OUAGADOUGOU (AFP)-  Heavy gunfire was heard Friday near the French embassy in Ouagadougou, the capital of the Sahel state of Burkina Faso, an AFP reporter said. Witnesses said five armed men got out of a car and opened fire on passersby before heading towards the embassy....

Berlin "rejects" President Donald Trump's decision to impose hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday. "The federal government rejects such tariffs... the problem of global overcapacity in the steel and aluminum sectors...

Spotify may incontestably be the king of music streaming, but as the Swedish firm prepares for a stock listing, there is still a divide whether its reign is benign or not for artists and the music industry. "We really do believe that we can improve the world, one song at a time," Spotify's...

Russia has called off strategic talks with the U.S. set for this month after a Washington delegation snubbed a meeting on cybersecurity, Moscow's ambassador to the U.S. told TASS news agency Friday. Anatoly Antonov said Washington's last-minute pullout from talks in Geneva at the end of...

  (Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime forces and key ally Russia gave urged rebel factions to surrender in the northern countryside of Hama province, giving 72-hour timeout before launching major offensive, residents told Zaman al-Wasl. Jaish al-Izza, Jaish al-Naser and the Second...

Syrian activists say the Turkish air force has hit two positions of pro-regime Syrian fighters deployed last week in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, killing and wounding a number of fighters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the airstrikes took place late...

 Syria's regime may allow an aid convoy with supplies for 180,000 people to go to the town of Douma in the besieged enclave of eastern Ghouta Sunday, the Middle East director of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said Friday. Geert Cappelaere told a news conference that there was no...

Egypt’s president said Thursday that he considered any defamation of the country’s security forces to be “high treason” and would not allow it, in an apparent warning to the media. Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi’s warning came as security forces enter the fourth week of a campaign against...

 (Zaman Al Wasl)- Three civilians killed in night raids on the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta suburbs, topping the death toll of Thursday’s airstrikes to 11, local activists and Civil Defense rescuing group said. Eight 8 civilians, including children, were also killed in the...

Istanbul (AFP)- Eight Turkish soldiers were killed and 13 wounded on Thursday as part of Ankara's cross-border offensive against a Kurdish militia in northwest Syria, the army said. The death toll, released by the Turkish military staff in two separate statements, makes Thursday one of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters)- The U.S. State Department accused Russia on Thursday of developing destabilizing nuclear weapons in violation of its treaty obligations after Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech unveiling a new array of nuclear weapons. State Department spokeswoman...

The European Union said Thursday it would react firmly with a proposal within days for WTO-compatible countermeasures against the United States for trade restrictions on steel and aluminum, which it called a "blatant intervention" to protect U.S. industry. "We strongly regret this step,...

GENEVA (Reuters)- At the request of Britain, the United Nations Human Rights Council is expected to hold an "urgent debate" Friday on the deteriorating situation in Syria's enclave of eastern Ghouta, a spokesman said Thursday. The bureau of the 47-member state Geneva forum agreed to the...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syria TV to launch its broadcasting on March 03 at 6 pm Damascus time, such a good news may reflect the hopes of Syrians at home and in the diaspora and their aspirations for “a united Syria, a democratic state based on equal citizenship which guarantees the...

The United Nations said Thursday it hoped aid convoys could head into Syria's besieged rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta within days, after the Damascus government appeared to have finally provided authorization. "We may now be able to go to eastern Ghouta in the next few days," Jan...

Syrian militant rebels took back some ground Thursday from rival insurgent groups near Syria's border with Turkey after losing control of several towns to them in recent days, rebels and residents said. The rebel-held area in northwestern Syria is their biggest remaining stronghold, and...

  (Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 8 civilians killed in the besieged Eastern Ghouta suburbs as regime forces stepped up aerial and ground bombardments, local activists and rescuing group said Thursday. The civilian death toll in Eastern Ghouta near the capital since the Syrian regime...

 Facebook apologized Thursday for censoring the prehistoric "Venus of Willendorf" figurine, considered a masterpiece of the Paleolithic era. "Our advertising policies do not allow nudity or implied nudity but we have an exception for statues. Therefore, the ad with this image...

Iraq's parliament demanded Thursday that the government set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops stationed in the country to help fight Daesh (ISIS), a ruling coalition lawmaker told Reuters. "Parliament voted on a decision to thank friendly nations for their support in...

Catalonia's majority separatist parliament denounced Madrid's "shift towards authoritarianism" Thursday and defended ousted leader Carles Puigdemont as it voted on its first motion since December elections, as talks continue to form a regional government. The motion defends Puigdemont...