Turkey's foreign minister, on a visit to Qatar on Wednesday, defended the idea of "safe zones" in war-ravaged Syria and pressed the need for them to be properly funded. Mevlut Cavusoglu said that only through making the zones habitable would tens of thousands of Syrians be encouraged...

President Donald Trump railed at US intelligence agencies Wednesday as Washington was shaken by new reports of high-level Russian contacts with his aides and associates during the 2016 presidential campaign. Intercepted calls and phone records show Trump aides were in repeated contact with...

    (Zaman Al Wasl)- Al Farouq brigade, key unit in Ahrar al-Sham movement, said Wednesday it had evacuated all bases in Idlib to end the indiscriminate killing of civilians by regime and Russian warplanes in the northern city, rebel commander told Zaman al-Wasl. Abdul Rauouf...

Syria's government Wednesday fiercely denied accusations by Human Rights Watch that it used chemical weapons in its battle for Aleppo, shrugging off the group's report as "unprofessional and unscientific." In a major report released Monday, Human Rights Watch said Syrian government forces...

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi postponed a visit to Egypt to promote a campaign to fight Hepatitis C in the wake of Barcelona's defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, Egypt's tourism ministry said Wednesday. "The visit has been officially postponed, (Messi) said he could not come at the last...

A suicide bomber Wednesday detonated a pick-up truck in Sadr City, a heavily populated poor Shiite suburb of Baghdad, killing at least 15 and wounding 50, security sources said. The explosion, the deadliest in Baghdad so far this year, targeted a crowded street full of garages and used car...

Syria peace talks set for next week in Geneva will be a failure unless the Kurds are at the table, a representative of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) told AFP on Wednesday. "It's clear that if we want to resolve the Syrian crisis, everyone must take part," said party co-chair Asya...

Malaysian police arrested a woman Wednesday in the apparent assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leader's exiled half brother who South Korean spies say once begged his sibling to spare his life. The astonishing killing, which reportedly came at the hands of two female assassins,...

The main Syrian opposition body said on Wednesday it wanted face-to-face negotiations with the Damascus government about a political transition at peace talks that are due to begin in Geneva next week. Salim al-Muslit, spokesman of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), also told Reuters the...

Ireland's fragile minority government faces a no-confidence vote later Wednesday over a scandal involving the police, the state's child protection agency and the political establishment. Prime Minister Enda Kenny and his cabinet have been criticized over their handling of false allegations...

The United Nations is warning of catastrophic flooding in Syria from the Tabqa dam, which is at risk from high water levels, deliberate sabotage by Islamic State (IS) and further damage from air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition. The earth-filled dam holds back the Euphrates River 40 km (25...

One month ago, Angel di Maria was an outcast on the Paris Saint-Germain substitutes' bench, but the striker was reborn in the Champions League demolition of Barcelona. Two goals in the 4-0 thrashing of Argentina teammate Lionel Messi's Barca saw birthday boy di Maria hit near perfection in a...

The agenda of Syrian peace talks due to begin in Geneva next week will be line with a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending the conflict and will not be changed, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said Wednesday. De Mistura, speaking in Rome, said the U.N. resolution 2254 was...

The commander of Jordan's border guards says ISIS extremists are expanding their influence in a sprawling border camp for displaced Syrians, posing a growing threat to the U.S.-allied kingdom. Brig. Gen. Sami Kafawin spoke to The Associated Press during a tour of the desert area where...

Top EU economic affairs official Pierre Moscovici met Greek leaders in Athens Wednesday in a bid to break the deadlock between the debt-laden country and its creditors. The visit by the former French finance minister comes after months of failed talks between Athens and its eurozone and...

 U.S. President Donald Trump's break with decades of support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is irresponsible and does not advance peace, a senior Palestinian said Wednesday. "This does not make sense," Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee...

France's scandal-hit presidential candidate Francois Fillon came under renewed attack from within his conservative camp Wednesday ahead of planned talks with former president Nicolas Sarkozy that Fillon hopes will restore party unity. Rebel conservative lawmaker Georges Fenech said his The...

India successfully put a record 104 satellites from a single rocket into orbit Wednesday in the latest triumph for its famously frugal space agency. Scientists who were at the launch in the southern spaceport of Sriharikota burst into applause as the head of India's Space Research...

Kazakhstan said Wednesday a new round of Astana talks on the Syria conflict led by Russia, Turkey and Iran scheduled to begin Feb. 15 would be delayed by a day due to unexplained "technical reasons". "The negotiations have been moved to Feb. 16 for technical reasons," a spokeswoman for the...

South Korea's special prosecutor's office said on Wednesday it had expanded charges against Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee to include hiding the proceeds of a criminal act before it decided to seek a warrant for his arrest. A Seoul court said on Tuesday it would hold a hearing on Thursday to...