Lebanon’s financial prosecutor froze the assets of 20 Lebanese banks, their top bosses and board members as part of a probe, state media and judicial sources said on Thursday. Local banks are at the heart of a financial crisis crippling Lebanon as the clock runs down on its looming debt...

Iraq has ordered schools to teach pupils online, cancelled Friday prayers and suspended trade with major partner Iran, after confirming its first three deaths from the new coronavirus. Authorities stepped up attempts to contain COVID-19 on Thursday. With students scheduled to return to...

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Thursday said they had reached a ceasefire agreement for the northwestern Syrian town of Idlib. "At 00.01 tonight, as in, from midnight, the ceasefire will be put in place," Erdogan said, following...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday called on all nations to hold Iran accountable for its nuclear commitments and said Tehran’s failure to report nuclear material was a clear violation of safeguard agreements. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is policing Iran’s...