Kuwait "highly appreciates" U.S. efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, the foreign ministry said Wednesday, a day after U.S President Donald Trump announced a new peace plan. The statement, cited by the state news agency, reiterated Kuwait's commitment to an independent Palestinian...

The White House has issued a letter to former national security adviser John Bolton, seeking to block the publication of his upcoming book, CNN reported Wednesday citing sources familiar with the matter. Axios news outlet also reported that the White House had issued the letter. The reports...

Abu Dis, the town earmarked for the Palestinian capital in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, lies a short distance to the east of Jerusalem’s walled Old City. A relatively featureless urban sprawl on the old road to Jericho, it has little of the religious or cultural...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he would be respectful in his celebrations Friday when Britain leaves the European Union, mindful that Brexit still divides the country. "In common with everybody else, I will be making a dignified exit from the European Union," he said during a live...

French President Emmanuel Macron accused his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of failing "to keep his word", given with other world leaders, to end foreign meddling in Libya. "We have seen in recent days Turkish ships accompanying Syrian mercenaries arriving on Libyan soil," Macron...

Iraq's president on Wednesday threatened to unilaterally name a successor to the country's premier, who resigned in December, if parliament did not nominate a candidate within three days. "If the concerned blocs are unable to resolve the nomination issue by no later than Saturday, February...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed US President Donald Trump's peace proposal as a victory for Israel earned on his watch, but whether it boosts his re-election chances remains to be seen, experts say. The March 2 vote is Israel's third in less than a year, with polls suggesting...

Twenty-six people were killed and 32 injured when a bus and an autorickshaw collided with each other and plunged into a nearby well in India, a local police official said Wednesday. The accident happened in the western state of Maharashtra late Tuesday, Suhas Deshmukh, a local police...

Sudan suspects that two of its citizens who returned to the country from China are infected with the new coronavirus, the information minister told Reuters. One of the pair, a man and a woman, had been in the region of the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, Said Faisal...

Fifteen people have been killed in the eastern DR Congo region of Beni, where hundreds have died in militia violence since November, a local official said Wednesday, giving a provisional toll. In the past 24 hours, "14 bodies have been found hacked to death," while a pastor was killed in a...

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement has targeted facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in Jizan on the Red Sea, its military spokesman said on Wednesday in comments reported by the group's Al Masirah TV. Aramco declined to comment on the report. The military spokesman also said the...

Palestinians have rejected US President Donald Trump's peace proposals but may struggle to push back if Israel launches the plan on the ground by annexing settlements and keys parts of the West Bank. Trump's initiative grants the Jewish state full control of Jerusalem and allows it to annex...

Austria's Dominic Thiem stunned Rafael Nadal Wednesday to send the world number one tumbling out of the Australian Open and set up a semi-final against Alexander Zverev. The fifth seed, beaten by Nadal in the last two French Open finals, battled past the Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 4-6,...

EU countries could ban telecoms operators deemed a security risk from critical parts of 5G infrastructure under guidelines issued Wednesday, amid US pressure to shut out Chinese giant Huawei. The EU plan, which closely mirrors rules set out by Britain allowing a limited role for Huawei,...

The United States hopes to begin broad discussions with the Iraqi government in the near future, U.S. special representative for Syria James Jeffrey told Reuters on Wednesday, after U.S.-led coalition operations have been on pause in the Middle East country. Jeffrey also said the United...

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan lambasted a Middle East plan unveiled by US counterpart Donald Trump as "absolutely unacceptable" in comments published Wednesday. "Jerusalem is sacred for Muslims. The plan to give Jerusalem to Israel is absolutely unacceptable. This plan ignores...

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan for the Israel-Palestinian conflict was doomed to fail and all Muslim nations should oppose it. "The devilish and vicious policy of America towards Palestine called the 'deal of the...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Moscow of "not honouring" agreements made with Ankara for northwestern Syria where Russian and Syrian warplanes have increased their bombardment, in remarks published Wednesday. "There have been agreements made with Russia. If Russia honours...

For years, Syria's Maaret al-Numan was a defiant hotspot for anti-government protests, before increased regime bombardment reduced it to a graffiti-daubed ghost town. Here is a brief profile of the strategic northwestern road hub, which the Syrian army said it had recaptured on Wednesday...

Vodafone Group has struck a preliminary deal to sell its 55% stake in its Egyptian unit to Saudi Arabia’s largest telecoms operator STC 7010.SE for $2.4 billion, the companies said on Wednesday. The non-binding deal values Vodafone Egypt at $4.4 billion and the two companies have agreed a...