Russia is ready to step up dialogue with the United States over disarmament and strategic stability, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday, adding that he discussed these issues with his American counterpart Donald Trump in Japan. "I think that reaching concrete measures in the field of...

A supertanker suspected of carrying crude oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions was detained in Gibraltar Thursday, the territory's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said. The Grace 1 vessel was halted in the early hours of Thursday by Gibraltar police and customs agencies, aided by a...

(Zaman Al Wasl)-  Avaaz, global civic movement, launched in support of a Syrian refugee who has been sentenced to hundreds of years in prison and a fine of more than 3 million Euros on charges of "trafficking". The petition by is the U.S.-based activism tribune called on to "Save...

Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it is working to resolve issues faced by some users while sending media files on its social media platforms including WhatsApp and Instagram. More than 14,000 users reported issues with Instagram, while more than 7,500 and 1,600 users reported issues with...

The travails of three women, 38-year-old Refeyda Zeytun, her sister and mother began at a hospital in Haresta region in the Syrian capital of Damascus, after her mother was injured in an airstrike.  Instead of treating them, they were arrested by Syrian regime forces, on suspicion that...

Russia's foreign minister on Wednesday called on the West to avoid double standards in fighting terrorism in Syria.  Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov said the U.S. was trying to use the "Kurdish factor" to undermine Syrian sovereignty. "The U.S. is trying to...

The United States hit Cuba's state-run oil shipping firm Cubametales with financial sanctions Wednesday, saying it's a key player propping up Venezuela's President Nicol?s Maduro. "Maduro is clinging to Cuba to stay in power, buying military and intelligence operatives in exchange for oil,"...

The head of Sudan's ruling military council Wednesday pardoned 235 detained members of the Sudan Liberation Movement, a rebel group that is active in the country's western Darfur region, according to a statement read out on Sudanese state TV. The statement, which was attributed to military...

The International Monetary Fund Wednesday approved a $6 billion, three-year loan for Pakistan to try to right the nation's economy. The IMF board released $1 billion to Pakistan immediately and said in a statement that the program aims to "support the authorities' economic reform program"...

At least 11 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have started a hunger strike in protest against their “administrative detention” without an accusation, a non-governmental organization announced on Wednesday.  In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) said two...

South Sudan's army and several armed groups killed more than 100 civilians in a surge in violence in a southern region of the country after the signing of a peace deal last year, a U.N. report said Wednesday. The armed forces also committed sexual violence including rape against around 100...

Sudan's protest leaders Wednesday agreed to hold direct talks with the ruling generals after African Union and Ethiopian mediators urged the two sides to resume stalled negotiations about a new governing body. "The Alliance for Freedom and Change met and decided to accept the invitation for...

White House adviser Jared Kushner said on Wednesday the United States is willing to engage with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but hinted a new peace plan might call on Palestinian refugees to settle where they are and not return to lands now in Israel. At a workshop in Bahrain last...

Two hundred corpses, including those of people believed to have been executed by Daesh (ISIS) group, were found near the Syrian city of Raqqa, a local official and an activist group said. The mass grave contained the bodies of five men in orange jumpsuits of the kind typically worn by Daesh...

The son of the crown prince of the UAE has been found dead in his U.K. home, according to local reports.  Khalid Al Qasimi, who founded a fashion brand and exhibited collections in London and Paris, was hailed as a “great philosopher” and “an artist” in a statement on his brand’s...

China on Wednesday denounced British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt as “shameless”, saying it had made a diplomatic complaint to London after he warned of consequences if China neglected commitments made when it took back Hong Kong in 1997. China has stepped up a war of words with Hong Kong’s...

France Wednesday condemned the airstrike on a detention center in Libya that killed nearly 40 migrants, an act that has been blamed on Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who has in the past enjoyed French backing. France "condemns the strikes", the foreign ministry said in a statement,...

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation suspending a 1987 nuclear missile treaty, according to the law published Wednesday on an official government website. The United States is set to pull out of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) on Aug 2 citing Russia's...

Hong Kong police said Wednesday they have arrested eight people for stealing and disclosing personal information of officers online, as the city grapples with the aftermath of unprecedented anti-government protests that saw its parliament ransacked. The semi-autonomous city has been plunged...

Germany will be willing to explore any ideas put forward by a new British prime minister to break the Brexit deadlock but the Withdrawal Agreement "will stand as it is," Germany's ambassador to London said Wednesday. "Once there is a new prime minister in this country we will explore the...