The United States on Wednesday will impose Iran-related sanctions on four entities, U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Elliott Abrams said, accusing the entities in China and Russia of activities promoting Iran’s missile program. Abrams warned that Washington would continue to apply pressure on...

The United States unilaterally blacklisted Libya’s Kaniyat militia and its leader on Wednesday after Russia last week prevented a U.N. Security Council committee from imposing sanctions over human rights abuses by the group. The U.S. sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act,...

Salma al-Najjar, a petrol station attendant in the Gaza Strip, sees her part-time job in larger terms than the traditional act of filling a customer's tank. The 15-year-old trailblazer is the first female to work at a gas station in the Palestinian territory, which has been controlled by...

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday a jailed Kurdish leader has "blood on his hands", scotching some hopes that a reform plan could lead to wider liberties for the opposition and dissidents. Erdogan promised a slate of judicial and economic reforms two weeks ago, leading to...

Dozens of families of victims of the Beirut port blast staged a protest near the parliament over the delay in investigations. The protesters raised pictures of their relatives who were killed in the explosion and banners with slogans condemning the delay. They also held the political...

A private security firm says a mine has exploded and damaged an oil tanker off Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea near the border with Yemen. The explosion damaged the MT Agrari, a Maltese-flagged, Greek-managed oil tanker off the coast of Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia. Ambrey, a British firm,...

Burkina Faso's president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, notched up a hefty lead Wednesday in results announced from more than half of the country's voting districts following weekend elections. Kabore, bidding for a second term at the helm of the troubled Sahel state, has 58.14 percent of the...

In a downbeat assessment of progress in post-Brexit trade talks, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned Wednesday that any deal must not undermine the EU single market. "We will do all in our power to reach an agreement, we're ready to be creative," she told the European Parliament, warning...

Countries around the world are scrambling to finalise vaccine deals as the global number of coronavirus infections approached 60 million on Wednesday, scientists urged caution and U.S. officials pleaded with Americans to stay home over Thanksgiving. The holiday weekend is expected to fuel a...

African Union envoys headed to Ethiopia on Wednesday hours before a government ultimatum was to expire for northern forces to surrender in a three-week war that has shaken the region and killed thousands of Tigrayan fighters according to one report. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government...

Iran’s president reiterated his hope Wednesday that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden would return America’s Iran policy to where he left things as vice president four years ago, state TV reported, rejoining Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. Hassan Rouhani said that if Iran and the U.S....

 A Swiss woman who knifed a victim in the neck and grabbed another by the throat in a Lugano department store on Tuesday was a known jihadist who fell in love with a militant online and tried in vain to meet him in Syria, police said on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors have called the...

The Hong Kong government’s priority is to “restore the political system from chaos”, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Wednesday in her annual policy address, which did not deliver blockbuster steps to boost the economy or ease a housing crisis. Lam’s lengthy address to the semi-autonomous...

A car with slogans scrawled on its sides crashed into the gate of the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said. Reuters pictures from the scene showed police inspecting the estate car at the gate with the words "Stop Globalisation Politics"...

The Azerbaijani army has entered the Kalbajar region, one more territory ceded by Armenian forces in a truce that ended deadly fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The cease-fire, brokered by Russia two weeks ago,...

A restaurant dining ban in Los Angeles was due to come into force Wednesday as officials warned Americans to stay at home for the Thanksgiving holiday, while parts of Europe eyed looser lockdowns over the festive season. The three-week order in America’s second-biggest city will begin as...

The Australian Open will likely be delayed by one to two weeks, officials said Wednesday, as talks continue over staging the tournament in Melbourne, which has only recently emerged from months of coronavirus lockdown. A delay for a week or two to the first Grand Slam of the year, scheduled...

The United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, including Lebanon, Iran, Syria and Somalia, according to a document issued by a state-owned business park. The document, which was sent to companies operating in the park and was seen...

Israeli air strikes in Syria overnight killed at least eight fighters operating in pro-Iran militias, a war monitoring group said Wednesday. The strikes targeted an arms depot and a position held by Iranian forces and their Lebanese ally Hezbollah near the capital Damascus, and a pro-Iran...

Under the looming shadow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the ever deteriorating social and living conditions that many find hopeless, the number of suicide cases in Syria has significantly increased. Dr. Zahir Hajjo, director of the General Authority of Forensic Medicine, revealed to...