The refusal of the United States and Saudi Arabia and Russi to embrace a landmark environmental report has unsettled UN talks to breathe life back into the Paris climate pact, negotiators and observers said.

A United Nations conference adopted a migration pact in front of leaders and representatives from around 150 countries in Morocco yesterday, despite a string of withdrawals driven by anti-immigrant populism.

The United States wants to continue support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's war and will remain engaged in efforts to combat Iranian influence and Islamist militancy in the Arab state, a State Department official said yesterday.

Qatar said its emir will skip a summit of Arab Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia, which has spearheaded a boycott of the small but energy-flush neighbour and sparked a major regional diplomatic row.

A Yemeni government official yesterday said that Huthi rebels were "not serious" on finding common ground to end the devastating

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said US sanctions were "economic terrorism", as he sought to foster a united front from visiting

A suicide car bombing followed by an armed assault killed at least two people and wounded many more outside police headquarters in the port city of Chabahar in restive southeastern Iran yesterday.

Talks between Yemen's government and rebels, locked in a devastating war for nearly four years, opened Thursday as tension remained high despite what the UN envoy called a "critical opportunity".

A Turkish court has issued arrest warrants for two suspects close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, raising pressure on the kingdom's de facto leader after two US senators accused him of ordering the hit.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has received an invite from Saudi Arabia to attend this month's Gulf Cooperation Council summit, despite an ongoing diplomatic crisis,

Yemeni government representatives were expected to join a rebel delegation in Sweden yesterday for high-stakes peace talks aimed at ending four years of devastating war. A 12-member team from the Saudi-backed government left Riyadh early yesterday.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani struck a defiant stance against US sanctions yesterday, renewing his threat to cut off international oil

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed that the United States would continue supporting Saudi Arabia's military campaign in Yemen,

Israeli police yesterday said they had found enough evidence for bribery and fraud charges to be brought against Prime Minister

Iran's navy yesterday launched a domestically made destroyer, which state media said has radar-evading stealth properties, as tensions rise with arch-enemy, the United States.

Israel struck several positions south of Damascus, a war monitor said Friday, in the first strikes since Syrian air defences were upgraded following the accidental downing of a Russian plane in September.

World leaders welcomed Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman yesterday at the G20 summit, showing he was no pariah less than two months after the kingdom killed a dissident journalist.

British security firm G4S said yesterday that five of its employees were among at least 10 people killed in a Taliban-claimed attack on one of its compounds in Kabul.

The United Nations envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura signed off from his posting yesterday ruing "a missed opportunity" to help end the

A Syrian refugee who spent several months in limbo in a budget terminal at a Malaysian airport has been granted permanent residency by Canada and is en route to Vancouver, his lawyer said yesterday.