(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Siege Language novel by Mohamed Wahbi hunts the bitter moments of the Syrian revolution in the early days. The Syrian doctor blended fiction with true incidents that occurred during his work in the Military hospital of Homs as his story takes place in the...

 Close to 20,000 people have died in hospital in the United Kingdom after testing positive for the new coronavirus, data showed on Friday, as Britain approached a milestone it had hoped never to reach. As the death toll rose relentlessly, speculation mounted that Prime Minister Boris...

World leaders pledged on Friday to accelerate work on tests, drugs and vaccines against COVID-19 and to share them around the globe, but the United States did not take part in the launch of the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative. “We are facing a common threat which we can only...

President Hassan Rouhani called on Iran’s armed forces on Friday to seek regional stability while maintaining vigilance against “provocations”, state TV reported, as a war of words with arch-enemy the United States escalated. The head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday...

Another U.S. Navy ship at sea has reported a coronavirus outbreak and is returning to port, the Navy said Friday. A Navy statement said at least 18 members of the crew of a destroyer, the USS Kidd, have tested positive and it expects the number to grow. It said it is evaluating the extent...

 Saudi Arabia eliminated flogging as a form of punishment, according to a document from the kingdom's top court seen by Reuters Friday. The decision will see the punishment replaced by imprisonment or fines. "The decision is an extension of the human rights reforms introduced under...

The race is on to produce a vaccine against COVID-19 but it is not certain that one can be found, the head of the global vaccines alliance said Friday. Seth Berkley said the more competition the better in the scientific fightback against the new coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly...

The International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization warned on Friday that export restrictions on medical supplies and food "can be dangerously counterproductive" as countries grapple with the coronavirus pandemic. In a joint statement urging caution on such restrictions, the...

The United Nations on Friday launched a global push to speed up production of a vaccine for the new coronavirus as US President Donald Trump came under fire for suggesting injecting patients with disinfectant. The pandemic has upended life around the planet as nations try to stop the spread...

Brazil's Justice Minister Sérgio Moro, who became popular as a crusader against corruption, resigned on Friday. He made the announcement in a press conference on Friday after President Jair Bolsonaro decided to change the head of the country's federal police in the midst of the new coronavirus...

Saudi human rights activist and renowned academic Abdullah al-Hamid has died in prison, according to a media report and a prisoner rights group. Prisoners of Conscience, a Twitter account which documents the situation of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia, said that al-Hamid died due to...

The Taliban have dismissed a government call for a Ramadan ceasefire in Afghanistan, saying a truce is "not rational" as they ramp up attacks on government forces. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appealed to the militants to lay down their arms for the Islamic holy month that began Friday, as...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces the biggest conundrum of his premiership as he recuperates from COVID-19: how to lift a lockdown that is destroying swathes of the British economy without triggering a deadly second wave of the outbreak. Johnson, 55, is on the mend at his country residence...

The U.S. death toll from the novel coronavirus is expected to reach 50,000 on Friday, doubling in 10 days and the highest in the world, according to a Reuters tally. About 875,000 Americans have contracted the highly contagious respiratory illness COVID-19 caused by the virus, and on...

The Arab coalition Friday said it was extending a unilateral ceasefire in Yemen by one month to support efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing a coalition spokesman. A two-week ceasefire announced by the coalition that is...

The United Kingdom said Friday that an Iranian satellite launch earlier this week was of significant concern and inconsistent with a United Nations Security Council resolution. "Reports that Iran has carried out a satellite launch - using ballistic missile technology - are of significant...

Italy is to ease its coronavirus lockdown, the toughest and longest in Europe, over the next four weeks, media reported Friday although there was no official confirmation. "The next four Mondays will mark the country's reopening" following the lockdown implemented last month to slow the...

An Iraqi man believed to have belonged to Daesh (ISIS) went on trial in Germany Friday accused of genocide and murdering a child belonging to the Yazidi minority who he held as a slave. Taha al-Jumailly, 27, also stands accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and human trafficking in...

From Asia to Africa, London to Berlin, Chinese envoys have set off diplomatic firestorms with a combative defense whenever their country is accused of not acting quickly enough to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. They belong to a new generation of "Wolf Warrior" diplomats, named...

Police in the United Arab Emirates are deploying smart helmets that can scan the temperatures of hundreds of people every minute in their effort to combat the new coronavirus. The helmets, which need less time and less contact than traditional thermometers, can measure temperatures from...