Two huge explosions tore through an industrial area where toxic chemicals and gas were stored in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin, killing at least 44 people, including at least a dozen fire fighters, officials and state media said on Thursday. At least 520 people were injured,...

 On the day U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a historic nuclear agreement last month, Hadi Partovi threw an impromptu party in his backyard outside Seattle, setting in motion a rare expression of solidarity among the country's most prominent Iranian-Americans. Partovi, who has invested...

Syria's warring parties declared a 48-hour ceasefire in two frontline areas on Wednesday after unprecedented mediation from Turkey and Iran, signaling a new approach by some of the main regional backers of the opposing sides. The ceasefire halted fighting between insurgents on the...

Iraq's prime minister accused corrupt politicians on Wednesday of plotting to sabotage his plan for sweeping reforms of the governing system, and warned leaders of powerful Shi'ite militias not to use their armed followers for political ends. A year in office, Haider al-Abadi...