Under the sign “Take out only” and a tall bottle of antiseptic by his side, Mazin Hashim, 54, rearranged the coals heating a water pipe outside his famed cafe in Baghdad. He put up the placard to satisfy recent government restrictions on movement and gatherings that are aimed at slowing...

One town and four villages in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Rize have been quarantined over the coronavirus outbreak, the local mayor said on Friday, in the first case of a lockdown in the country since the beginning of the outbreak two weeks ago. Alaettin Serdar, the mayor of the Kandirli...

Has the coronavirus saved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? The sense of urgency created by the pandemic has opened the way for the right-wing premier to stay in power as head of a "corona government" despite his corruption indictment. After more than a year of political...

Through decades of conflict, Dr Haidar Hantoush has watched wounded soldiers and civilians flood into Iraq's emergency wards. But he's never been so scared. "Violence we can just about handle. Patients stream into hospitals for hours at a time - but you can see how many there are. You get a...

Iran Friday announced 144 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the official number of fatalities to 2,378 in one of the world's worst-hit countries. "In the past 24 hours, we've had 2,926 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections across the country," health ministry spokesman...

Israel will deploy its army to assist police on street patrols to enforce a lockdown against the coronavirus epidemic, the military said on Friday. About 500 troops will join police squadrons from Sunday to help "in patrolling, isolating and securing certain areas, blocking routes and...

Turkey could order the public to stay at home if coronavirus infections continue to spread, the government said on Thursday as it clamped down further on medical equipment leaving the country. The government announced such a measure for people older than 65 over the weekend, but not for the...

The United States Thursday granted Iraq a 30-day waiver to keep importing Iranian gas despite American sanctions, two Iraqi officials told AFP, the shortest extension yet. The U.S. slapped tough sanctions on the Iranian energy sector in late 2018 and has granted Iraq a series of waivers,...

The United States has imposed sanctions on 15 Iranian individuals and five companies in Iran under a counter-terrorism program, according to a post on the Treasury web site Thursday. The sanctions were tied to shipping, trading and construction companies, as well as a chemical firm,...

Israel's ex-military chief Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, submitted himself Thursday as a candidate for speaker of parliament, a move that could lead to an emergency alliance between the two. The parliament announced that Gantz was the only candidate to succeed...

The Iraqi government said Thursday that it will extend a countrywide lockdown it imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic until April 11. Schools, universities, shopping centres and other large gathering places will remain closed, as will the country's international airports....

Iran on Thursday announced 157 new deaths from coronavirus, raising the official number of fatalities to 2,234, as it slapped a ban on intercity travel to try to curb the spread. Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour also said that 2,389 new cases have been confirmed in the past 24...

The Israeli parliament will select a new speaker Thursday after the Supreme Court forced the vote amid an unprecedented challenge to Israeli democracy unfolding amid the country's battle against the rapid spread of coronavirus. Outgoing Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein resigned in protest...

 Iran has started an intercity travel ban, an Iranian official said in a televised news conference on Thursday, a day after Iran’s government spokesman warned the country might face a second outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Officials have complained that many Iranians ignored...

Two rockets late on Wednesday struck Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions, but there were no casualties, the Iraqi military said. “Two Katyusha rockets fell near Baghdad operation command. Details to follow,” the military statement...

The Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah is mobilizing some 25,000 people including frontline medics and readying hospitals as part of a plan to help confront the coronavirus in Lebanon, it said on Wednesday. “It is a real war that we must confront with the mindset of a warrior,” Sayyed...

Turkey will overcome the coronavirus outbreak in two to three weeks through good measures, with as little damage as possible, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, adding that he expected patience, understanding and support from Turks in the process. “We have preparations for every...

Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered in Christian tradition as the site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial, was ordered closed on Wednesday for a week, as a precaution against the coronavirus, church officials said. "The Church of the Holy Sepulchre will be closed from 5p.m. on...

The Palestinians reported their first death from the coronavirus on Wednesday, a woman in her 60s who lived in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. "The woman had experienced symptoms and was later hospitalised" before succumbing to the illness, said Ibrahim Melhem, a spokesman for the...

Iran may face a second outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, a government spokesman said Wednesday, as the Islamic Republic banned internal travel and traditional gatherings in parks during the Persian New Year holiday period. "Unfortunately some Iranians have ignored advice from health...