Violent clashes involving heavy gunfire have claimed at least six lives in Beirut amid protests against the lead judge investigating last year’s deadly port blast. The Lebanese army has been deployed to quash the unrest. On Thursday, scenes of unrest uploaded to Twitter showed people running frantically throughout the Justice Palace area of Beirut, with sirens blaring in the background …

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a senior-level review of the investigation that found that 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children, were killed in an Aug. 29 US drone strike in Kabul that the Pentagon initially said had killed an Islamic State fighter. The reviewer is to consider whether any military disciplinary action is warranted. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that …

Ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia will meet with Iran at the United Nations later this week to try to give fresh momentum to stalled talks over reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, France’s foreign minister said on Monday. A sixth round of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington was adjourned in June after hardliner Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran’s president. …

Lebanon’s parliament began a session on Monday that is scheduled to discuss the new cabinet’s policy program and hold a vote of confidence, after a nearly one-hour delay caused by a power cut. Lebanon is battling a deep depression, with worsening fuel shortages translating into few or any hours of state-backed power a day and most Lebanese relying on private …

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has won a fourth term in office with 95.1 per cent of the votes. Mr Assad’s government said the election on Wednesday showed Syria was functioning normally despite the decade-old civil war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven 11 million people — about half the population — from their homes. Head of Parliament Hammouda …

US President Joe Biden has expressed support for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers in a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr Biden is facing growing pressure from his own Democratic Party to play a more vocal role, but US officials say he and his team have opted for a quieter effort, talking directly with Israeli …

An Afghan soldier who murdered three Australian soldiers has been flown to Qatar ahead of US-brokered peace talks with the Taliban. The prisoner, known as Hekmatullah, has spent seven years in jail after killing Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Private Robert Poate in August 2012. The ABC has confirmed the former Afghan Army sergeant was on board …

The massive blast that hit Lebanon’s capital on Tuesday has delivered yet another devastating blow to a country already rocked by crises. Well before the explosion, and even the coronavirus pandemic which upended the world, Lebanon was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Half its population of 6 million lives near or below the poverty …

Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said on Friday that Syria fights terrorism on its territories and will continue to confront the Turkish aggression, protect its citizens, defend its unity and adhere to its sovereignty and national independent decision. Al-Jaafari, speaking at a UN Security council emergency session on the situation in Idleb, called on the international …

Refugees in Turkey are headed towards European frontiers after the borders had been thrown open, a response to the escalating war in Syria where 33 Turkish soldiers were killed by Russian-backed Syrian government troops. Moscow and Ankara traded blame over Thursday’s strike in northwest Syria, the deadliest attack on Turkish forces in nearly 30 years. The UN Security Council called an …