Saudi Arabia’s energy minister hinted the initial public offering of the state oil company Aramco could be delayed until 2019, pushing back a central plank of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s plan to modernize the economy. Khalid al-Falih also said the IPO, potentially the largest...

As North Korea considers negotiating over its nukes, it may find lessons in the Middle East, where leaders imperiled, paranoid or pugnacious have long used the doomsday weapon threat to secure a wobbly perch. It is a delicate dance - and getting the balance wrong can end badly. Holding...

LONDON: The wife of an Iranian-Canadian environmental activist who died in prison in Tehran last month was barred from leaving Iran, one of her sons said, in an unexplained move that drew an angry response from Canada. Raam Emami said in an email to journalists that security forces had...

ANKARA (Reuters)- Turkey and Iraq's central government in Baghdad will carry out a joint operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying Thursday. Cavusoglu's comments came as Turkey pushed ahead with a cross-border...

CAIRO: Egypt's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the U.N. human rights chief's critical statements on what he described as the "pervasive climate of intimidation" in Egypt ahead of the presidential election later this month. The ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday that...

LONDON: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud met British finance minister Philip Hammond at the Saudi Arabian embassy in London, a government spokeswoman said Thursday, without giving further details of the discussions. Prince Mohammad is making an official visit to...

By Burak Karacaoglu and Mohamad Misto - (IDLIB, Syria/ ISTANBUL)- Women who escaped from prisons run by the Bashar al-Assad regime say they suffered all forms of torture, including rape. The regime forces are responsible for 7,699 rape cases involving at least 864 women and...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime has freed 400 people arrested seven months ago while they were fleeing ISIS-held area in eastern Syria province to the Qalamoun region near Damascus, a rebel spokesman said Thursday. Said Seif, spokesman for Ahmed al-Abdo Battalions, told Zaman al-Wasl...

Hundreds of Canadian doctors, medical specialists and residents, as well as medical students, have signed a petition protesting their own pay raises, instead asking that the money be reallocated to help nurses and patients in need.  "We, Quebec doctors who believe in a strong...

Donald Trump has obtained a restraining order against the porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her speaking out about their alleged relationship. The White House confirmed Mr Trump had "won in arbitration" proceedings against Ms Daniels - whose real name is Stephanie Clifford - but said...

Turkish military and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) liberated another town center in Syria’s Afrin region from terrorists on Thursday during the ongoing Operation Olive Branch. Jinderes town center, located in the southwest of Afrin, was cleared of terrorists following fierce street...

The bodies of two customs officials were discovered early Thursday in Iraq’s Diyala province hours after they were abducted by unidentified gunmen, according to a local police source.  Diyala Police Captain Habib al-Shammari told Anadolu Agency that the bodies of the two officials...

India’s top court on Thursday overturned a decision of the Kerala High Court which had annulled the marriage of Hadiya, a Kerala-based girl who converted to Islam and married a Muslim man. A bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, allowed Hadiya to live with her husband,...

SANTIAGO (Reuters)- Eleven countries are expected to sign a landmark Asia-Pacific trade agreement in Santiago Thursday as an antidote to the increasingly protectionist bent of the United States, which pulled out of the pact last year. The signing ceremony comes the day after Europe and...

LONDON: The final details of a Brexit deal may not be clinched until the eve of Britain's exit in late March 2019 but a deal will be done, British junior foreign minister Mark Field said Thursday. "I think we are going to get to the last week of March 2019 and we are still not going to...

Syrian forces pursued a relentless air and ground offensive against Eastern Ghouta Thursday, moving closer to retaking the rebel enclave but also depriving desperate civilians of vital aid.  More than 900 civilians have been killed in the nearly three-week assault on the last...

By Ali Eid No Syrian is free from bad memories. I still remember when my 8-year-old daughter came back from her school in Damascus 2010. She was sad and seemed offended by her teacher for not knowing who is the 'Immortal Leader', such a new term pushed her to ask ‘What does...

BAGHDAD (AP)- A Baghdad court has convicted the sister of Daesh's (ISIS) leader on terrorism charges and sentenced her to death. The spokesman of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, Abdel-Sattar Bayrkdar, said in a statement Thursday that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's sister was found guilty for...

BEIJING (AP)- The Bank of China has pledged at least 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) to create a massive giant panda conservation park in southwestern Sichuan province. China's forestry ministry announced Thursday an agreement between the bank and the provincial government to finance the...

BEIRUT (Reuters)- The Syrian army is poised to slice rebel-held eastern Ghouta in two as forces advancing from the east link up with troops at the enclave's western edge, a pro-Damascus military commander said Thursday. That put the zone effectively under Syrian regime control as the...