The head of the global chemical weapons watchdog has ordered a probe into the leak of an internal paper which queried the body's findings into a 2018 attack in the Syrian town of Douma. Syrian and Russian media had seized on the leaked document written by a member of the Hague-based...

Iran's supreme leader told visiting Japanese prime minister on Thursday he does not consider US President Donald Trump "worthy" of exchanging messages with. "We have no doubt in your good will and seriousness but regarding what you said the US president told you, I don't consider Trump as a...

Sitting inside his bulldozer in embattled northwest Syria, civil defence worker Bassel al-Rihani quietly manoeuvres a giant shovel through red earth to dig a grave for whoever is killed next. The Idlib region of some three million people has suffered increased regime and Russian air strikes...

Algeria’s supreme court on Thursday remanded former prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal in custody over allegations of corruption, state TV reported. Sellal is one of the closest associates of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be detained since protests broke out in February, demanding...

A US special envoy was set to meet Sudan's top military ruler Thursday to push for a "peaceful" solution to the standoff between protesters and generals following a deadly crackdown on demonstrators. The diplomatic push comes after protesters demanding civilian rule called off a nationwide...

President Vladimir Putin said relations between Moscow and Washington were getting worse and worse, noting in an interview published on Thursday that the current U.S. administration had imposed dozens of sanctions on Russia. Putin made his gloomy assessment ahead of a G20 summit in Japan...

House Democrats introduced new legislation Wednesday to stop U.S. President Donald Trump's administration from following through on a number of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. One resolution, introduced by congressman Ted Lieu, would block all 22 arms sales recently approved by the White House....

Attacks on two oil tankers on Thursday in the Gulf of Oman left one ablaze and both adrift, shipping firms said, driving oil prices up 4% over worries about Middle East supplies. The Front Altair was on fire in waters between Gulf Arab states and Iran after an explosion that a source...

Shops and restaurants began to reopen in Sudan’s capital Wednesday after demonstrators called off a nationwide civil disobedience campaign and agreed to new talks, though many residents remained indoors after last week’s deadly crackdown. The apparent breakthrough in the standoff between...

Planes from the Arab military coalition fighting in Yemen bombed areas around the capital Sanaa Thursday, residents and the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said. On Wednesday, the coalition vowed to respond firmly to a Houthi missile attack on a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia that...

Israeli aircraft attacked a Hamas target in Gaza Thursday after a Palestinian rocket strike, the Israeli military said, in the first serious cross-border flare-up since a surge in fighting last month. The latest hostilities followed Israel's closure of offshore waters to Gaza fisherman on...

Iran has no intention of making or using nuclear weapons, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying Thursday by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "Supreme Leader Khamenei made a comment that the country will not and should not make, hold or use nuclear weapons,...

Syrian regime forces have attacked a Turkish observation point in Syria's Idlib province, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Thursday, in what it assessed to be a deliberate attack involving 35 mortar shells. Three Turkish soldiers were slightly wounded in the attack, the Defense Ministry...

Their motto has been "Asia's Finest" since colonial times, but videos of Hong Kong police beating unarmed protesters have fuelled public anger and sparked accusations of brutality. Tens of thousands of demonstrators occupying city streets scattered when police used tear gas, pepper spray,...

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was “in no rush” to make a deal with North Korea to get it to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, and touted what he called his positive relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “I think we’re going to do very well with North...

An Egyptian military court Wednesday sentenced nearly 300 people to prison terms, including some who in 2014 attempted to attack President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, security sources said. Thirty-two were sentenced to life in prison, which is 25 years in Egypt, while 264 were jailed for terms of...

After weeks of hesitation, the United Nations announced Wednesday that it is sending its deputy Middle East coordinator to attend the unveiling of the economic component of a new US peace plan. Jamie McGoldrick, who is also the UN's humanitarian coordinator in the occupied Palestinian...

Syria's parliament on Wednesday ratified a bill handing management of the country's largest port to a Russian firm for 49 years, state media said. A deal between Damascus and the Russian company Stroytransgaz for the management, expansion and operation of Tartus port was first signed in...

Iran will ask Japan to mediate between Tehran and Washington to ease oil sanctions imposed by the United States, Iranian officials said on Wednesday, as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in the country for a two-day visit. Abe, the first Japanese leader to visit Iran since its 1979...

Algeria's former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia appeared before the Supreme Court Wednesday as part of a raft of anti-graft investigations opened into senior figures since President Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika stepped down, state television reported. Ouyahia, who left the government in March as...