AFP

President Bashar al-Assad claimed Western powers are “becoming much weaker” in Syria, in a confident interview published in The Sunday Times.

In Cairo, capital of the most populous Arab country, the US election is met with self-absorbed indifference or loathing for one, and sometimes both, candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

The Palestinian government will protest against a delay in its application to join the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) at the body’s annual conference next week, an official said Friday.

Internet users in Turkey were on Friday experiencing severe difficulties accessing social media after the country was plunged into new turbulence by the detention of its main pro-Kurdish leaders, correspondents and a watchdog said.

Turkish police on Friday detained the two co-leaders of the country’s main pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), and several other MPs in a major escalation of the crackdown in the wake of a failed July 15 coup.

The Islamic State group is forcibly gathering people in and around Mosul for possible use as human shields against advancing Iraqi forces, residents said Wednesday, confirming UN fears.

Two years after they withdrew from Mosul broken and defeated, Iraqi forces have capped a dramatic turnaround by reaching the largest city they lost to the Islamic State group.

Saudi Arabia has congratulated Lebanon’s new President Michel Aoun on his election despite the support he received from the kingdom’s regional foes.

Germany’s prolific Miroslav Klose, the all-time World Cup top-scorer, announced his retirement on Tuesday at the age of 38.

Supporters of Michel Aoun gathered in the Lebanese capital Monday ahead of a parliament session expected to elect him president and end a political stalemate of more than two years.

A drone forced Dubai international airport, one of the world’s busiest, to halt air traffic for an hour and a half Saturday evening, the third such incident in less than five months.

A year after jihadists bombed a Russian plane carrying holidaymakers in Egypt, tourism shows little sign of recovery in the Arab country grappling with an economic crisis.

Israel unveiled Friday a headstone at the grave of ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres who died last month, at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

An Israeli firm says a super-efficient engine it has created could drastically reduce fuel consumption and help power an auto industry revolution as manufacturers search for environmentally sound alternatives.

A church in Israel built where Christians believe the transfiguration of Jesus took place has been vandalised, with chalices stolen, icons damaged and a donation box robbed, an official said Tuesday.

Jake Arrieta threw five hitless innings and the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series game since 1945 by routing the Cleveland Indians 5-1 Wednesday to level their championship showdown.

Shellshocked Golden State Warriors players and coaches vowed to bounce back after launching their season with a crushing 129-100 defeat at home to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.

The line of cars flying white flags kept on coming Tuesday as Iraqi forces began to evacuate residents of the last villages near the Islamic State group bastion of Mosul.

The head of US military operations in the Middle East wrapped up an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, amid mounting friction over the kingdom’s bombing campaign in neighbouring Yemen.

Iraqi security forces on Monday ended an attack by the Islamic State group in Kirkuk city, killing at least 74 jihadists in three days of clashes, the provincial governor said.

Secular Iraqis woke up feeling hungover on Sunday, after a surprise parliament vote they claim is unconstitutional and shows that dominant religious parties have their priorities wrong.

They burst into the house in the early hours of the morning and pointed a gun at Abu Mohammed’s head: “We are the Islamic State — give us your car!”

Forces loyal to Libya’s unity government on Saturday freed 13 foreigners held by the Islamic State group in its former coastal bastion of Sirte, the forces said.

Russia has chosen a goggled wolf as mascot for the 2018 World Cup.

A referee’s mistake on a basket in the final 75 seconds of the deciding game helped the Los Angeles Sparks win the Women’s NBA Finals over Minnesota, the league said Friday.

Armed men have attacked an overcrowded dinghy carrying migrants off Libya, leaving at least four dead and up to 25 missing, the German NGO Sea-Watch said Friday.

The UN human rights council opened a special session on Syria’s devastated city Aleppo on Friday, with rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein demanding action against “crimes of historic proportions.”

Israel is seeking to buy three more advanced submarines from Germany at a combined price of $1.3 billion, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday.

The Russian and Syrian bombing raids in Aleppo have had horrific results with nearly 500 dead, while food rations are expected to run out by the end of the month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.

Argentina issued another extradition warrant Thursday for an Iranian ex-foreign minister over the deadly bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994, the government said.