Israeli police and Jerusalem municipal officials scuffled with protesters demonstrating against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday as officers dismantled tents set up by the demonstrator's outside the premier's residence. The demonstrators have staged a sit-in outside...

Iran has executed a former defence ministry worker who sold information to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Iranian judiciary said Tuesday. Reza Asgari had linked up with the CIA during his last years serving at the defence ministry and sold the agency information about...

Iranian police are investigating after a fire broke out at an industrial complex in northeast Iran where gas condensate storage tanks are sited, one of which exploded, the Mehr news agency reported Monday. Javad Jahandoust, the fire chief at the Kavian Fariman industrial complex, some 32...

The International Monetary Fund warned Monday of the high cost of holding up reforms in Lebanon, two months into bailout talks to redress its nosediving economy. After Lebanon for the first time defaulted on its sovereign debt in March, the government pledged a financial rescue plan and in...

Iran reported on Monday more than 200 new coronavirus fatalities that took the overall toll in the Middle East's deadliest outbreak beyond 13,000. "Unfortunately, in the past 24 hours, we have lost 203 of our compatriots due to the COVID-19 disease," said health ministry spokeswoman Sima...

A coalition of rights groups said Monday that "repression" and "intimidation" are threatening free speech in Lebanon, hit by an economic meltdown and months of angry protests. Since mass demonstrations erupted in October demanding the wholesale removal of a ruling class deemed inept and...

Turkey's president on Sunday underlined that the Hagia Sophia's status is an internal matter, urging other countries to respect the final decision of the country. "The final decision-maker on the status of the Hagia Sophia is the Turkish nation, not others. This is our internal affair,"...

The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 20,000 people across the Middle East, half of them in Iran, according to an AFP tally at 1000 GMT Sunday based on official tolls. But despite having 907,736 reported infections and 20,005 deaths from the COVID-19 illness, the Middle East...

Jordan's King Abdullah II said Sunday that his country had successfully brought the novel coronavirus "under control" and that it was time to focus on restarting the economy. "We have successfully dealt with the coronavirus, which today is under control in Jordan," he said during a meeting...

The Palestinian Authority on Sunday imposed a night-time and weekend curfew on the occupied West Bank for the coming 14 days to try and rein in rising coronavirus numbers. "Travel will be prohibited daily from 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) to 6:00 am in all governorates," as well as from Thursday...

Pope Francis on Sunday joined an international chorus of condemnation of Turkey's decision to convert Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia landmark back into a mosque. "I think of Hagia Sophia, and I am very saddened," Pope Francis said towards the end of his midday sermon in Saint Peter's...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday pledged immediate financial aid to Israelis whose livelihoods have been devastated by the coronavirus, as his government faces mounting anger over its pandemic response. Thousands of protesters turned out in Tel Aviv on Saturday to voice...

Iran's supreme leader Sunday called the resurgence of the novel coronavirus in the country "truly tragic" and urged all citizens to help stem what has been the region's deadliest outbreak. "Let everyone play their part in the best way to break the chain of transmission in the short term and...

Lebanon's top Christian cleric stepped up criticism of Hezbollah and its allies without naming them on Sunday, saying Lebanese rejected being isolated from their allies and driven into decline. For the second sermon in a row, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai stressed the importance...

Iran said that the misalignment of an air defence unit's radar system was the key "human error" that led to the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January. "A failure occurred due to a human error in following the procedure" for aligning the radar, causing a "107-degree...

Iran said on Saturday that it cannot afford to shut down its sanctions-hit economy, even as the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak worsens with record-high death tolls and rising infections. Iran must continue "economic, social and cultural activities while observing health...

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi launched a new campaign on Saturday against corruption at the country's borders, saying millions of dollars were being lost by not properly taxing imported goods. Speaking at the Mandili crossing on the border with Iran, Kadhemi said Iraq's frontier...

Iran is determined to develop its oil industry in spite of US sanctions imposed on the country, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in a televised speech Saturday. "We will not surrender under any circumstances ... We have to increase our capacity so that when necessary with full...

Lebanon recorded 71 new coronavirus infections in 24 hours, the highest daily total yet, the health minister said on Friday, calling it a frightening number and urging people to wear masks in crowded places. Lebanon has recorded just over 2,000 cases of coronavirus and 36 deaths since...

A US judge has ordered Iran to pay another $879.1 million over a 1996 bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US airmen, ruling again that Tehran bore responsibility. President Donald Trump's administration hailed the judgment, the latest over the attack against Iran, which denies...