Japan needs to boost renewable energy by reforming outdated policies on land use and the national grid if it is to meet a new goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, industry players and experts say. Since announcing the 2050 target in November, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government has...

After more than a decade fighting for the Taliban and being hounded by Afghan and US forces, Haji Lala thought there was little chance of ever returning home. Once a commander and senior district official for the insurgent group, he says he was captured by Pakistan's security services who...

Venezuela's vital oil industry is failing and the socialist government is feeling the pressure, and now the regime of President Nicolas Maduro is being accused of lashing out at the sector's unions. In recent months, several union leaders have been arrested, accused of terrorism, sharing...

One summer evening in a Dutch village in the rural province of Drenthe, Raid Sadek, 37, stares in stunned silence at the screen of his phone. On it, a picture has just appeared of a man carrying a bullet proof vest and an automatic assault rifle. ogether, and the man sometimes stops by his...

Tunisia is not interested in establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and its position will not be affected by any international changes, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Morocco joined the list of Arab countries that normalized their relations with Israel and Israeli envoys...

French and other EU citizens will once again be allowed to enter France from Britain beginning at midnight if they have a negative Covid-19 test that is less than 72 hours old, the French prime minister's office said on Tuesday. France and some 50 other countries closed their borders to...

The fifth edition of annual art festival “Syrien N’est Fait” begun alast week under, taking place exclusively online due to the coronavirus pandemic.  The festival, held in Paris every year, is dedicated to the Syrian contemporary art scene, from plastic art, to theatre, cinema,...

Spain's Senate is poised to approve Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's budget for 2021 later Tuesday, boosting his minority Socialist-led government after years of political instability. The spending plan, which channels billions of euros in European Union pandemic recovery funds into the...

President Emmanuel Macron's health situation remains stable after contracting Covid-19 last week, the Élysée Palace said. "The health condition of the president remains stable," an official from the president's office said. Macron, who celebrated his 43rd birthday on Monday, has been...

US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller met Tuesday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul during an unannounced visit to Afghanistan. Miller, who is acting head of the Pentagon until President-elect Joe Biden takes office next month, and Ghani discussed the ongoing talks with the...

The Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) distributed coats and shoes to 4,000 children in Syria's Idlib and Afrin regions, a charity official said on Tuesday. Selim Tosun, the IHH media manager for Syria, told Anadolu Agency that the aid was delivered to support children in...

The United States on Tuesday slapped fresh sanctions on Syria, targeting its central bank and blacklisting several people and entities in a continued effort to cut off funds for President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The latest action, building on sanctions imposed on Syria earlier this...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday voiced regret over a stalemate in maritime border talks between Israel and Lebanon and offered Washington's meditation. The two nations which remain technically at war opened negotiations in October after quiet US diplomacy, seeking to clear the...

Thousands of protesters rallied in Armenia's capital on Tuesday demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resign over a controversial peace deal with Azerbaijan as the opposition launched a nationwide strike. Some 25,000 protesters flooded the centre of Yerevan, according to an AFP...

Sudan's Justice Ministry said Tuesday the U.S. Congress has moved forward on Washington's promise to end the African country's pariah status, passing legislation that grants Sudan some immunity from legal action by Americans against its involvement in militant attacks. The legislation, part...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the government is focused on the education and empowerment of Muslim girls in the country. Speaking at the centennial celebrations of India’s world-famous Aligarh Muslim University via video conferencing, Modi said school dropout of Muslim...

Iraq has signed a preliminary deal to receive 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in early 2021, the health ministry said. The country has been among the hardest-hit in the Middle East, with more than 580,000 reported cases although numbers have dropped dramatically...

Syrian activists circulated on social media news of a HIV case, a first in the rebel-held northern Aleppo countryside. Our correspondent in Aleppo said that the HIV infection was discovered by chance during the process of analyzing a sample of blood given by (H. A.) in order to donate...

The coronavirus-delayed Tokyo Olympics will cost at least 1.64 trillion yen ($15.9 billion), organisers said Tuesday, unveiling a final budget swollen by the unprecedented postponement and a raft of pandemic measures. The extra costs -- up 294 billion yen ($2.8 billion) from figures...

Near the wreckage of Beirut’s port, a charity is bringing Christmas cheer to a city hammered by a devastating explosion, rising coronavirus infections and the worst economic crisis since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war. The Solidarity Christmas Village, decked out with flashing fairy lights...