A group of 24 members of the European Parliament signed a petition launched Monday by the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, which called on the Israeli government to lift its siege of Gaza and allow in COVID-19 medical supplies. The lawmakers include Manu Pineda, the...

 A Syrian doctor living in Germany who was arrested on suspicion of having committed crimes against humanity in Syria faces more charges including one case of murder, German prosecutors said Monday. The suspect, identified as Alaa M., was arrested on June 19. He was first...

A slew of countries closed their borders to Britain on Monday over fears of a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, heightening global panic, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of UK food shortages days before the Brexit cliff edge. India, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia,...

The remaining parties to the ailing 2015 Iran nuclear deal said Monday that they were preparing for the possible return of the US to the pact as President-elect Joe Biden readies to take office next month. Biden, who takes office on January 20, has signalled Washington would rejoin the...

 Demonstrators in Armenia blocked roads on Monday and forced Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to cut short an official visit, as anger in the country grows over a contentious peace deal with Azerbijan. Pashinyan has come under pressure from the opposition to resign after agreeing to the...

President-elect Joe Biden will receive his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe. Monday's event will come the same day that a second vaccine, produced by Moderna, will start arriving in...

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Monday urged Iran not to waste the opportunity offered by the prospect of Joseph Biden’s United States administration returning to the nuclear non-proliferation deal. Speaking after a video conference of officials from the countries in the JCPOA deal,...

The Palestinian-Syrian director Mohammed Khamis started his propaganda campaign for his long narrative  film "Exit Visa", a work that was carried out in difficult circumstances, not only because it was filmed in Palestine, but also under the spread of the Covid-19. The film,...

A six-year-old Syrian girl, who lost her left leg three years ago in an airstrike by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Idlib, hopes to get a prosthetic leg and be able to walk again. Esra Salih and her family left their home in the village of Harbil in the north of Aleppo province in 2015 and...

Australia said on Monday it had detected cases of the new fast-spreading coronavirus strain identified in the United Kingdom, while Hong Kong and India said they would suspend flights from Britain. Two travellers from the United Kingdom to Australia's New South Wales state were found...

Oman will close its land, air and sea borders on Tuesday at 1 a.m. for one week, state television reported on Monday. The decision follows measures imposed by various countries following the outbreak of a new strain of COVID-19, Oman TV said.  

The EU's drug regulator will decide on Monday whether to authorise the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, with desperate countries hoping for the green light to finally start inoculating their citizens. The Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency dramatically moved the decision on the...

While he waits for his lesson at an Egyptian music school, Maissara Mohammed plays his oud, its soothing tones dissolving the stress of daily life during the coronavirus pandemic. "I play four instruments, but the oud is certainly my favourite," the 27-year-old Sudanese engineer says,...

South Korea banned gatherings of more than four people in the capital and surrounding areas Monday as the country recorded its highest daily coronavirus death toll since the epidemic began. While South Korea has suffered relatively lightly compared to other nations, officials said a surge...

Hong Kong will ban all flights arriving from the United Kingdom from midnight local time on Monday, becoming the first city in Asia to announce such a halt after a new super-virulent strain of the novel coronavirus was identified in Britain. With authorities in the densely packed financial...

Oil prices dropped more than 3% on Monday, as a fast-spreading new coronavirus strain that has shut down much of Britain and led to tighter restrictions in Europe fuelled worries about a slower recovery in fuel demand. Brent crude slid $1.74, or 3.3%, to $50.52 a barrel by 0745 GMT after...

Congressional leaders announced late Sunday a long-sought deal on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief package that would send Americans across the country badly-needed financial assistance.  In addition to direct payments, the legislation is also expected to include efforts to...

Turkey ended a countrywide weekend curfew early Monday as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The curfew began on Friday at 9 p.m. and ended on Monday at 5 a.m. local time. In late November, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced new COVID-19 restrictions,...

Spyware sold by an Israeli private intelligence firm was allegedly used to hack the phones of dozens of Al Jazeera journalists in an unprecedented cyber-attack that is likely to have been ordered by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to leading researchers. In a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Capitol Hill negotiators sealed a deal Sunday on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package, finally delivering long-overdue help to businesses and individuals and providing money to deliver vaccines to a nation eager for them. The agreement, announced by...