The number of infections from the new coronavirus in Iran has reached 301,530, according to official Health Ministry figures announced on state TV Thursday. Iran has the Middle East’s highest number of recorded COVID-19 cases and infections and deaths have risen sharply since restrictions...

China's Huawei has overtaken Samsung to become the number-one smartphone seller worldwide in the second quarter, industry tracker Canalys said Thursday. Canalys said the embattled firm, which is facing US sanctions, shipped 55.8 million devices -- overtaking Samsung for the first time,...

A second wave of coronavirus infections sweeping the Israeli-occupied West Bank is fuelling fears of a surge in overcrowded Palestinian refugee camps where social distancing is next to impossible. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the Palestinian Authority quickly imposed a...

Thirty years have passed since Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait, but despite hints of a diplomatic rapprochement, people in both countries say the wounds have yet to heal. On August 2, 1990, Saddam sent his military, already exhausted by an eight-year conflict with...

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has approved legal amendments that restrict retired army officers from running in elections without permission from the military, according to an announcement in the official gazette on Wednesday. Critics of Sisi, a former army chief who was...

Lebanon on Wednesday reported 182 new coronavirus cases, its highest single-day infection tally since the country's outbreak began in February, ahead of fresh lockdown measures that go into effect at midnight. The new cases bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Lebanon to 4,202,...

Iraq’s government agreed to sign a contract with JGC Corp to build a 55,000 barrels per day refinery in the southern region of Basra, the oil ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The refinery will produce fuels including liquified petroleum gas, gasoline and gasoil, it said,...

Efforts to bring stability to Sudan’s conflict-ridden Darfur region have failed to reassure residents fearful of rising violence which has cast a shadow over peace negotiations. The fall of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 raised hopes that Arab militias he supported, which have been...

President Donald Trump's administration announced Wednesday it is expanding a controversial deployment of federal agents to three more US cities - Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee - to tackle a spike in crime. In a statement announcing the move, Attorney General Bill Barr said all three...

Coronavirus cases reached 871,970 in Africa on Wednesday, according to a daily update by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). At least 18,475 people have died of the virus across 54 countries on the continent, the latest figures showed, while 523,475 patients...

A researcher claimed Tuesday to have discovered the exact spot where Vincent Van Gogh painted his last canvas before his mysterious death from a gunshot wound. The tortured Dutch artist had been working on "Tree Roots", a jumble of brightly-colored tree trunks, roots and stumps near...

Afghans welcomed a three-day ceasefire Wednesday but demanded it be made permanent, after the government and the Taliban said they would observe a truce that could kickstart peace talks as soon as next week. The foes announced a temporary stoppage in Afghanistan's war Tuesday, marking only...

President Donald Trump is painting a dystopian portrait of what Joe Biden’s America might look like, asserting crime and chaos would ravage communities should the former vice president win the White House in November. Left unsaid: A recent surge in violent crime in several American cities...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they launched ballistic missiles from "the depths of the Earth" on Wednesday during the last day of military exercises near sensitive Gulf waters. The launches came a day after the Guards struck a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier with volleys of missiles...

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories, but demand concerns amid record increases in COVID-19 infections in some U.S. states capped gains. Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 54 cents, or 1.3%, to $43.76 a barrel by 0923 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate...

Jordan’s King Abdullah issued a royal decree to hold a parliamentary election, with the date to be set within the next 10 days by an independent election commission, state media said. Jordan’s electoral law marginalises representation of political parties. Constitutionally, most powers rest...

A half-dozen US states in the South and West reported one-day records for coronavirus deaths Tuesday and cases in Texas passed the 400,000 mark as California health officials said Latinos made up more than half its cases. Arkansas, California, Florida, Montana, Oregon and Texas each...

Human Rights Watch called on the Turkish government Wednesday to investigate "serious abuses" allegedly committed by police and "nightwatchmen" against more than a dozen people in the southeast and in Istanbul. "The cases illustrate a worrying pattern of violent arrest, beatings, and other...

Muslim pilgrims, donning face masks and moving in small groups after days in isolation, began arriving to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca Wednesday for the start of a historically unique and scaled-down hajj experience reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic. The hajj is one of Islam's most...

China reported 101 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, its highest single-day figure in three months, as gyms, bars and museums closed in infection hotspots. Of the new cases, 98 were domestic infections, mostly in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where a growing cluster first discovered...