Syria could face severe bread shortages for the first time since the start of the war, another challenge for President Bashar al-Assad as he grapples with an economic meltdown and fresh US sanctions, a UN official, activists and farmers said. Any major disruptions to Syria's bread subsidy...

Two Palestinian mothers are being held in solitary confinement in Israel without access to medical care, according to their families and a human rights activist. After nearly four weeks in isolation, Muna Naddaf from the Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association managed to...

Oil prices drifted lower on Thursday as concerns about renewed COVID-19 lockdowns in the United States outweighed signs of a recovery in U.S. gasoline demand. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell 14 cents, or 0.3%, to $40.76 a barrel by 0229 GMT, after rising 0.7% on...

France's new Prime Minister Jean Castex has said he will take a targeted approach with the onset of further COVID-19 outbreaks, with a nationwide confinement however to be avoided at all costs. In a Wednesday morning interview with French broadcaster BFMTV, Castex pledged to continue...