Strange men following them. Threats phoned in or muttered in the middle of a crowd. As Iraq's anti-government protests falter, activists and volunteer medics feel the noose tightening around them. Speaking to AFP using pseudonyms, they have described an apparent campaign of surveillance and...

A rationing of dollars by banks in protest-hit Lebanon sparked growing alarm on Saturday as some petrol pumps ran dry and grocery stores introduced fresh price hikes. For two decades, the Lebanese pound has been pegged to the greenback and both currencies used interchangeably in daily life....

Lebanon’s grand mufti, the top cleric for Sunni Muslims, called on Saturday for the formation of a new emergency government of technical experts and for those in power to meet protesters’ demands. The country is in political and economic turmoil after three weeks of nationwide protests that...

 A child was killed and three people were injured in Russian airstrikes in Idlib de-escalation zone, local civil defense sources said Saturday.   The attacks targeted the city of Jisr al-Shughur and the towns of Al-Nayrab, Sheikh Mustafa, Rakaya, Bidama and Kabina in Idlib,...

Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels began withdrawing from a village in the disputed Donbass region Saturday, one of a series of measures that could pave the way for a summit between Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed...

Contacts between India and Pakistan are "zero," Pakistan's foreign minister said, even as a border crossing opened Saturday for Indian pilgrims to visit a Sikh temple in one of the most significant acts of cooperation in decades by the old rivals. The border crossing pact between the...

  Iraq's oil production and export rates remain stable, Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said Saturday, as the country remained gripped by widespread anti-government protests. "Ghadhban pointed to the stability of production and export rates, and the extractive side was in very good...

The smells of grilled cheese and cooked corn waft over the protesters in the Lebanese capital -- with daily crowds filling the the capital's main squares, the movement has been a boon for street vendors. Ibrahim is a plasterer by trade, but when he saw crowds flocking by the tens of...

Iran said Saturday it is prepared if necessary to release footage of an incident with a UN nuclear inspector last week that led to it cancelling her accreditation. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of "an outrageous and unwarranted act of intimidation," while the European Union...

Iraqi security forces began clearing protest sites in Baghdad and across the south on Saturday, after political leaders agreed to stand by the current government by any means necessary, including force. The fractured political class appears to have rallied around embattled Prime Minister...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 4 regime forces were killed and 7 more wounded in clashes with Syrian rebels on the Kabana battlefront in coastal Latakia province, field sources told Zaman al-Wasl Saturday. The strategic mountainous stronghold of Turkish-backed rebels has been under major...

Hours after activists launched the “My Pen My Dream" campaign, the Directorate of Free Education in Aleppo announced the return of support to the education sector. The director of free education in Aleppo, Mohammad Mustafa, said that the directorate, along with Manahel program, launched a...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran is acknowledging for the first time it has an open case before its Revolutionary Court over the 2007 disappearance of a former FBI agent on an unauthorized CIA mission to the country, renewing questions over what happened to him. In a filing to...

Kuwait plans to increase crude oil exports to China to more than 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, state news agency KUNA reported on Saturday, citing Kuwait Petroleum Corp’s Deputy Managing Director for Global Marketing Sheikh Khalid Al-Sabah. The agency did not specify the current...

Germany on Saturday marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall that ushered in the end of communism and national reunification, as the Western alliance that helped secure those achievements is riddled with divisions. Two days before the date that brought epochal change, France's...

Iraqi security forces wrested back control on Saturday of three bridges in the heart of Baghdad that had been partially occupied by anti-government protesters in recent days, AFP correspondents said. They retook the Al-Sinek, Al-Shuhada and Al-Ahrar bridges over the River Tigris that link...

Singer Tania Saleh grew up amid a civil war that robbed her of her childhood, of her friends and neighbors and of the Lebanon she so loved. For years, she has sung the pains of sectarian schisms. "You Lebanese have created 10 or 12 gods ... You divided me. You aggravated me. You parceled me...

For the fourth time in four years, Spaniards will cast ballots in a general election Sunday. Around 37 million Spanish citizens have been called to participate in a general election, just like April 28, Yet, this time around, a sense of cynicism has set in, especially among left-wing...

Two people have died, five are missing and at least 150 homes have been destroyed as bushfires rage across eastern Australia, authorities said on Saturday. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) confirmed two people had been killed by a fire near Glen Innes, more than 550 km (340...

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri on Friday said that a test of hiding "likes" at the image and photo sharing social network will spread to the US. "Heads up! We've been testing making likes private on Instagram in a number of countries this year," Mosseri said in a tweet. "We're expanding...