Turkey, which has sent dozens of tanks and hundreds of troops into Syria in an unprecedented incursion, on Saturday welcomed a deal between the United States and Russia for a ceasefire in its conflict-torn neighbour.

The United Arab Emirates on Saturday banned passengers from using Samsung's new Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on board the country's airlines, following a recall of the devices because of a battery fire hazard.

From Asia, Africa and points in between, nearly 1.5mn Muslims began the annual Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia to Islam's holiest sites on Saturday, undeterred by last year's deadly stampede.

Turkish police on Saturday detained a veteran journalist and his academic brother as part of the investigation into the failed July 15 coup, the latest prominent figures ...

Russian and Iranian firms began work on Saturday on two additional reactors at Iran's nuclear power plant on the Gulf coast at Bushehr, the project manager said.

Two overnight bomb blasts outside a shopping mall in central Baghdad killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 30, security and medical officials said on Saturday.

Fighting raged on in southern Aleppo on Saturday, the army and rebels said, hours after the United States and Russia hailed a breakthrough deal to put Syria's peace process back on track.

Nearly 1.5mn pilgrims have converged on western Saudi Arabia for the annual Haj. While the main rites of the six-day event begin today, pilgrims have already been swirling around the Holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, a procession that continues day and night.

Construction projects to expand capacity at Makkah’s Grand Mosque and other Islamic holy sites will be completed in about three years, enabling Saudi Arabia to accommodate more pilgrims, Makkah’s mayor said yesterday.

The commander of Syria’s largest rebel coalition has been killed in an air strike near Aleppo, in what analysts say is the biggest blow to the alliance since its formation.

Saudi Arabia has begun issuing Haj pilgrims with identification bracelets one year after a stampede killed around 2,300 people. The bracelets are a reassurance to some pilgrims.

An air strike near Syria's battleground second city Aleppo has killed the commander of the largest rebel alliance in the biggest blow since its formation early last year, a monitor said on Friday.