Iraq's president warned Wednesday against pushing the country to choose sides in escalating tensions between neighbouring Iran and the US, both allies of Baghdad. Addressing world leaders at the World Economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, Barham Saleh said a recent parliamentary vote to...

 “Go outside,” French President Emmanuel Macron demanded in English in a melee with Israeli security men on Wednesday, demanding they leave a Jerusalem basilica that he visited before a Holocaust memorial conference. The French tricolour has flown over the Church of St. Anne in...

Iranian-backed Shi’ite factions have exhorted Iraqis to turn out for a “million-strong” march on Friday aimed at whipping up anti-American sentiment as the United States’ struggle with Iran plays out on the streets of Baghdad. Those behind the rally have two goals in mind - to pressure...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he did not consider the brain injuries suffered by 11 U.S. service members in Iran’s recent attack on a base in Iraq to be serious, as the American military moved more troops out of the region for potential injuries. In a statement on Wednesday,...

 Lebanon’s Hezbollah-backed government will walk a political tightrope as it acts to urgently secure foreign funding to ward off financial collapse, and could look to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance. Formed by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies, the...

U.S actions have crippled efforts to launch talks between Israel and Palestine, Russian presidential aide said Wednesday.  "We believe that the U.S. unilateral actions undermine the international efforts to restart direct talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis," Yury Ushakov...

President Donald Trump minimized Wednesday the severity of head injuries sustained by U.S. troops during the Iranian missile strikes on two Iraqi air bases as he was pressed on why he'd claimed no troops had been injured in the attacks. "I heard they had headaches and a couple of other...

Iran will never seek nuclear weapons with or without a nuclear deal, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, calling on the European powers to avoid Washington's mistake of violating Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with major powers. "We have never sought nuclear weapons ... With or...

An anti-government activist was killed in Iraq's south by unidentified gunmen, amid a resurgence of rallies and road closures by protesters pressing authorities to implement long-awaited reforms. The youth-dominated movement is desperately trying to maintain momentum in the face of...

Israel's state-owned electric company said Wednesday it was ending power cuts to the occupied West Bank after the Palestinians' main power distributor paid off a chunk of debt. Israel Electric Corp (IEC) began sporadic, three-hour power cuts Dec. 18 to press for payment of some $519 million...

Masked gunmen Wednesday ambushed and killed the local commander of a paramilitary security force in southwestern Iran, an associate of Iran's top general recently killed in an American drone strike in Baghdad, the official IRNA news agency reported. The slain commander, Abdolhossein...

Lebanon’s new cabinet is due to meet for the first time on Wednesday, bearing a message of support from the United Nations as ministers begin the urgent task of addressing an unprecedented economic crisis. The government, under Prime Minister Hassan Diab, was formed on Tuesday after the...

An Iranian student attending college in Boston was denied entry to the U.S. and ordered to immediately fly back to his native country, despite a court order temporarily staying his removal, immigration lawyers and civil rights groups said Tuesday. Shahab Dehghani, a 24-year-old economics...

A new Cabinet was announced in crisis-hit Lebanon late Tuesday, breaking a months-long impasse amid mass protests against the country's ruling elite and a crippling financial crisis, but demonstrations and violence continued. Hassan Diab, a 60-year-old former professor at the American...

An Iranian lawmaker offered a $3 million reward to anyone who killed U.S. President Donald Trump and said Iran could avoid threats if it had nuclear arms, ISNA news agency reported on Tuesday amid Tehran’s latest standoff with Washington. U.S. disarmament ambassador Robert Wood dismissed...

Two protesters died in Iraq on Tuesday as police fought running street battles with anti-government demonstrators, firing tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse stone-throwing youths demanding reform of what they see as a corrupt political system. A Reuters photographer saw one...

Lebanon’s designated Prime Minister Hassan Diab is expected to go to the Baabda presidential palace “in preparation for announcing a new government”, al-Manar TV said on Tuesday. Hezbollah and its political allies have agreed on a new government of 20 ministers, including economist Ghazi...

The US military claims to have "successfully" disrupted the online propaganda efforts of the Islamic State in a hacking operation dating back at least to 2016, according to declassified national security documents released Tuesday. The heavily redacted, previously top secret documents said...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling on the world to take "concrete actions" against the International Criminal Court ahead of a possible war-crimes case against Israel. The ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said last month that there was a "reasonable basis" to open a...

A U.S. envoy said Tuesday that Iran's threat to quit the global nuclear treaty if European countries refer Tehran to the U.N. Security Council after declaring it in violation of a 2015 pact would send a "very, very negative message". Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, in remarks carried...