After November elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power last week, heading what analysts call the most right-wing government in the country's history, including with plans to reform the judicial system.

The UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed has met with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Abu Dhabi and discussed "fraternal relations and cooperation between the two countries." The king was received by the president at Al Shati Palace where the two exchanged new year greetings and prayed for progress and...

Tehran, Iran - A member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards was shot dead outside his house in Tehran, state media reported Wednesday, adding that he may have been killed during a burglary. Qassam Fathollahi of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was shot "four times in front of his house" in southern...

Hours after Ben-Gvir's appearance at the sensitive site, Hamas and other militant groups held emergency meetings to discuss a "proportionate" response, sources within the movement told AFP. Overnight a single rocket was fired from Gaza, though it failed to cross into Israeli territory and the launch went unclaimed by any...

The two leaders are expected to discuss regional security challenges, including North Korea and China, as well as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and ways to address climate change. Kishida said he would also raise Japan's bolstered defense policy. Japan's government approved a major defense policy overhaul last month, including a...

Erdogan's hopes for talks with Assad follow calls from Turkey's main opposition party as it is pressing Erdogan to speed up the "voluntary" return of nearly four million Syrians who fled the fighting to Turkey.

The government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took over from Kadhemi in October and has made regular announcements about the major corruption case to showcase its determination to fight graft. The top echelons of power routinely evade accountability in Iraqi corruption cases.

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran has vowed to avenge the killing of a top Iranian general three years ago in a US drone strike. General Qassem Soleimani was ordered to be killed by then US President Donald Trump. The Iranian general commanded the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of...

The UAE, which launched diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, "strongly condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard by an Israeli minister", in a foreign ministry statement. The US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, said Washington "has made it clear to the Israeli government it opposes any steps that could...

Al Nassr's surprise capture of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is the latest in a string of high-profile sports acquisitions by the kingdom.

Growth in the fourth quarter came in at 2.2 percent, sharply down from 4.2 percent in July-September, according to advance estimates by the trade ministry.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has praised the achievements of Saudi Arabia in e-education governance. In its publication "Guide to measuring information and communication technologies (ICT) in education",  UNESCO said that Saudi Arabia's National E-Learning Center is an example to be followed...

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates--The French navy seized nearly half a ton of heroin and 3.5 tons of cannabis resin when it intercepted an unflagged boat in the Arabian Sea, it said Monday. It seized the drugs with an estimated value of 50 million euros after its frigate Guepratte spotted the...

Footage from the war-themed Arma 3 video game has been used repeatedly in recent months in fake videos about the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

Military analysts say China has used the incursions to probe Taiwan's defenses, exhaust its ageing air force and voice displeasure over Western support for Taipei, especially the United States.

Migrant issue has become a huge political problem for the Conservative government, which has promised to bring down illegal immigration and break the smuggling gangs that carry out the crossings.

France joins other states including the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States in testing arrivals from China, four weeks after Beijing scrapped its "zero-Covid" containment policy of lockdowns and mass testing.

Seoul, South Korea-- Seoul and Washington are discussing joint planning and exercises involving US nuclear assets to counter growing threats from the nuclear-armed North, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has said. In an interview with the Chosun Ilbo newspaper published Monday, Yoon said the United States' existing "nuclear umbrella" and "extended...

Two Syrian soldiers were killed in an Israeli missile strike on Damascus International Airport, according to the country's state news agency SANA. The missile strike put the airport out of service, the news agency reported, quoting a military source who said that the Israel attacked with "barrages of missiles, targeting...

The Taliban authorities claim to have improved security since storming back to power in August 2021 but there have been scores of bomb blasts and attacks, many claimed by the local chapter of the Islamic State group.

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iranian authorities have arrested football players who attended a mixed party east of Tehran, local media reported Sunday, without identifying them or giving their exact number. "Several current and former players of one of Tehran's prominent football clubs were arrested last night (Saturday) at a mixed party in...

On Twitter, UNIFIL confirmed it was assisting the Lebanese Navy "in search and rescue operation at sea between Beirut & Tripoli where a boat in distress with a large number of people on board was found."

Three Egyptian policemen were killed in the attack, the first of its kind in nearly three years in mainland Egypt, which has largely been spared the deadly insurgency in the nearby Sinai peninsula.

From Arab League to Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), most of the Arab world has expressed support for UN's vote asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.

North Korea's Kim Jong Un has called for a major increase in the country's nuclear arsenal, including mass producing tactical nuclear weapons and developing new missiles for nuclear counterstrikes. Kim called for the increase at the end of a key party meeting in Pyongyang.

TEHRAN, IRAN  - Iran's top court has ordered the retrial of a third man reportedly sentenced to death over nationwide protests, the judiciary said Saturday. The Islamic republic has been rocked by protests since the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, after her arrest in...

United Nations, US--The UN General Assembly on Friday asked the International Court of Justice to consider consequences for Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territories, a day after the Jewish state's most right-wing government ever took over. The General Assembly voted 87-26 with 53 abstentions on the resolution, with Western nations...

