Bahrain sent its first official government delegation to Israel on Wednesday as the two countries look to broaden cooperation that Washington has promoted as an anti-Iran alliance and potential economic bonanza. Bahrain's foreign minister, Abdullatif al-Zayani headed the delegation aboard...

Iraq and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday reopened the Arar desert crossing, Baghdad's border commission said, in a long-awaited sign of closer trade ties after a 30-year closure. Top officials including Iraq's interior minister and the head of its border commission travelled from Baghdad to...

The United Nations humanitarian office is releasing $100 million in emergency funding to seven countries at risk of famine in Africa and the Middle East amid conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic, while the humanitarian chief says returning to a world where famines are common would be "obscene."...

Saudi Arabia hosts the G20 summit Saturday in a first for an Arab nation, but the scaled-down virtual format could limit debate on a resurgent coronavirus pandemic and crippling economic crisis. The two-day meeting of the world's wealthiest nations follows a bitter US election disputed by...

Israel said it launched air strikes against a number of Syrian army and Iranian Quds Force targets in Syria on Wednesday after explosive devices were planted in the Israeli-held Golan Heights. The Syrian state news agency reported that three military personnel were killed and one was...

Spain's number of COVID-19 infections surpassed the 1.5 million mark on Tuesday and the country reported its highest daily death toll since late April. From February to July, Spain had only confirmed 250,000 cases -- not as much due to a lack of testing -- but has now detected some half a...

A rocket attack targeted Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone late Tuesday. Four rockets were launched at the zone, and sirens were heard in the region when the attack occurred. There was no comment from the government about the incident. Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone,...

US President Donald Trump fired the country’s top cybersecurity official on Tuesday over a statement he made about the Nov. 3 presidential election. In a tweet, Trump said that Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired the director of the federal agency that vouched for the reliability of the 2020 election. Trump fired Christopher Krebs in a tweet, saying his recent statement defending the security of the election was “highly inaccurate.” The firing of...

The UN rights chief decried Tuesday "deeply troubling" reports that Iraq has executed 21 men convicted on terrorism-related charges, and warned that several hundred other prisoners in the country risked the same fate. "I call on the Iraqi authorities to halt any further executions," UN High...

The Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas will restore coordination with Israel after severing it in May, a PA minister said Tuesday evening. "In the light of Mahmud Abbas's international contacts... and given the written and verbal commitments we have received from the Israelis,...

The US on Tuesday welcomed a cessation of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the Karabakh conflict, with a recent Russia-brokered deal to end the fighting.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that Washington called for an end to the violence from the...

The first results are out on vaccine trials which aim to provide immunity against the novel coronavirus. There is much to be optimistic about. US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech, co-founded by Turkish scientist Ugur Sahin, announced that their vaccine...

France said Tuesday it was preparing to kick off a nationwide Covid vaccination campaign in January when it hopes virus shots will be approved and available.  The government is worried that millions of French people will refuse coronavirus shots, even after a vaccine was found to be...

Vladimir Putin has approved the creation of Russia’s first naval base in the Indian Ocean, expanding his country’s global military footprint and cementing its defence ties with African nations. The facility in Sudan, which will be able to accommodate up to four military vessels and 300...

President Donald Trump may withdraw nearly all U.S. troops from Somalia as part of a global pullback that could see major reductions in Afghanistan and a slight drawdown in Iraq, U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that nothing...

Barcelona's salary cap for this season has been cut by almost 300 million euros according to La Liga's list of spending limits for Spanish clubs, announced on Tuesday. The coronavirus pandemic has had huge economic effects on Spain's top-flight teams, with Barca among those worst affected....

Saudi Arabia has told Yemen's Houthis in high-level back channel talks it would sign a UN proposal for a nationwide ceasefire if the Iran-aligned group agrees to a buffer zone along the kingdom's borders, three sources familiar with the matter said. If a deal is struck, it would mark the...

After Turkey withdrew from observation posts within regime-controlled areas, Syria and Russia stepped up their attacks in Idlib, raising fears of an imminent battle. Russian airstrikes accompanied by Syrian regime-led bombardment have escalated in some areas of the northwest province...

In front of Vienna's City Hall, preparations for one of the Austrian capital's famous Christmas markets were on ice Tuesday and the wooden stalls shuttered as the country began a second coronavirus lockdown. As of midnight, new rules mean Austrians are only supposed to leave the house for a...