Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has approved the reopening on Monday of the Qaim border-crossing with Syria, state news agency INA said, the latest sign of normalization between Baghdad and Bashar al-Assad’s government. The crossing will be reopened for travelers and trade, INA...

 (Zaman Al Wasl)- Activists and human rights activists on Thursday began touring government agencies and foreign embassies in Lebanon to discuss Syrian refugee issues in Lebanon, in the hope of alleviating the pressures and challenges faced by the official decision-making and security...

The Syrian government and opposition should move forward on large-scale prisoner exchanges to build confidence ahead of the their first talks next month in more than a year, the United Nations special envoy for Syria said on Friday. The U.N. announced on Monday the formation of a...

The French foreign ministry said all light must be shed on any use of chemical weapons in Syria, and that it had been "worried to learn" of information from the United States about the use of such weapons in Syria in May. "All light must be shed on the subject of the possible use of...

 One of two presidential candidates to have won through to a runoff election in Tunisia has called for his rival to be released from prison. "The situation leaves me morally uncomfortable... I would sincerely like to see him freed," law professor Kais Saied said in an interview on...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Ankara would continue to purchase oil and natural gas from Iran despite US sanctions in comments published Friday. The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran after pulling out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, and says it aims to reduce...

The U.N. called Friday on Egyptian authorities to "radically change their approach" to any future protests, after more than 2,000 people were reportedly arrested following demonstrations last weekend against President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. "I urge the authorities to radically change...

The Kremlin said Friday that it hoped that Washington would not release confidential details of phone calls between President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comment when asked about the White House's release of a...

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has played down a call for protests against his rule, saying there were "no reasons for concern" even as the army and the police tightened security in the capital, Cairo, and other major cities. The dismissal on Friday came as rights groups said...

Lawyers for Brazilian footballer Neymar and Spanish champions Barcelona failed Friday in their bid to avert a multi-million-dollar court battle over a tangled contact dispute. "It is going to court," Barcelona lawyer Josep Vives told journalists outside the court after the closed-door...

Director of the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) Tareq Hammoud said intensive efforts have been made by PRC’s delegates at the UNHRC to pressurize the Syrian regime to embark on the reconstruction of destroyed buildings and facilities in Yarmouk Camp for Palestine refugees, in Damascus....

The brother of Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch was on Friday sentenced to life in prison for her murder -- the patriarchal country's highest-profile "honour killing". Baloch, 26, who shot to fame for her risque selfies -- tame by Western standards, but considered provocative in...

The White House scrambled to "lock down" records of President Donald Trump's phone call pressing for Ukraine's interference in next year's US election, according to an incendiary whistleblower complaint released Thursday, in the latest episode of an intensifying impeachment drama. The...

Acrid black smoke billowed over the northern French city of Rouen on Thursday after a spectacular fire broke out at a chemical factory, forcing authorities to close schools and warn of potential pollution risks for the nearby Seine river. After hours of battling the blaze, around 200...

The British-flagged Stena Impero tanker left Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on Friday after being detained since July by Iranian forces and was heading towards international waters. The Stena Impero was seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz waterway for alleged marine...

 (Zaman Al Wasl)- A woman and a child boy lost their lives Thursday in a motorbike explosion in the northern city of Idlib, local activists said.   The bike exploded near the main square of the city. Most of Idlib province and parts of neighboring Aleppo and Latakia...

The United States has confirmed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces used chemical weapons in May, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday, vowing a response. The Assad regime used chlorine on May 19 as part of its deadly offensive in the last rebel stronghold of Idlib,...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Five Palestinian militants loyal to Bashar al-Assad were killed and wounded by an improvised explosive device east of central Homs city, sources said Thursday. The explosion rocked a vehicle carrying Liwa al-Quds members, a pro-Assad regime militia, in the desert town...

Rival hashtags, angry videos and calls to march -- the war for Egyptian minds is raging online ahead of possible mass demonstrations against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Encouraged by rare protests that erupted last week in Cairo and other Egyptian cities, Sisi opponents have bombarded...

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told the United Nations Thursday he would terminate all signed agreements with Israel if it moved forward with plans announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex a key part of the West Bank. Netanyahu, who is trying to form a new government...