Jordan has resorted to extraordinary measures to limit media coverage of its closure of the opposition-led teachers' union, reflecting a wider "slide into repression," Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Authorities closed the Teachers' Syndicate and arrested its leaders on July 25 after it...

Gaza's lone power plant shut down Tuesday, less than a week after Israel suspended fuel shipments to the Palestinian enclave over the launching of incendiary balloons that have caused brush fires in southern Israel. Gaza, run by Hamas Islamists, relies on Israel for most of its energy...

Israel's Aviation Links said Tuesday it would start selling vacation packages to Rixos hotels in the United Arab Emirates, the latest deal in the wake of the countries agreeing to normalize relations. The agreement is the first in the tourism industry after Israel and the United Arab...

Countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to ensure supplies of a possible coronavirus vaccine are making the pandemic worse, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday. "(Acting) strategically and globally is actually in each country's...

An ultra-modern vertical farm in the middle of the desert stands as a testament to Dubai's determination to spark a "green revolution" to overcome its dependence on food imports. Al-Badia market garden farm produces an array of vegetable crops in multi-storey format, carefully controlling...

Beijing on Tuesday hit out at new US sanctions against telecom giant Huawei, accusing Washington of an "abuse of national power" to block the rise of Chinese companies. A US Commerce Department statement Monday barred an additional 38 Huawei affiliates from buying American computer chips...

Amid a totally destroyed neighborhood and the rubble of an abandoned house in Idlib, the young Syrian artist "Rami Abdul Haq" set up his first artistic opposition after the revolution. The exhibition includes 30 black white paintings that represent symbols of Syrian revolution from activists,...

Israel's intelligence minister said Tuesday he knew of no change to a policy opposing US sales of advanced weaponry to Arab states that could diminish Israel's military superiority, after a report the United Arab Emirates could clinch such deals. The remarks by the minister, Eli Cohen,...

The spread of the coronavirus is being increasingly driven by people aged in their 20s, 30s and 40s and many are not aware that they have been infected, the World Health Organization's regional director for the Western Pacific said Tuesday. "This increases the risk of spillovers to the more...

Several rockets struck the Afghan capital Tuesday as the country marked the 101st anniversary of its independence, officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties after the rockets were fired from two vehicles in Kabul, interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said. The...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday slapped down Donald Trump's talk of an out-of-control coronavirus "surge" in New Zealand as "patently wrong". She expressed dismay after the US president exaggerated the new virus outbreak in New Zealand as a "huge surge" that Americans would do well...

Israeli warplanes pounded Hamas-ruled Gaza early Tuesday in response to Palestinian fire balloon attacks across the border, the Israeli army said. The strikes came as visiting Egyptian security officials strove to defuse the latest uptick in violence, a Hamas source said. "Fighter jets...

As Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi prepares for his first meeting with US President Donald Trump this week, attacks on American targets by pro-Iranian fighters have been on the rise. With Tehran and Washington competing for influence in Iraq, the gulf between pro-Iranian factions...

One of the most famous merchants in Hareeqa Bazzar in Damascus, has put up ten out of his 20 shops for sale. According to Zaman al-Wasl source, a big number of merchants are selling their shops in the area, which during the height of the war, were valued at 100-300 million. The...

Oil prices settled higher on Monday, as OPEC+ producers almost fully complied in July with their global production cut accord, and after U.S. officials said China is in compliance with the first phase of the two nations’ trade deal. Brent crude LCOc1 settled up 57 cents, or 1.3%, to $45.87...

Turkey’s total number of coronavirus cases rose to more than 250,000, with 1,233 new cases identified in the past 24 hours, health ministry data showed on Monday, as the death toll from the virus neared 6,000. The data showed 22 people had died in the past 24 hours in Turkey, bringing the...

 Israel Monday released a West Bank leader of the global campaign to boycott the Jewish state, following his arrest last month by Israel's internal security agency. Mahmoud Nawajaa, coordinator of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in the occupied Palestinian...

Warnings by Western officials over the need for reforms in Lebanon had often been met with disappointing responses by the country's political leaders, a senior United Nations official said Monday following this month's Beirut port explosion. US and French officials visiting the city after...

The number of COVID-19 deaths among medical personnel in government-held parts of Syria has shot up in recent weeks amid a rise in infections, several sources told AFP. The capital Damascus has been especially hard hit, with doctors warning of a deteriorating situation in overcrowded...

Facebook is in the eye of a political storm in India after claims it failed to take action against hate speech posts by a Hindu nationalist lawmaker out of fear for its business interests. India is US-based Facebook and its messaging service WhatsApp's biggest market in terms of users, and...