The top U.N. official for Libya said Wednesday there are at least 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries in the war-torn nation, and warned of a “serious crisis” as weapons continue pouring into the North African country. “That is a shocking violation of Libyan sovereignty ... a...

Lebanon will not have enough hospital beds to cope with increasing COVID-19 cases, the health minister in the caretaker government warned on Thursday, saying compliance with a two-week lockdown that ended this week had been patchy. In a Tweet, Hamad Hasan said cases were on the rise and...

Basketball player Charles Tabet was once a national hero blocking shots for Lebanon, but a crumbling economy has forced him into a new life selling cars in Michigan. After a decade playing in his country of origin, the 33-year-old Lebanese-American last month returned to his native US state...

Japanese prosecutors are seeking to question former prime minister Shinzo Abe over a scandal involving the cost of events held for his supporters, local media said Thursday. Under Japanese law, spending on political events must be reported, but prosecutors allege that Abe's office failed to...

Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing died Wednesday at the age of 94 after contacting the novel coronavirus. His family said in a statement that he passed away at his home in the Loir-et-Cher region. He was hospitalized in the city of Tours on Nov. 17 due to respiratory...

All armed elements have left the Sinjar district in Iraq's northern Nineveh province, the country's Joint Operations Command claimed on Thursday. "According to the agreement between the central government and the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government [KRG], the federal forces are responsible...

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake was recorded in Turkey’s southeastern Siirt province on Thursday morning, according to the country's disaster management agency. The tremor occurred at a depth of 14.02 kilometers (8.7 miles) in the Kurtalan district at 08:45 a.m. local time (0545GMT), the...

World Health Organization's head of emergency services on Wednesday hailed Britain's approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. However, Dr. Mike Ryan said more vaccines are needed and until then measures such as wearing masks in public must be followed. Ryan spoke with WHO epidemiologist...

President Donald Trump teased running again for president in 2024 as he hosted a holiday reception at the White House. "It’s been an amazing four years," Trump told the crowd, which included many Republican National Committee members. "We’re trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll...

Iran's watchdog body approved a law on Wednesday that obliges the government to halt U.N. inspections of its nuclear sites and step up uranium enrichment beyond the limit set under Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal if sanctions are not eased in a month. In retaliation for the killing last week of...

Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and the US special envoy for Syria on Wednesday discussed the latest developments in the region, according to an official statement. Kalin received Joel D. Rayburn and his delegation at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara. The two...

The International Organization for Migration said Wednesday that nearly 28,000 Yemeni families have been displaced since the start of 2020 because of the ongoing conflict. A report by the UN agency said from the beginning of 2020 until Nov. 27, a total of 27,716 families with 166,296 people...

Algerian soldier was killed Wednesday during a clash with armed Islamists in the country's northeast, the defense ministry said in a statement. Lelmaya Sifeddine was killed "during a new clash with a terrorist group" during an ongoing operation in the province of Jijel, it said. On...

Israel edged closer on Wednesday towards a fourth national election in two years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main governing partner, Benny Gantz, backed an opposition move to dissolve parliament. Parliament gave preliminary approval to a dissolution bill, but the legislation...

Lebanon wants maritime border talks with Israel to succeed and difficulties that surfaced in the last session round can be overcome, President Michel Aoun told a U.S. mediator on Wednesday, after the latest round was postponed. The negotiations between the old foes were launched in October,...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered authorities to begin mass vaccinations against COVID-19 from next week in Russia. “Let’s agree on this - you will not report to me next week, but you will start mass vaccination ... let’s get to work already,” Putin told Deputy Prime...

Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) distributed 470 tons of vegetables and fruits to the Afrin and Idlib regions of Syria on Wednesday. Yusuf Tunc, a representative of IHH, said they are trying to help war-weary Syrians. "Life in the region becomes increasingly difficult as...

US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is expected to tackle the Gulf crisis and push for progress toward ending the spat during a visit to Qatar Wednesday. The official Qatar News Agency reported that Kushner met with the country's ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim...

Afghan government and Taliban representatives said on Wednesday they had reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks, their first written agreement in 19 years of war. The agreement lays out the way forward for further discussion but is considered a breakthrough because it will...

US President-elect Joe Biden will insist Iran agrees to new demands if it wants the US to return to a nuclear deal and lift sanctions, The New York Times said Wednesday. The Times said the Biden administration would seek to extend the duration of "restrictions on Iran's production of...