Protest-torn Iraq on Monday faced more political gridlock after prime minister-designate Mohammed Allawi withdrew overnight, accusing lawmakers of obstructing his attempt to form a government. Oil-rich but poverty-stricken Iraq has for five months been rocked by the biggest wave of...

A Lebanese prosecutor Monday grilled bankers over more than 2 billion dollars in capital flight in past months despite strict banking restrictions in the crisis-hit country, judicial sources said. Banks have since September imposed increasingly tight limits on dollar withdrawals and...

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned what he called an "awful and grubby" election campaign as he cast his ballot on Monday, urging an end to political "instability." "We don't deserve another awful and grubby election campaign like the one that ends today and we don't deserve this...

The global death toll from the new coronavirus epidemic surpassed 3,000 Monday after dozens more died at its epicentre in China and cases soared around the world, with a second fatality on U.S. soil. The virus has now infected more than 89,000 people and spread to over 60 countries...