AFP, ISTANBUL: Turkey was a key step closer on Monday to dramatically expanding the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after parliament approved, on first reading, a bill critics fear will lead to one-man rule. The parliament backed the two final sections of the 18-article new constitution late…

AP, Dubai:  Oman said Monday it accepted 10 inmates from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay ahead of President Barack Obama leaving office, part of his efforts to shrink the facility he promised to close. There was no immediate word from the US Defense Department about the transfer. Oman’s Foreign…

AFP, CAIRO: Egypt’s top administrative court upheld on Monday a ruling voiding a government agreement to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia in a deal that sparked protests. The government had appealed against a lower court ruling in June that found the controversial border demarcation…

AFP, NEW YORK: She may be tall, slim and a former model, but incoming first lady Melania Trump faces a new kind of fashion police—designers refusing…

AFP, DUBAI: Authorities in Bahrain said Monday a municipal building was set ablaze as fresh violence erupted over the executions of three Shiites convicted of a deadly bomb attack on police. Tensions in the Sunni-ruled kingdom have been on the rise since the three men were executed by firing squad on…

Three militants were killed in an overnight gun battle with soldiers in a village in Indian Kashmir, an army spokesman said yesterday, reports AFP from Srinagar, India. Rajesh Kalia said troops cordoned off the village near the tourist resort of Pahalgam after receiving a tip that fighters were hiding…

AFP, NATAL, Brazil: The latest in a string of brutal prison massacres involving suspected gang members in Brazil has killed 26 inmates, most of whom were beheaded, officials said Sunday. The bloodbath erupted Saturday night in the overcrowded Alcacuz prison in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do…