DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — After eight years of planning and billions of dollars in spending, the Middle East's first ever World Fair opened on Friday in Dubai, with hopes the months-long extravaganza draws both visitors and global attention to this desert-turned-dreamscape. Named...

Jordan says it has discussed ways to expedite Egyptian natural gas shipments via its territory and Syria to Lebanon, which is dealing with a grueling energy-crisis. Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh arrived in Beirut late Thursday, the first foreign official to visit Lebanon’s new prime...

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The death toll in a gang battle in a penitentiary in the coastal city of Guayaquil has risen to more than 100 as authorities find more bodies, Ecuador's prison service said Wednesday. At least five of the bodies were beheaded. The country's prisons bureau said in a...

BERLIN (AP) — Angela Merkel will leave office in the coming months with her popularity intact among voters and widely admired beyond Germany as a chancellor who deftly steered her country, and Europe, through numerous crises. Her center-right political bloc, on the other hand, is in...