Hundreds of Syrians in the rebel-held north protested against signs of a thaw between Ankara and Damascus after their defense ministers met in Moscow for the first time since 2011. Several hundred demonstrators gathered in Al-Bab, a town controlled by rebel factions long backed by Ankara. "We will not reconcile,...

TEHRAN, IRAN  - Iran has summoned the Italian ambassador to protest "interventionist" policies, the foreign ministry said late Thursday, a day after Rome called in Tehran's envoy over its response to nationwide protests. The Islamic republic has been gripped by protests since the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini,...

Turkish media say the total number of debt recovery cases rose by about 1.5 million in a year and exceeded 24 million at the height of the crisis in August. Turkey's most recent economic problems started when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - a lifelong foe of high interest rates -...

Israel's hawkish veteran Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as prime minister after a stint in opposition, heading what analysts call the most right-wing government in the country's history. Netanyahu, 73, who is fighting corruption charges in court, had already served as premier longer than anyone in Israeli history, leading the...

Jerusalem-- Israel's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has granted major concessions to far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies to cement a coalition following last month's election, the country's fifth in less than four years. The agreements, published by the Knesset, or parliament, on Wednesday, have already prompted an outcry among Israel's...

Paris-born activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala was sentenced to life in jail without the possibility of parole in April on the charge of trying to topple the government by financing street protests in 2013. Seven others were jailed for 18 years each for aiding the attempt to overthrow the government...

Saied lashed out at unnamed critics, accusing such rivals of "drowning in corruption and treachery" and of "plotting against the state" and its "internal and external security". "This cannot continue, and these people cannot go unpunished," he said, in a video posted on his office's Facebook page. The president's power...

The move comes nearly seven months after President Kais Saied sacked 57 judges, accusing them of corruption and blocking enquiries into two left-wing political figures in 2013, among other purported transgressions.

Khat, or qat, is a leaf which is packed into the cheek and slowly chewed, releasing chemicals similar to amphetamines and resulting in a mild high. It is very popular in Yemen and Horn of Africa countries like Ethiopia and Somalia.

Kuwait City, Kuwait--Kuwait, one of the hottest countries on Earth, has been hit by a rare hail storm that delighted children and their parents, with images of the winter white shared widely on social media Wednesday. "We have not seen so much hail during the winter season in 15 years," Muhammad...

The letter from Herzog - marking two years since Morocco normalized ties with Israel - was the first occasion an Israeli state official has paid tribute to the Holocaust-era actions of Morocco's monarch at the time, according to the presidency. He expressed Israel's gratitude to the king "and the people...

Economists expect Germany and another major eurozone economy, Italy, to fall into recession. Britain's economy is already shrinking. Rating agency S&P Global foresees stagnation for the eurozone in 2023. But the International Monetary Fund still expects the world economy to expand in 2023, with growth of 2.7 percent. The OECD...

Turkey, too, has appointed an ambassador to Israel. A presidential decree in November named Sakir Ozkan Torunlar to the post, Turkish media reported at the time.

The "riots", as Tehran generally refers to them, were triggered by the September 16 death in custody of Iranian-Kurdish Amini, 22, after her arrest for an alleged breach of the strict dress code for women.

The price ceiling of $60 per barrel agreed by the European Union, G7 and Australia came into force in early December and seeks to restrict Russia's revenue.

"No country can develop -- indeed survive -- socially and economically with half its population excluded," Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.

Tripoli, Libya--Libya's unity government has carried out a prisoner exchange with rival eastern forces, releasing a pilot captured during strongman Khalifa Haftar's 2019 assault on Tripoli, local media reported Monday. According to the reports and images on social media, pilot Amer al-Orfi al-Gajam was exchanged for 15 prisoners held by Haftar's...

Iranian football legend Ali Daei, who has supported protests in the wake of Mahsa Amini's death, said that an airplane from Tehran to Dubai had been rerouted and his family ordered off. Protests have gripped Iran since the September 16 death of Iranian-Kurdish Amini, 22, after her arrest in Tehran.

BEIRUT, LEBANON - Six Syrian fighters from a pro-Turkish group died in clashes with regime troops that still raged Monday in northwest Syria, rebel forces and a war monitor said. A pro-Turkey rebel statement said the six were killed and three more wounded in the offensive launched by government forces backed...

A gunman opened fire at a Kurdish cultural center and a hairdressing salon in Paris on Friday, killing three Kurds. The semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria called for the Sunday protest in Hasakeh, which drew hundreds of people brandishing photos of the three victims and calling for accountability.

Tunis, Tunisia-- A Tunisian rights group condemned Sunday a "repressive and inhumane" government decision to deport a group of migrants who had been evacuated from a defunct refugee camp. The 25 men from Egypt, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan had sought asylum in Tunisia after fleeing violence in neighbouring Libya in 2011,...

After repeated denials about its drones being used by Russia against Ukraine in the conflict, Iran's top general has said that Western claims show the 'effectiveness' of Tehran's unmanned aerial vehicles. Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones to carry out attacks.

Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah group has handed over a man suspected of killing an Irish United Nations peacekeeper earlier this month, a security official said. Private Sean Rooney, 23, was killed and three others injured on December 14 when their UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) vehicle was attacked near the...