Turkey reported a continued downward trajectory in COVID-19 deaths and confirmed infections Tuesday, with 28 new deaths and 1,022 infections over the past 24 hours. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted new figures showing a total of 4,199 deaths and 151,615 reported positive cases since...

Israel's justice ministry said Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not be exempted from attending the start of his corruption trial next week. A Netanyahu spokesperson told AFP that the premier's legal team had discussed the possibility of an exemption with the ministry....

Iran reported no new coronavirus deaths Tuesday in nearly a third of its provinces for 24 hours but said there were more than another 2,100 cases of infection nationwide. The virus spread rapidly to all 31 of Iran's provinces soon after the country's first cases - two deaths in the holy...

Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque will reopen to worshippers after the Eid holiday, a statement from its governing body said Tuesday, two months after closing due to the coronavirus. "The council decided to lift the suspension on worshippers entering the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque after the Eid...

 One rocket hit near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday morning, security sources told AFP, the first to land in the high-security zone in weeks. The blast could be heard across the Iraqi capital and triggered security sirens at the US embassy compound but did not cause...

Iran on Monday said it was entering a new phase of trying to eliminate the novel coronavirus after bringing the Middle East's deadliest outbreak under control in many regions. "Reports show we have passed the management and control phase and are now in the phase of curbing" the spread of...

An Israeli district court Monday convicted a Jewish extremist of murder in a 2015 arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents, a case that had sent shock waves through Israel and helped fuel months of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The court ruled that the Jewish settler...

Sixteen people in Lebanon, mostly Syrians, have been arrested for money transfers and "illegal" currency exchange operations, the army said on Saturday, amid a government crackdown on exchange rate manipulation.  The army said in a statement that it had arrested 13 Syrians and three...

Israel's parliament swore in a new unity government Sunday led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former rival Benny Gantz, ending more than 500 days of political deadlock. Lawmakers in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, formally approved the three-year coalition government with 73...

Lebanon will gradually lift a coronavirus lockdown that has compounded its economic crisis, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said Sunday, despite an uptick in cases that prompted a four-day lockdown. Speaking on television, Diab said that the country would "reopen based on the five-stage plan" as...

Turkey’s health ministry says 41 more people have died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 4,096. The death rate is the lowest registered since the end of March. Minister Fahrettin Koca also tweeted Saturday that 1,610 new infections were confirmed, which makes...

The Chinese ambassador to Israel was found dead in his home north of Tel Aviv Sunday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said. No cause of death was given and Israeli police said it was investigating. Du Wei, 58, was appointed envoy in February in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. He...

Israel was poised to swear in a unity government Sunday after three elections, more than 500 days of limbo and a delay on the home stretch, as the country hopes to end the longest political crisis in its history. The coalition government was agreed last month between veteran right-wing...

The total number of recoveries from coronavirus in Turkey rose to 108,137, with active cases dropping to 35,834, the country’s health minister said on Saturday. The death toll from the pandemic rose to 4,096 as the country reported 41 new fatalities over the past 24 hours, Fahrettin...

Iran on Saturday reported 35 new deaths from the coronavirus -- the lowest number since March 7 despite infections rising -- and announced a further relaxation of COVID-19-related closures. "Despite the unfortunate loss of 35 of our compatriots in the past 24 hours, this number is the...

Iran sentenced a French-Iranian academic to five years in prison on national security charges on Saturday, her lawyer told AFP. Fariba Adelkhah was "sentenced to five years for gathering and conspiring against national security, and one year for propaganda against the Islamic republic,"...

A court in Istanbul on Friday accepted an indictment against four pilots, an airline company official and two flight attendants accused of helping former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn escape from Japan to Lebanon via Turkey, and set a trial date for July 3. Prosecutors are seeking up to...

Jordan's king warned Israel of a "massive conflict" if it proceeds with plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, as European Union foreign ministers met Friday to discuss what action the bloc might take in response to such a move. Israel has vowed to annex Jewish settlements...

Lebanon, whose currency has been pegged to the dollar for 23 years, is ready to float the pound only after it secures billions in aid, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Friday. Speaking to AFP after talks started Wednesday with the International Monetary Fund on a plan to rescue Lebanon's...

Dr. Marwa al-Khafaji’s homecoming after 20 days in a hospital isolation ward was met by spite. Someone had barricaded her family home’s gate with a concrete block. The message from the neighbors was clear: She had survived coronavirus, but the stigma surrounding the disease would be a more...