Israeli forces on Sunday shot dead a Palestinian suspected of placing a bomb near the Gaza border, before extracting his body with a bulldozer, the army said. "Following the successful thwarting of the attack near the Gaza Strip fence earlier this morning, an IDF (Israeli army) bulldozer...

China’s National Health Commission announced Sunday the death toll of the novel coronavirus hit 2,444 with thousands of patients facing serious health conditions. According to the commission’s statement, 97 people lost their lives due to the virus, now officially called COVID-19, and about...

At least seven people were killed and five others injured on Sunday in eastern Turkey when an earthquake hit the border region with Iran, authorities said. Tremors from a 5.7-magnitude quake centered in northwestern Iran were also felt in Turkey's Van province. Some buildings were...

Naval forces from the Arab-led coalition fighting in Yemen Sunday foiled an "imminent terrorist" attack by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the southern Red Sea, a major commercial shipping channel, the Saudi-led coalition said. The forces destroyed an unmanned boat laden with explosives...

A minibus stopped outside the world's largest cemetery in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf. Five women got out, telephone cameras filming the scene, and dashed excitedly towards a grave. Clad in black, they joined wailing women and men beating their chests in grief at Wadi al-Salam...

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday accused foreign media of trying to use a deadly outbreak of coronavirus in Iran to "discourage" people from voting in a general election. "This negative propaganda began a few months ago and grew larger approaching the election and in the past...

The world’s top economies called on Saturday for a coordinated response to the coronavirus outbreak, which the IMF predicted would lower China’s growth this year to 5.6% and shave 0.1 percentage points from global growth. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva...

 Chelsea's Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso returned to the starting lineup to stunning effect by grabbing a goal apiece in a crucial 2-1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur in the battle between the London rivals for fourth place Saturday. It was only Chelsea's sixth win in 14 home...

The top diplomat in eastern Libya says the shutdown of vital oil facilities in the country would come to an end "when Libyans are guaranteed of the fair distribution of their resources." The closures came about when powerful tribal groups loyal to Libyan military commander Khalifa Hifter in...

Populist cleric Moqtada Sadr returned to Iraq Saturday with a threat to organise protests outside parliament unless lawmakers back the government of prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi in a confidence vote. The Shiite cleric with a cult-like following in Iraq has thrown his weight...

South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as first vice president on Saturday, formally rejoining the government in the latest bid to bring peace to a nation ravaged by war. President Salva Kiir hailed the "official ending of war" and said peace was now "irreversible" as the new...

Afghans on Saturday welcomed the pledge by the Taliban and U.S to reduce violence, despite uncertainty looming over the war-torn country. Saturday was the first morning of a seven-day “reduced violence” period that is meant to lead to an agreement between the United States and the Taliban...

 Israeli forces shot and killed a suspect in Jerusalem's occupied Old City Saturday after he approached officers posted near one of the gates armed with a knife, police said. Police did not immediately release further details on the identity of the suspect. "At approximately 11 am...

Iran Saturday reported one more death among 10 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the Islamic republic to five -- the highest of any country outside the Far East. Since it emerged in December, the virus has killed 2,345 people in China, the epicentre of the...

An Egyptian court on Saturday acquitted two sons of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and six others in a case known in the Egyptian media as stock exchange manipulation. A judicial official told AFP that the Cairo criminal court decided to acquit Alaa and Gamal Mubarak and the other...

French state-owned energy giant EDF on Saturday began shutting down the country's oldest nuclear power plant after 43 years in operation. EDF said it had disconnected one of two reactors at Fessenheim, along the Rhine near France's eastern border with Germany and Switzerland, at 2:00 am...

Conservatives appeared to be in the lead as the first results of Iran's parliamentary election came in Saturday, amid expectations of a low turnout after the disqualification of many candidates. Friday's election came after months of steeply escalating tensions between Iran and its...

A list of candidates affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards is leading in a parliamentary election in Tehran, the Fars news agency reported on Saturday. According to state TV, Iran has started counting votes in its election. Hardline allies of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei...

Pakistani security forces said Saturday that five suspected militants were killed in an overnight raid in the country's northwest, and that two other militants were arrested in a separate operation. Senior counter-terrorism officer Tahir Khan said a shootout took place at a compound in...

South Korea on Saturday reported an eight-fold jump in viral infections in four days to 433, most of them linked to a church and a hospital in and around the country's fourth-largest city, where health workers scrambled to screen more than 9,000 worshipers.  There’s concern that the death...