosion at Natanz nuclear facility was a result of sabotage operations, security authorities will reveal...

 Flash floods in Turkey’s northern Black Sea region killed five people, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, and authorities were searching for 11 missing people. Floodwaters caused by unusually heavy rainfall dragged debris and vehicles along a road, leaving them buried in mud,...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due in Occupied Jerusalem Monday to start a tour focused on Israel's normalizing of ties with the UAE and pushing other Arab states to follow suit. After meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he is set to visit senior figures in Sudan, Bahrain and...

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi vowed Sunday to prosecute and punish those involved in recent attacks on activists in the country.  "Outlawed groups are trying to terrorize the people of Basra and threaten them... Basra is important to us and we don't accept any failure in...

The US-led coalition against Daesh/ISIS on Sunday withdrew from the Taji military base in Iraq and handed it over to the Iraqi army, according to the coalition. "The movement of coalition military personnel is part of a long-range plan coordinated with the government of Iraq,” the coalition...

Israeli authorities Sunday erased a "Peeping Toms" mural that had long been a fixture at a Tel Aviv beach, responding to public outrage over the suspected gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in the southern resort of Eilat. Painted 18 years ago and often criticized as sexist, the mural was...

 A Jordanian judge Sunday ordered the release of the teachers union's 13 elected council members who were arrested a month ago for alleged graft, a judicial source said. Authorities closed the union and arrested its leaders July 25 after it had led a campaign for higher pay in the...

The 10 firefighters who received the call a bit before 6 p.m. - alerting them of a big fire at the nearby port of Beirut - could not know what awaited them. The brigade of nine men and one woman could not know about the stockpile of ammonium nitrate warehoused since 2013 along a busy...

Israel's landmark deal with the UAE to normalise ties could see businesses from the Jewish state operating on arch-rival Iran's doorstep, but are unlikely to disturb Emirati economic ties to Iran. It could also pave the way for direct economic engagement between Israeli and UAE-based...

Iraq Saturday registered nearly 4,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases recorded by the country to over 200,000. According to the Iraqi health ministry, 201,050 Iraqis have contracted the virus, including 6,353 who have died, while 143,393 are declared...

Protesters in the southern Iraqi city of Basra set fire to parliament's local office Friday as security forces fired live rounds in the air to disperse them, a Reuters witness and security sources said. The protesters had gathered to demand that Iraq's parliament sack the provincial...

A Lebanese judge leading investigations into Beirut's port blast issued two new arrest warrants Friday, a judicial source told AFP. "The investigating judge, Fadi Sawan, continued his investigations... and today issued two arrest warrants," the source said. According to the official...

In under a week, two activists have been assassinated and three more narrowly survived murder attempts in southern Iraq, where tensions between pro-Iran groups and a Western-leaning government are claiming new victims. One of them was Riham Yaaqub, a 29-year-old athletics coach who was...

Hezbollah's emphatic defence of the political status quo in Lebanon has exposed it since the deadly Beirut blast to levels of public contempt and anger it was once shielded from. The powerful Shiite movement remains the dominant player in Lebanon, but the special status it enjoyed and the...

Still reeling from a deadly port blast that ravaged their Beirut homes and businesses, Lebanese wearily braced themselves for a new coronavirus lockdown due to start on Friday. "What now? On top of this disaster, a coronavirus catastrophe?" said 55-year-old Roxane Moukarzel, as she waved...

Palestinian militants fired 12 rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight, nine of which were intercepted, and Israel responded with three airstrikes on targets linked to the territory's Hamas rulers, the Israeli military said early Friday. It was the most serious exchange of fire...

The US has formally initiated the process to re-instate UN sanctions on Iran lifted as part of Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday. Pompeo, who is expected to brief reporters at the UN's headquarters in New York later in the day, posted...

President Donald Trump said Thursday that US companies were involved in many prospects in Iraq's oil business, as Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi declared his country open for American business and investment. Trump told reporters before a meeting with the Iraqi leader that the US...

The United Arab Emirates has a legitimate request to acquire the F-35 fighter jet and its agreement to normalise ties with Israel should remove "any hurdle" for the United States to proceed with the sale, a senior Emirati official said Thursday. "We have legitimate requests that are there....