The so-called “deal of the century” – a U.S.-backchannel plan to reach peace settlement between the Palestinians and Israel – targets the Arab and Muslim worlds, a Hamas leader said Wednesday.  “The Palestinian cause has encountered its toughest challenges in 2018,” Khalil al-Hayya...

The Syrian opposition has informed the U.S. of the need to closely coordinate with Turkey on its planned troop withdrawal, Syrian opposition leader Abdul Rahman Mustafa has said. According to Mustafa, who leads the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, a...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blocked millions in Qatari aid to the Gaza Strip in response to renewed border hostilities, risking increased tensions with the Palestinian territory's Islamist rulers Hamas during Israel's election campaign. Weeks of relative calm in the Gaza...

As lawmakers in Athens are poised to approve a landmark name deal between Greece and Macedonia, there is relief in many European capitals that a 27-year diplomatic dispute is nearing its end. But in Greece's Macedonia region, home to the ancient Greek-speaking kingdom made famous by...

Britain remains a world-leading destination for foreign investment despite Brexit clouds and the departure of a number of companies, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said Wednesday. Interviewed by AFP at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Fox also welcomed a proposal by Poland that...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold Syria talks in Moscow on Wednesday, with Turkey saying they will focus on Ankara's so-called "security zone" in northern Syria. The two leaders are on opposite sides of the conflict: Russia provides...

Pope Francis announced Wednesday he will visit Japan in November, becoming the first pontiff to do so since John Paul II nearly 40 years ago. "I will go to Japan in November," he said on board the Papal plane bringing him to Panama for a gathering of young Catholics. The Argentine...

South Korea on Wednesday claimed that a Japanese military aircraft "flew close" to one of its navy vessels sailing in the Sea of Japan in a fresh sign of growing tensions between Seoul and Tokyo over the disputed body of water. "A Japanese maritime patrol plane flew close to a South Korean...

Moroccan security forces have dismantled a suspected Daesh cell in the North African country, according to the Interior Ministry on Wednesday.  In a statement, the ministry said 13 suspects had been arrested for links to the Daesh terrorist group.  The suspects, aged between...

The European Union on Wednesday rejected Israeli accusations of inciting against the self-proclaimed Jewish state.  In a statement, the EU described Israeli accusations against the bloc of supporting incitement against Israel as “unfounded” and “unacceptable”.  The denial came...

Hundreds of Palestinians on Wednesday laid to rest a Hamas member killed in an Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip a day earlier.  Mahmoud al-Nabahin, 24, was martyred in Israeli airstrikes that targeted a Hamas post in central Gaza Strip on Tuesday.  Mourners chanted slogans...

The light reaches only a short way down the six-story ventilation shaft, at the bottom of which Ahmad al-Zoubi was found dead three days after he went missing. The shaft is a crude construction that reaches into the bowels of a smartly clad residential building in Verdun. It sits in the...

In a major relief to North Korea, the UN Security Council has allowed humanitarian agencies to work in the country, media reports said Wednesday.  The Security Council has granted exemptions from sanctions to UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Eugene Bell Foundation, Christian Friends of...

Japan logged a trade deficit last year for the first time since 2015, with export growth slowing amid tensions between the country's two biggest trading partners -- China and the United States. Japan logged the deficit of 1,203 billion yen ($11 billion) in 2018 after two years of surplus,...

China and Europe take centre stage at Davos on Wednesday, a day after Brazil's hard-right President Jair Bolsonaro promised reform and respect for the environment to the world's business elite. Top billing at the World Economic Forum will go to Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, a key...

Sony will shift its European headquarters from Britain to the Netherlands to avoid Brexit-related customs issues, but operations at its current UK company will remain unchanged, a company spokesman said Wednesday. "We are moving the location of our European headquarters' registration to the...

Australia is investigating reports a dissident writer and Chinese dual national is missing and may have been detained in his native country, officials said Wednesday. Yang Hengjun -- a novelist, former Chinese diplomat and democracy activist -- went missing shortly after he returned to the...

Asian markets fluctuated Wednesday following a negative lead from Wall Street as investors grow nervous about the chances of success in China-US trade talks ahead of a crunch meeting next week. The mood remains cautious, with the rally that has characterised the start of the year stuttering...

Japan's central bank again revised down its inflation forecasts on Wednesday, in the latest sign of its struggle to reach a long-sought two percent rate that officials consider key to boost the economy. After a two-day meeting the policy board left its mammoth monetary easing programme in...

Thailand's king has issued a royal decree endorsing the first general election since a 2014 coup, the palace said Wednesday, with the date of the long-delayed poll expected to be announced imminently. The decree, published in the Royal Gazette, called for a general "election of members of...