President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday unveiled Iran's first annual budget since the return of U.S. sanctions, saying it had been adjusted to take account of Washington's "cruel" measures. The president announced a 20 percent increase in public sector wages in a sign of the economic...

The Daesh terrorist group abducted 19 civilians in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province on Tuesday, according to a federal police spokesman. Daesh terrorists raided the town of Mabdad, south of Kirkuk, and kidnapped 13 civilians, Hussein Majed told Anadolu Agency. He said two people...

Israel will hold a general election in April, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter on Monday, after a meeting between members of his governing coalition. "The leaders of the coalition decided unanimously to dissolve parliament and go to a new election in...

Jordanian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz is set to start an official visit to Turkey on Tuesday.  Razzaz will hold talks with Turkish officials on means of bolstering economic relations between Jordan and Turkey, Jumana Ghunaimat, a spokesperson for the Jordanian government, told...

Egyptian security forces have killed 14 Islamist militants in an exchange of fire in the country's turbulent northern Sinai region, the interior ministry said Sunday. The militants were under surveillance ahead of security forces raiding their hideout in the town of Al-Arish, the...

On the Giza Plateau outside Cairo, thousands of Egyptians are laboring in the shadow of the pyramids to erect a monument worthy of the pharaohs. The Grand Egyptian Museum has been under construction for well over a decade and is intended to showcase Egypt's ancient treasures while...

An 18-year-old Palestinian shot by Israeli forces died of his wounds Saturday, the fourth fatality from protests along the Gaza border a day earlier, health officials in the Hamas-run enclave said. Ayman Shehr was shot in the stomach in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, health ministry...

A U.S. aircraft carrier has sailed into the Arab Gulf, becoming the first in the region since President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal earlier this year. The December 21 arrival of the USS John C. Stennis came amid repeated threats by Iranian officials to...

The Israeli army says it has opened fire on a car that broke through a West Bank checkpoint, killing one of the Palestinian passengers. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as Qasim Abbasi, 17. His cousin, Mohammed Abbasi, told The Associated Press that he and Qasim were...

A Palestinian man was martyred Thursday in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The man was shot dead by Israeli soldiers at the northern entrance to the city of Al-Bireh. The reason for the attack is unknown, while the identity of the...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American President Donald Trump spoke over the phone and discussed the U.S. forces’ withdrawal from Syria, a statement said on Thursday. According to the statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister's Office, Trump and Netanyahu also exchanged...

Israeli settlers on Thursday vandalized Palestinian vehicles in a suspected “price tag” attack in occupied East Jerusalem, according to a local eyewitness.  “Settlers slashed tires and spray-painted racist slogans on dozens of cars in Jerusalem’s southern Beit Hanina neighborhood,”...

The Israeli State Prosecutor's Office has recommended the indictment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged bribery in two separate corruption cases, Israeli daily Haaretz reported Wednesday.  Netanyahu will also likely be charged for breach of trust in a third corruption...

An Egyptian court Thursday acquitted 40 NGO workers in the re-trial of a case that has caused tension with the United States. In 2013, 43 Americans, Europeans, Egyptians and other Arabs were sentenced to jail terms ranging from one to five years on charges including operating...

For three years, Mosul's women were covered in black from head to toe and its men had to keep their beards long. Salons were shut, and plastic surgery considered a crime. But more than a year after the Daesh’s (ISIS) ouster, the Iraqi city is flaunting its more fabulous side....

The World Food Program announced Wednesday cuts in food aid affecting about 190,000 impoverished Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank – half of all its recipients there, citing a severe funding shortfall. The U.N. agency said it would, as of Jan. 1, suspend food assistance to 27,000...

A bill that would allow Israel to exile families of Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis passed the first reading in Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Wednesday. In a tumultuous Knesset session, the controversial draft was approved in the first reading by 69-38 votes....

A public opinion poll shows that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would lose to the leader of Hamas if elections were held today. The poll conducted by prominent pollster Khalil Shikaki and released Tuesday shows that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would win with 49 percent to Abbas' 42...

The United States hopes Lebanon's next government will work with it on areas of mutual interest, a State Department official said on Tuesday, and expressed concern over Hezbollah's rising clout in the country. "We hope Lebanon's next government will build a stable and secure Lebanon...

Russia, Iran and Turkey are nearing agreement on the composition of a Syria committee that could pave the way for the drafting of a new constitution and for elections after a devastating civil war, diplomats said Tuesday. The foreign ministers of the three nations, who support opposing...