Beirut’s usually congested streets were largely free of cars and pedestrians stayed away from its seafront Corniche as government measures to curb the spread of coronavirus took effect with varying degrees of success on Monday. Police ordered closed several shops that were open in Beirut in...

A young child died in a fire in an overcrowded migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Monday, fire brigade officials said. The fire burned through two containers used as living quarters by people in the Moria camp, as well as some tents, a spokesman said. “During the operation a...

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Monday called on governments to take coordinated fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to stop the coronavirus from causing long-term economic damage. In a blog message posted on the IMF website, Georgieva said the global...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi the United States would take measures in self-defense if attacked, according to a statement on Monday, after a second rocket attack on an Iraqi base that houses U.S. troops helping fight Islamic State. "Secretary...

Bars, restaurants, theaters and movie houses in New York and Los Angeles were ordered to shut down to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic as central banks around the world took aggressive steps to cushion the economic impact of the disease. The U.S. Federal Reserve slashed...

Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz received an official mandate Monday to try to form Israel's next government, and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join him in a unity administration. In a sharp blow to Netanyahu, who had declared victory in a March 2 election, 61 of...

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said Monday he was increasingly confident the country would overcome the coronavirus as the rate of new infections continued to drop, although authorities noted another large cluster had emerged in the greater Seoul area. There were 74 new coronavirus...

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced a series of banking, welfare and tax relief measures to support businesses and families as the coronavirus outbreak puts severe strain on the economy. Employees can defer health insurance, tax and utility bill payments for the next three months,...

There is no known cure for the new coronavirus, but in the medicinal herbs souq in Tunis, anxious Tunisians are consulting with herbalists and stocking up on traditional remedies. "I am afraid for my father, who is old and sick, so I have come here to look for plants to boost his immunity,"...

The Dubai Financial Market temporarily closed its trading floor and customer affairs counters as precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The trading floor will be shut from Monday until further notice, the exchange said in a statement. “The temporary closure of...

The coronavirus outbreak in France is "very worrying" and "deteriorating very fast", the head of the country's health service said Monday. "The number of cases double every three days," Jerome Salomon said on France Inter. "I want our citizens to realise that there are people who are...

Germany's foreign minister said Monday the rights to coronavirus vaccine research were not for sale, following reports Donald Trump wanted the US to buy exclusive access to a potential vaccine developed by a German biotech firm. The comments, made in an interview to media group Funke, come...

The U.S. Federal Reserve and its global counterparts moved aggressively with sweeping emergency rate cuts and offers of cheap dollars in a bid to combat the coronavirus pandemic that has roiled markets and paralysed large parts of the world economy. The coordinated response from the Fed to the...

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders sought in Sunday's debate to cast themselves as best-positioned to lead the nation through a global pandemic, with Biden pledging to deploy the military to help with recovery efforts and Sanders using the crisis to pitch his long-sought...

A clinical trial evaluating a vaccine designed to protect against the new coronavirus will begin Monday, according to a government official. The first participant in the trial will receive the experimental vaccine on Monday, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity...

Opposition leader Benny Gantz will be asked to form a new government, Israel’s president said on Sunday, boosting his chances of ousting veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It was a blow to Netanyahu, who is fighting for his political life amid unprecedented political deadlock and a...

 Saudi Arabia on Sunday announced the detention of hundreds of government officials, including military and security officers, on charges involving bribery and exploiting public office, and said investigators would bring charges against them. Scores of the kingdom’s economic and...

The central bank of the United Arab Emirates, home to the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, announced Sunday a $27 billion stimulus package to deal with the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The money will go toward supporting the country’s banks, and regulatory limits on loans...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday said he would not rule out closing the nation’s borders or forcing people arriving from abroad to go into self-isolation to help combat a coronavirus outbreak. Asked whether Canada might shut its frontiers to Europe or the United States,...

The EU imposed Sunday restrictions on exports of masks and other protective medical equipment as it seeks to protect its own supplies for the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. Announcing the measure in an online video, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also warned...