Oil prices rose on Friday, extending gains on optimism about a recovery in fuel demand worldwide, despite a surge in coronavirus infections in some U.S. states and signs of a revival in U.S. crude production. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures gained 25 cents, or 0.7%, to...

A huge explosion occurred east of Iran’s capital Tehran late Thursday that lit up the night sky, according to local media. Footage shared on social media showed a bright orange flash followed by a large plume of smoke. “Some local sources have reported a big orange flash east of Tehran....

The unexplained death of a fugitive Iranian judge, who plunged from a top floor of his hotel in Bucharest last week, has infuriated activists who say a rare chance has been missed to bring a senior Iranian official to justice over alleged rights violations. Gholamreza Mansouri's body was...

Iraq registered nearly 2,500 new coronavirus cases and over 100 deaths on Thursday, setting new records in a country whose health sector had been bracing itself for such a spike. Hospitals across the country have been overwhelmed over the last week by a jump in cases and deaths, following...

The United States on Thursday blacklisted four companies in Iran’s metals sector, as well as one German and three Emirati subsidiaries of Iran’s largest steelmaker that Washington said generate millions of dollars for Tehran’s metals industry. The Treasury Department said in a statement...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel and the United Arab Emirates would cooperate in the fight against the coronavirus - a possible boost to Israeli efforts to normalise relations with Gulf Arab countries. Netanyahu said a formal announcement on working together with...

A Turkish air strike on Iraqi Kurdistan killed one person and wounded six others Thursday, a local official said, as Ankara pushed an assault on the north of the country. On June 17, Turkey launched a cross-border ground and air operation, dubbed "Claw-Tiger," against Kurdish rebels hiding...

President Michel Aoun warned on Thursday of an “atmosphere of civil war” during recent unrest in Lebanon and what he described as attempts to stir up sectarian tensions as a financial crisis sweeps the country. Aoun, a Maronite Christian, was speaking at a meeting that he said was called to...

 Gaza rulers Hamas warned Thursday that Israel's planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank would amount to a "declaration of war" against Palestinians. "The resistance considers the decision to annex the West Bank and the Jordan Valley to be a declaration of war on our...

A senior United Arab Emirates official (UAE) said Lebanon was paying the price of deteriorating ties with wealthy Gulf Arab states as it struggles to cope with a deep economic crisis. Gulf states have long channeled funds into Lebanon's fragile economy but they are alarmed by the rising...

Iran plans to export oil from a port on its Gulf of Oman coast by March, the president said Thursday, a shift that would avoid using the Strait of Hormuz shipping route that has been a focus of regional tension for decades. Tensions have spiked between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when...

Iranian state television has broadcast the suspected coerced confessions of at least 355 people over the last decade as a means to both suppress dissent and frighten activists in the Islamic Republic on behalf of security services, according to a report released Thursday. The study...

Vineyard owner Haidar al-Zahar recalls with joy the day in 2005 when Israel removed its settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip, part of a withdrawal that few Palestinians thought they would ever see. "I felt like a prisoner who suddenly found himself a free man," he said. A decade and...

President Donald Trump is facing a critical decision on Israel that could alter America’s position in the Middle East and may affect his election-year support with a central part of his political base. In the coming days, Trump must decide whether to support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...

The head of the Arab League warned a high-level UN meeting Wednesday that Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank would endanger Middle East peace and could ignite "a religious war in and beyond our region." Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the 22-member organization, said...

Iran’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen to nearly 10,000 with 133 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, extending a reversal from a steady fall in daily numbers as the country has relaxed its lockdown. There were 2,531 new coronavirus infections reported in the...

Israel's parliament has approved a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for tax exemptions for official benefits that could exceed $150,000. Coming at a time when Israel is grappling with a major economic crisis due to the pandemic and Netanyahu standing trial on corruption charges,...

 Iran would be open to talks with the United States if Washington apologizes for exiting a 2015 nuclear deal and compensates Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday, cautioning that US calls for discussions were insincere. The confrontation between arch foes Tehran and...

One Turkish soldier was killed and two others were wounded in southeast Turkey as they came under fire from the Iranian side of the border, Turkey's Defense Ministry said Wednesday in a statement that did not say who had shot at its soldiers. The soldiers were conducting reconnaissance and...

Seven fighters, including two Syrian soldiers, were killed in Israeli strikes Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "Five pro-Iranian fighters were killed in a strike on a military center belonging to pro-Tehran militias" on the Sokhna-Deir Ezzor road in eastern Syria,...