Amman, Jordan--Jordanian security forces have scuttled an attempt to smuggle narcotics from Syrian territories to Jordan. According to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, the border guards, in coordination with the Anti-Narcotics Department and other military apparatuses, thwarted an attempt by a group of smugglers who tried to cross the Syrian-Jordanian...

Hungary has still not voted to approve the Nordic country's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, having aligned itself with Turkey which had long blocked Sweden's membership before lifting its veto last month. Both countries' parliaments are currently on holiday. "We can come back to the issue at the...

Tehran, Iran--Iran-China bilateral relations and the 25-year strategic cooperation program between the two countries are moving forward in the right direction, according to the Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. In a telephone conversation between the foreign ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People's Republic of China, the...

Tokyo, Japan -- Japan is preparing to hold a foreign ministers' meeting with the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Saudi Arabia in early September, a report said. Japan's Kyodo News said the meeting comes as Japan aims to strengthen relations with oil-producing countries in the Middle...

The Saudi Pro League has a years-long commitment from the kingdom's rulers in its goal to become one of the world's top competitions, chief operating officer Carlo Nohra said. Nohra was speaking at Al-Hilal's unveiling of Brazilian superstar Neymar, who joins Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and a host of other...

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that companies from his country plan to expand their activities in Russia despite sanctions and political difficulties. Orban made the statement at a meeting with the head of Russia’s Tatarstan region Rustam Minnikhanov in Budapest, TASS news agency reported. "It has...

On a riverbank in war-ravaged Syria's north, felling has reduced what was once a lush forest to dispersed trees and decimated trunks poking out from dry, crumbly soil. Syria's war has devastated the environment, triggering an "alarming" loss of forest cover across the country, Dutch peacebuilding group PAX warned in...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had spoken with British Columbia Premier David Eby about the "rapidly evolving and incredibly devastating wildfire situation" and pledged federal resources in responding to the disaster. Blazes far away in the neighboring Northwest Territories have meanwhile prompted the evacuation of regional capital Yellowknife, leaving...

According to the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, since the workers were arrested on November 5 and 7 in the rebel-held capital, it has been impossible for their families and offices to communicate with them. One works for UNESCO and the other for the UN human rights department.

A UNESCO World Heritage site for nearly four decades, the Old City has been classified as "in danger" since 2015, shortly after Saudi Arabia spearheaded a military intervention.

RAMALLAH, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - Two Israeli civilians were killed in a suspected shooting attack in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the army said. "A suspected shooting attack was carried out at a number of Israeli civilians in the area of the town of Huwara," an army statement said, adding that two...

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Turkey's ruling party spokesman on Saturday criticized UN peacekeepers for blocking the construction of a controversial road in the buffer zone dividing Cyprus, calling their attitude "unacceptable" and "extremely wrong". A confrontation occurred on Friday between Turkish Cypriot forces and UN peacekeepers in Pyla, an ethnically mixed village...

GANDHINAGAR, INDIA - The World Health Organization (WHO) and the G20 India presidency announced a new Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH) on Saturday at the Health Minister’s Meeting of the G20 Summit hosted by the Government of India. The new GIDH initiative will operate as a WHO-managed network and...

Egyptian activist Ahmed Douma, a leading figure of the country's 2011 uprising who has spent the last decade behind bars, has been granted a presidential pardon, lawyers said. "President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi... has used his constitutional powers" to pardon several prisoners including Douma, said Tarek Elawady, a member of the...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has met with diplomat Assadollah Assadi, recently freed by Belgium in a high-profile prisoner swap case in May, the presidency site said on Saturday. "The claimants of human rights have shown once again that they do not adhere to any law," Raisi said in...

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - UAE Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Mohammed Salem Al Rashidi said that the historical relations between the two countries have witnessed remarkable progress over the past few years. This reflects the distinguished friendship between the leaderships of the two countries, and the exchange...

The monarch is credited with effectively maintaining stability in a volatile region -- in part through suppressing criticism -- as well as modernising the economy and pursuing assertive diplomacy. But his efforts have fallen short in addressing the profound inequalities that continue to plague Moroccan society.

China announced earlier Saturday that it had "launched joint air and sea patrols and military exercises of the navy and air force around the island of Taiwan", according to state media outlet Xinhua. The drills were conducted after Taiwan's Vice President William Lai made stopovers in the United States --...

The confrontation occurred in Pyla, an ethnically mixed village in the UN-patrolled area between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus in the south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet in the north. Video widely shared on social media showed bulldozers pushing away UN-marked SUVs, cement barriers and razor wire as...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the composition of the country’s delegation to the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). It will be led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The delegation also includes Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin, Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee...

Iran's foreign minister met Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first visit since the Middle East rivals announced a rapprochement, officials said. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who travelled to Riyadh on Thursday, held talks with the Crown Prince in Jeddah, the Saudi foreign ministry said, after extending a scheduled...

The speedy filling of storage facilities means the bloc is "in a much more stable position than it was this time last year," when Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent energy prices soaring, EU Energy commissioner, Kadri Simson, said.

TEHRAN, IRAN – Iran is the first Islamic country to possess a very modern observatory, the head of the Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences Mohammad Javad Larijani said. “We started the construction process (of the observatory) concurrent with Turkey (starting its own); they had the resources, like the cash, so they...

Turkey’s top diplomat Hakan Fidan is planning to discuss the results of these discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba, Turkish media reported. Officials say a stalemate could lead to an escalation of food crisis and possible military tensions.

The Sukru Okan vessel was flying the flag of Palau when it was fired on by the Russian navy last Sunday. Russian military personnel then boarded the ship to conduct an inspection, before letting it sail on toward the Ukrainian port of Izmail -- the main export route for Ukrainian...

