Turkey's lira hit a record low against the US dollar Thursday as traders worried over the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the Turkish economy and Ankara's policies. The lira was trading at 7.23 to the dollar, down 0.6 percent just before 1000 GMT, after reaching a record low of 7.24...

 Israel's Supreme Court approved Wednesday a coalition deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival-turned-ally Benny Gantz, paving the way for a unity government to be sworn in next week. The alliance formed last month between the right-wing incumbent and his centrist...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday welcomed Iraq's formation of a government after months of instability, and extended a waiver on Iran sanctions to ease pressure on the new leader. In a phone call with Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhemi, Pompeo congratulated him on taking office...

Iraq’s former spy chief was sworn in as prime minister by lawmakers early Thursday after weeks of tense political negotiations as the country faces a severe economic crisis spurred by plummeting oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.  The majority of 255 legislators attending the...

The coronavirus pandemic is "under control" in Turkey, the country's health minister said Wednesday, but warned citizens they still need to take the necessary precautions. The number of deaths per day in Turkey has fallen in the past week, remaining under 100 within a 24-hour period since...

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Wednesday that financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund was "mandatory" for an economic recovery, as the country sinks deeper into financial turmoil. Lebanon is in the thick of its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war,...

Iran warned of a "rising trend" in its coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday as it said 1,680 new infections took its overall caseload beyond the 100,000 mark. The Islamic republic has struggled to contain the Middle East's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak since announcing its first cases in...

Israel's parliament was set to vote Wednesday on laws approving a coalition deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival-turned-ally Benny Gantz, ahead of a deadline to avoid yet another election. The alliance formed last month between the right-wing incumbent and his...

Three Katyusha rockets landed in the perimeter of Baghdad International Airport on Wednesday but caused no damage or casualties, the Iraqi military said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Security officials said it was not immediately clear whether a military...

Iran's president said Wednesday the United States made a "stupid mistake" by abandoning a nuclear deal and warned of severe consequences if its allies agree to extend an arms embargo. The United States is waging a campaign to extend the ban on selling conventional weapons to Iran, which is...

Positions of Palestinian resistance group Hamas in the Gaza Strip were targeted by Israeli shelling Wednesday, according to the military.   Three observation posts in northern and central Gaza belonging to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, were struck by the...

 Iran's state broadcaster has used hundreds of fake social media accounts to covertly spread pro-Iranian messaging online since at least 2011, targeting voters in countries including Britain and the United States, Facebook said Tuesday. In a monthly report of accounts suspended for...

Lebanon's foreign minister summoned the German ambassador Tuesday to explain Berlin's decision last week to ban the Shi'ite Hezbollah movement on its soil. Germany also classified the Iranian-backed movement as terrorist, a step which Hezbollah's foe Israel has long urged along with the...

The death toll from the outbreak of new coronavirus in Iran rose by 63 in the past 24 hours to 6,340, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur said in a statement on state TV on Tuesday. The total number of diagnosed cases of the new coronavirus in Iran, one of the countries hardest hit...

Lebanon is set to extend its lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus by two weeks until May 24 with the prime minister warning on Tuesday that a failure to comply with a gradual easing of restrictions risked a second wave of infections. Lebanon has recorded 740 cases of the novel...

President Mahmud Abbas renewed a coronavirus lockdown in Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank for a further month late Monday, though some measures will be eased. The state of emergency in place since March 22 will now last until at least June 5, Abbas announced. But movement...

Israel's parliament launched Tuesday what it warned would be a "marathon debate" on a proposed coalition government deal, the legality of which has been challenged in the country's Supreme Court. A statement on parliament's website said the bill to pass into law the contentious accord...

Human rights groups have expressed outrage after adding jailed human rights activist and Palestine campaigner Ramy Shaath to its terrorism list. Shaath, who co-founded and co-ordinates Egypt's wing of the peaceful Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli human...

The number of people who have died from COVID-19 in Turkey has risen by 65 in the last 24 hours to 3,461, Health Ministry data showed on Monday, as a slowdown in deaths and confirmed cases continued. The overall number of cases rose by 1,614 to 127,659, the data showed, the highest total...

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Monday condemned Germany's ban on his group as bowing to US pressure and insisted it was not active in the country. Germany designated Hezbollah a "Shiite terrorist organisation" on Thursday as its security forces raided mosques and associations...