The parallel administration controlling eastern Libya will impose a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., excluding security and emergency personnel, to stop any spread of the coronavirus, its interior ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Libya has not yet confirmed any cases of the virus,...

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday the coronavirus was hitting Turkey just as it was recovering from a 2018 lira crisis but that there would be big opportunities if it could bring the outbreak under control in the coming weeks. Turkey confirmed its first death related to the...

The United States has targeted a number of Chinese, Hong Kong and South African companies in a fresh round of Iran-related sanctions regarding petrochemicals, according to the U.S. State Department said in a statement on Wednesday. The entities targeted include Hong Kong-based Mcfly Plastic...

Iran said its novel coronavirus death toll surpassed 1,000 on Wednesday as President Hassan Rouhani defended the response of his administration, which has yet to impose a lockdown. The COVID-19 outbreak in sanctions-hit Iran is one of the deadliest outside China, where the disease...

British MPs were told to stay away from their weekly question time with the prime minister on Wednesday over fears of spreading coronavirus, as parliament remained open but became increasingly deserted. Around 25 lawmakers -- including a cabinet minister -- are already thought to have...

Iraq's typically divided Shiite political parties lined up on Wednesday to signal their opposition to premier-designate Adnan al-Zurfi, less than 24 hours after his nomination. The 54-year-old lawmaker and former Najaf governor was nominated Tuesday to be Iraq's new prime minister, the...

France's army transferred six patients in critical condition due to coronavirus to a military facility on Wednesday as it sought to ease the strain on hospitals in the east of the country that are struggling to cope with the spiralling number of cases. The decision to move patients in...

Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday said it planned to stop output at more vehicles plants in Europe and Asia as the spread of the coronavirus prompts countries to instruct non-essential businesses to suspend operations. In a statement, the Japanese automaker said it had stopped operations at...

Confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel have jumped by 40 percent to 427 in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, predicting a steeper rise as mass-testing is implemented. Having urged Israelis to stay home and approved cyber-monitoring of their movements to reduce...

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that Middle East states need to offer more information about coronavirus cases to help bolster the fight against the disease across the region. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said the regional...

Greece has said it is placing migrant camps across the country on a two-week shutdown to visitors to ward off the new coronavirus. "Visits (to camps) by individuals and organisations are suspended for at least 14 days," the migration ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. "Entry will...

European Union leaders agreed Tuesday to immediately impose travel restrictions on most foreigners entering Europe for at least 30 days to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, and to set up fast-track transport lanes to keep vital medical equipment, food and goods flowing smoothly inside...

More than a decade after it closed, 20 Yemeni women have revived the war-torn country's oldest factory to make face masks in anticipation of an outbreak of the new coronavirus. The situation is especially fraught because Yemen's health system has all but collapsed following years of...

Oil prices fell for a third session on Wednesday to be down about 17% so far this week as the outlook for fuel demand darkened amid travel and social lockdowns triggered by the coronavirus epidemic. Brent crude LCOc1 was trading down 43 cents, or 1.5%, at $28.30 a barrel by 0650 GMT, after...

Tunisia will impose a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting Wednesday with the army patrolling the streets, Tunisia’s president said on Tuesday, tightening the measures to counter the spread of the coronavirus. Tunisia, which has declared 24 cases of the virus, closed mosques, cafes and...

 President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday Iran has responded, and will respond, to America’s assassination of Major-General Qassem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guards commander killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January. Rouhani was speaking following a Cabinet meeting that was...

"Dear world, how is the lockdown? Gaza." A sly dig at the international community, this is just one among a torrent of social media posts that has emerged from the blockaded Gaza Strip in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The sight of a world locking itself down seems to have...

Restaurants are reopening, traffic and factories are stirring, and in one of the clearest signs yet that China is awakening from its coronavirus coma, the country's "dancing aunties" are once again gathering in parks and squares. As the rest of the world runs for cover, China -- where the...

Australia and Taiwan joined a growing list of countries offering financial aid to their ailing aviation sectors as global airlines announced deeper capacity cuts due to plummeting demand and stricter border controls associated with the coronavirus. With airlines halting plane deliveries and...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday urged Canadians to hunker down for the long haul as business closures and people staying home to prevent spreading the COVID-19 virus could last weeks or months. His administration, he added, was preparing to roll out a new package of financial...