One rocket hit near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday morning, security sources told AFP, the first to land in the high-security zone in weeks. The blast could be heard across the Iraqi capital and triggered security sirens at the US embassy compound but did not cause...

President Vladimir Putin was forced to intervene personally on Monday in the epidemic sweeping Russia's North Caucasus region of Dagestan, as local officials described the coronavirus situation as a "catastrophe." For several days now, there have rumours of mounting fatalities and...

 A former Syrian intelligence officer denied Monday beating and torturing detainees in prison as he faced trial in a German court for crimes against humanity. In a written statement read by his lawyers, Anwar Raslan, 57, said he had "neither beaten nor tortured" prisoners at the...

A former Syrian intelligence officer on Monday denied beating and torturing detainees in prison as he faced trial in a German court for crimes against humanity.  In a written statement read by his lawyers, Anwar Raslan, 57, said he had "neither beaten nor tortured" prisoners at the...