Several rural homes were reportedly destroyed overnight in Australia’s southeast but the wildfire threat had diminished by Sunday across New South Wales state and around the national capital Canberra, officials said. The New South Wales Rural Fire Service said in a statement on Sunday...

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell is expected in Tehran Monday, Iran's foreign ministry announced a day ahead of the visit, amid new tensions over the Iranian nuclear issue. Borrell "will visit Iran tomorrow for the first time since taking office (in early december). He is set to meet the...

China's central bank said Sunday it would pump 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 bln) into the economy as it ramps up support for a nationwide fight against a deadly virus that is expected to hit growth. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement it would launch a 1.2 trillion yuan reverse...

Furious anti-government youth held their ground in protest squares across Iraq's south on Sunday, despite the previous evening's appointment of a prime minister who insists he is an independent. Mohammad Allawi announced his own nomination as premier on Saturday, which marked exactly four...

France will deploy 600 more soldiers in the fight against Islamists militants in Africa’s Sahel, south of the Sahara, French Defence Minister Florence Parly said on Sunday. The reinforcements would mostly be sent to the area between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, Parly said in a statement....

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian rebels killed at least 33 troops from coastal Tartus province in January in the battlefronts of Idlib and Aleppo provinces, activists said. The death toll included Brigadier General and 17 more officers from the main stronghold for Bashar al-Assad's manpower....

After years of back-breaking toil, Fatima el Hanani now fears being reduced to begging in the street because of Morocco's closure of its border with a Spanish enclave to thousands of "mule women". The impact has been felt on both sides of the frontier, with the Moroccan porters who lugged...

The United States military will provide accommodation for 1,000 people if they need to be quarantined because of the deadly novel coronavirus, the Department of Defense said. Several facilities each capable of housing at least 250 people in individual rooms will be made available until...

Some people like them baked, others prefer them dried. Locusts are surprisingly nutritious and considered a delicacy by many in Kuwait but not everyone is enamoured by the crunchy culinary offering. "I love their flavour, it's one of my memories of childhood and reminds me of my...

Japan sent a naval destroyer to the Middle East on Sunday for a rare overseas mission to ensure the safety of its ships amid lingering tension between Iran and the US. The vessel left the Yokosuka naval base, south of Tokyo, for an information gathering mission in the Gulf of Oman, northern...

A claim by Chinese scientists that a liquid made with honeysuckle and flowering plants could help fight the deadly coronavirus has sparked frenzied buying of the traditional medicine, but doubts quickly emerged. As the death toll from the SARS-like pathogen sweeping the country continues to...

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido promised "a great mobilization in Caracas" when he returns to the country after a two-week international tour, drumming up support to dislodge President Nicolas Maduro. Recognized as interim president by more than 50 nations, Guaido said in Miami on...

Eleventh seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury halted the incredible doubles run of Australian Open wildcards Max Purcell and Luke Saville Sunday, crushing them 6-4, 6-2 in the final. The American and British pair showed their class and experience, eventually breaking in the seventh game of...

A children's advocacy group warned Friday that half of nearly 400,000 displaced people in the Syrian government's two-month-long offensive on the country's last rebel-held region are children, calling it a wave of displacement unlike anything seen before in the war in Syria. The...

Liverpool surged 22 points clear at the top of the Premier League with a dominant second-half display as Mohamed Salah scored twice in a 4-0 rout of Southampton on Saturday. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson also scored and the runaway leaders have collected an astonishing 100...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday called for an end to fighting in northwestern Syria, where hundreds of combatants reportedly died this week as regime forces advanced on a rebel-held town. Syria's Russian-backed forces are advancing on the rebel-held town of Saraqeb amid a...

Russian and Assad regime warplanes targeted the city of al-Bab controlled by the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) in northern Syria early Sunday, local sources said. The jets targeted the city's Sheikh al-Doshel mosque in the first airstrike since 2017. A video captured by...

Syria's government Saturday started rationing subsidised food like rice and sugar with smart cards, a ministry said, in the latest measure to address an economic crisis in the war-torn country. The value of the Syrian pound against the dollar has plummeted on the black market in recent...

The Arab League Saturday rejected US President Donald Trump's controversial Middle East plan, calling it "unfair" to Palestinians. The pan-Arab bloc said in a statement that it "rejects the US-Israeli 'deal of the century' considering that it does not meet the minimum rights and...

Some companies have warned that a coronavirus outbreak in China could disrupt supply chains or hurt bottom lines as factories and shops shut and airlines suspend flights. FINANCIAL IMPACT: * Electrolux said the epidemic could have a material impact if its Chinese suppliers were...