It was almost as if Emmanuel Macron forgot that Lebanon is no longer a French protectorate. Visiting explosion-ravaged Beirut this week, France’s leader comforted distraught crowds, promised to rebuild the city and claimed that the blast pierced France’s own heart. "France will never...

At least 10 times over the past six years, authorities from Lebanon’s customs, military, security agencies and judiciary raised alarm that a massive stockpile of explosive chemicals was being kept with almost no safeguard at the port in the heart of Beirut, newly surfaced documents show....

An Italian alpine resort remained on high alert Friday over fears a vast chunk of a glacier on the slopes of the Mont Blanc massif could plummet in high temperatures. "No one gets through! No cars, bikes or pedestrians," was the message at a checkpoint where an automatic barrier and two...

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, the territory's current and former police chiefs and eight other officials for their role in curtailing political freedoms in the territory. The sanctions were imposed under an executive order U.S....

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday strongly denied that his powerful Shiite movement had stored arms at Beirut's port, describing the cataclysmic explosion there as "a major tragedy". "We have nothing in the port: not an arms depot, nor a missile depot nor missiles nor rifles nor...

The president of Lebanon on Friday said the causes of a massive explosion in the capital Beirut's port had yet to be determined, without ruling out the possibility of foreign interference. Michel Aoun said in a press conference in the presidential palace that he asked French President...

Seven children were among 20 people killed in an air strike on northern Yemen, Huthi rebels and an aid organisation said Friday. The strike Thursday targeted Al-Jawf province, northeast of Yemen's rebel-held capital of Sanaa, said a Huthi health ministry spokesman. A local health...

A Palestinian women was shot dead in the West Bank where Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinians Friday, Palestinian medical officials said. Palestinian officials said Israeli troops had shot the 23-year-old. An Israeli army spokesman said soldiers did not use live fire during the...

Valtteri Bottas outpaced world championship-leading Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton as the two ‘black arrows’ topped the times in Friday’s opening free practice for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. The Finn, who won the season-opening race in Austria, clocked a best lap in 1min 26.166sec...

A US ban on the WeChat messaging platform could cut lines of communication between friends in China and America and force people to switch to a replacement, social media users said on Friday. US President Donald Trump has announced sweeping restrictions against Chinese-owned WeChat and...

The United States said Friday it was sending an immediate $15 million worth of food and medicine to help Lebanon after Beirut's massive port blast. The aid, to be transported through the US military, amounts to three months' worth of food for 50,000 people and three months' worth of...

Beirut residents began trying to rebuild their shattered lives Friday after the biggest blast in the Lebanese capital's history tore into the city, killing at least 154 and leaving the heavily indebted nation with another huge reconstruction bill. The search for those missing since...

Turkey's currency tumbled further Friday, hitting record lows two days in a row. The Turkish lira dropped to a historic low of 7.3677 against the dollar before recovering slightly. The lira is down about 19 percent versus the US currency since the beginning of the year. The drop is...

The Israeli army said it had shot down a drone overnight Thursday into Friday that came from Lebanon, a border on heightened military alert due to recent skirmishes. Israeli troops overnight "identified a drone which infiltrated into Israeli airspace in the Mount Hermon area, along the...

Syria's capital is facing a "terrible" spike in COVID-19 infections, with hospitals packed, patients scouring Facebook for advice and medics fearing the virus is spreading faster than clinics can test for it. Authorities in government-held areas have confirmed 999 cases including 48 deaths...

At least five people were killed while 10 were rescued Friday morning from a massive landslide in the southern Indian state of Kerala, local officials said. “Some more families are trapped in the area and the search is ongoing," Idukki’s district police chief, known as Karuppasamy. R, told...

Global coronavirus cases exceeded the 19 million mark Thursday, according to a running tally by US-based Johns Hopkins University.  The number of deaths from the virus has reached 713,406, with recoveries topping 11.48 million. The US remains the worst-hit country, with over 4.88...

World stocks ended four days of gains Friday after US. President Donald Trump cranked up simmering tensions with China by banning US transactions with two popular Chinese apps, Tencent's WeChat and ByteDance's Tiktok. Chinese stocks led losers in Asia and its currency slumped after Trump...

The Israeli army said it attacked targets in the northern Gaza Strip late Thursday after Palestinian militants launched explosive balloons from the territory into Israel. In a brief statement, the army said airstrikes struck "infrastrucure used for underground activities" by Gaza's ruling...

Online armies of self-styled Saudi patriots riding a wave of state-led nationalism attack critics and what they call "traitors" of the kingdom -- but their growing clout has left the government uneasy. Their rise has coincided with the ascent of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has...