The Taliban cut off Safiullah Safi’s right forefinger for voting in 2014. That did not stop the businessman from doing it again.

Saudi Arabia said yesterday it was offering tourist visas for the first time, opening up the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom to holidaymakers as part of a push to diversify its economy away from oil.

The United States vowed a response Thursday as it said it had confirmed another chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, although there were no fatalities.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas told the United Nations Thursday he would terminate all signed agreements with Israel if it moved forward with plans announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex a key part of the West Bank.

Millions of Afghans are expected to brave the threat of militant attacks to vote in a presidential election today. About a dozen candidates are in the fray for the presidency but the incumbent President Ashraf Ghani and his chief executive Abdullah Abdullah are the top

Egyptian President Fattah al-Sisi yesterday dismissed a call for a second weekend of protests as “no reason for concern”, with hundreds already arrested in an intensifying crackdown on a rare show of discontent on the streets.

An Emirati has made history as the first Arab to reach the International Space Station, after blasting off from Kazakhstan. The Russian spacecraft carrying Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates, who was accompanied by Russia’s Oleg Skripochka and NASA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched into what could prove to be an impossible mission to form a new government yesterday after the president tasked him with doing so following deadlocked elections.

Iran’s supreme leader accused European governments of “hostility” yesterday, saying their actions showed they cannot be trusted.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince says he bears responsibility for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year by Saudi operatives "because it happened under my watch," according to a PBS documentary to be broadcast next week.

Iran’s president yesterday closed the door on meeting Donald Trump despite last-minute European efforts to ease tensions as the United States again ramped up punishing sanctions.

Candidates in Afghanistan’s presidential election pushed their messages for the last time yesterday as campaigning for weekend polls wrapped up amid deadly violence.

More than 500 people have been arrested across Egypt since demonstrations broke out in Cairo and other cities, a local rights group said Monday. Hundreds of Egyptians took to the streets on Friday and Saturday

Hassan Rouhani landed in New York Monday for the UN General Assembly, but the Iranian leader won’t be allowed to see much of the Big

Seven children were among 16 people killed yesterday in twin air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting rebels in southern Yemen. A

Israel’s national electricity company said Sunday it was cutting power to parts of the occupied West Bank due to outstanding payments amounting to nearly $483 million. The Israel Electric Corporation said it was owed 1.7 billion shekels in debts from the main Palestinian

Israeli Arab political parties broke with longstanding precedent Sunday and endorsed ex-military chief Benny Gantz for prime minister following last week’s elections, seeking to keep the president from asking incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government.

At least 35 civilians attending a wedding party were killed and 13 people wounded by explosions and gunfire during a raid by Afghan government forces on a nearby militant hideout, two officials in southern Helmand province said yesterday.

At least 40 civilians attending a wedding party are killed by explosions and gunfire during a raid by US-backed Afghan government forces on a nearby Islamist militant hideout, officials in Helmand province say.

Egyptian security forces, for the second consecutive night ,clashed with hundreds of anti-government protesters in the port city of