In a country already suffering from severe water scarcity, official figures show that more than a quarter of clean water produced never makes it to consumers. Egyptians already consume slightly over half of what hydrologists consider the cut-off for water poverty at 1,000 cubic metres (35,300 cubic feet) per person...

Videos circulated on social media on Wednesday night showed Mahmoud Hamza dressed in military fatigues and surrounded by his fighters at the Tekbali barracks south of the Libyan capital.

"WHO is working to build the evidence and data to inform policies, standards and regulations for the safe, cost-effective and equitable use of traditional medicine", WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said as he opened the summit.

The investment in green hydrogen has not curbed expansion in oil and gas, with both the UAE and Saudi Arabia planning to grow their hydrocarbon industries. Experts predict it could still take years before Gulf countries can produce green hydrogen at a cost competitive with fossil fuel-based alternatives.

The death sentence for Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef was carried out in the Riyadh region, the official Saudi Press Agency said. The Gulf kingdom is frequently criticised for its prolific use of capital punishment, which human rights groups say undermines its bid to soften its image through a sweeping "Vision...

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also took the opportunity to reiterate the Islamic republic's support for the Palestinian cause at a time when Riyadh is in discussions with the United States about potentially normalizing ties with Israel.

Fighting raged from Monday night between the influential 444 Brigade and the Al-Radaa, two of the myriad of militias that have vied for power since the 2011 overthrow of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi. In August last year, 32 people were killed in Tripoli in battles between divided Libya's two rival...

The poorest country on the Arabian peninsula, Yemen's economy has collapsed in the eight years of war between Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi coalition-backed government. The conflict has left hundreds of thousands of people dead and millions displaced, with the UN having accused all parties -- including in Saudi Arabia...

In a separate statement late Tuesday, the commerce ministry announced the total lifting of subsidies on petrol and a partial lifting of subsidies on fuel oil. As a result the price of petrol has risen to 8,000 pounds from 3,000 previously, and fuel oil to 2,000 pounds from 700 previously,...

ABU DHABI, UAE - A two-day meeting of world leading economists and finance leaders convened by the COP28 Presidency has stated the next steps needed to establish a new framework for international climate finance and to drive progress at COP28 and beyond to COP29 and COP30. World-leading economists from the...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - The 11th Moscow Conference on International Security, held at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center here, saw high-level discussions between Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin and military representatives from Saudi Arabia and Iran. In a meeting with Talal Abdullah Al-Otaibi, military adviser to the Saudi defense...

Twelve years after conflict broke out when President Bashar al-Assad repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests, Syrians are still trying to escape a war that has killed more than 500,000 people. At least 141 Syrians were among up to 750 migrants thought to have been on a trawler that set off from...

Three thousand additional US personnel on troop-landing warships have already passed through the Red Sea, and US-led maritime forces are warning ships against approaching Iranian waters. The moves follow a spate of capture and attempted capture of ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the U-shaped gateway to the...

Some 234 families were evacuated from front line areas in the capital's southern suburbs, along with dozens of doctors and nurses who had got trapped by the fighting while caring for the wounded, the center said. Three field hospitals and 60 ambulances had been dispatched to the area when the...

During the Feast of the Assumption ceremony in Tunis' La Goulette suburb on Tuesday, Catholic and Muslim participants marched behind a Madonna statue as it was carried to the town hall. There, the archbishop of Tunis and the bishop of Trapani, Italy delivered sermons alluding to Tunisia's tense migration politics.

Geneva, Switzerland--Four months into Sudan's conflict, the situation is spiraling out of control, with mass displacement and millions on the verge of famine, humanitarian organizations warned on Tuesday, urging immediate international action. Since Sudan's conflict erupted on April 15, the country has been plunged into a humanitarian crisis, with more than six...

The fighting between the 444 Brigade and the Al-Radaa Force, or Special Deterrence Force, erupted on Monday night and carried over into Tuesday, an interior ministry official said. "Clashes affected several areas of Tripoli's eastern suburbs, in Ain Zara south of Tripoli, pitting the forces of 444 Brigade against those...

Atlanta, United States - Prosecutors investigating Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the US state of Georgia were expected to begin presenting evidence to a grand jury Monday for what could be a sprawling, multi-defendant indictment. The case would be the fourth brought against Trump this year --...

Underfunded and run down by years of unrest, the zoo's dilapidated facilities make matters worse for its 900 animals, including Siberian tigers.

Ankara, Turkey -- Turkey intensified talks with Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union on the grain deal in preparation for a possible meeting between Turkish and Russian Presidents Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, TASS reported. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- More than AED 4 billion ($1.08 billion) were confiscated during the past two years by UAE's Ministry of Interior in collaboration with international law enforcement agencies, whose combined efforts led to the arrest of 387 wanted individuals in 521 money laundering cases. Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif...

"The United States is committed to supporting a resolution to the Yemen conflict as soon as possible. We are working closely with the UN, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, and other partners to build on the UN-mediated truce, which has delivered the longest period of calm since the war began, and...

Kakar's first task will be to choose a cabinet to run the country as it heads into an election period that could last for months. Parliament was officially dissolved last week, with elections due within 90 days according to the constitution.

The regime said it had gathered evidence that it would use "to prosecute the deposed president and his local and foreign accomplices before the competent national and international bodies for high treason, according to a statement read out by Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane on national television. The ousted leader has said...

The regime said it had gathered evidence that it would use "to prosecute the deposed president and his local and foreign accomplices before the competent national and international bodies for high treason, according to a statement read out by Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane on national television. The ousted leader has said...