Egyptians went to vote Tuesday for a new Senate in an upper house election seen unlikely to revive vibrant political life under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's rule. The two-day vote for 200 of the Senate's 300 seats will be largely contested by candidates backing Sisi, who has quietened...

Lebanese President Michel Aoun accepted the resignation of the prime minister’s government on Monday following last week’s devastating explosion in Beirut port and asked it to stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed, a televised announcement said. Reuters

Kuwait emir’s health has shown “positive improvement,” the cabinet quoted the prime minister as saying, in a tweet on Monday night. The cabinet prayed “for a speedy recovery and complete health and wellness, and to return him to the homeland in the near future,” it said. Emir Sheikh...

Two new cases of COVID-19 has been recored in rebel-held areas, out of 95 tests, bringing the number to 45 in Idlib and the countryside of Aleppo,  The Epidemiological Surveillance Laboratory said Sunday . Dr. Mohamed Hallaj, director of the Syria Response Coordinators team,...

The United States is concerned about the election in Belarus and urges the government to refrain from use of force, the White House said on Monday, amid clashes with protesters in that country. “We’re deeply concerned by the Belarus presidential election,” White House press secretary...

Tunisia prime minister designate Hichem Mechichi said on Monday he will form a technocrat government without political parties, due to the disagreement between parties in the north Africa country. Mechichi’s decision will likely put him in confrontation with the moderate Islamist Ennahda...

Oil rose on Monday, supported by an improvement in Chinese factory data, rising energy demand and hopes for an agreement in the United States on more coronavirus-related economic stimulus. Brent crude LCOc1 rose 82 cents, or 1.9%, to $45.22 a barrel by 12:58 EDT (1658 GMT). West Texas...

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has announced his resignation almost a week after a massive explosion that devastated the capital, Beirut, killing some 200 people and wounding 6,000 others. Diab made the announcement in a televised address to the nation on Monday. He said that "this...

Egypt’s government has revamped Tahrir Square, dotting the space occupied nearly a decade ago by throngs of anti-regime protesters with Pharaonic monuments and private security guards. Officials say they are improving the square in line with famous plazas in Europe, and its facelift - which...

Israel is taking an increasingly balanced approach towards Libya’s internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. Haaretz, citing foreign sources, said the Mossad, which has been supporting eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar, has...

Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm has begun Phase III clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine in Bahrain, after launching similar trials in the United Arab Emirates last month, Bahrain’s health ministry said on Monday. The human trial, which launched in the UAE capital Abu...

Saudi Aramco is moving ahead with plans to boost crude output capacity by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to 13 million bpd despite cuts in capital expenditure this year and next year, the state oil group’s CEO said on Monday. Aramco’s capital spending plan for 2021 will be “significantly...

Lebanon’s prime minister was set on Monday to announce the resignation of his government, the health minister said, after a devastating explosion in Beirut that has stirred public outrage and spurred a string of ministers to step down. The Aug. 4 port warehouse detonation of more than 2,000...

Behind the rising numbers of registered novel coronavirus cases and deaths -- both expected this week to reach 20 million and 750,000, respectively -- is "a great deal of pain and suffering," and leaders need to embrace new measures to turn the outbreak around, the top official of the World...

Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko has won a sixth term in office with a landslide of over 80% of the vote, the country's election commission announced Monday. Voter turnout in Sunday’s polls was over 84%, and the results of the election are considered "valid," Lidia Ermoshina, head of...

Ahmed Amarneh's home, with a wooden door opening onto cushion-lined rooms, is not the first Palestinian residence in the occupied West Bank to receive a demolition notice from Israel. But it may be the first built inside a cave which the Jewish state has threatened to destroy. Amarneh,...

Reporting 28 more coronavirus infections on Monday, South Korea also said it had found three new cases of “mutated genome sequences” of the virus. “Genetic mutations were detected to spike protein, the major surface protein of the virus, from the three COVID-19 imported cases – two from...

The novel coronavirus outbreak claimed 572 lives in Brazil over the past 24 hours, health authorities said on Monday. The COVID-19 death toll in Brazil -- the second-hardest hit by the virus worldwide -- rose to 101,049, while the tally of cases surged to over 3.35 million, including more...

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Penny Gantz said Monday Israel is ready for a war with Lebanon if such war is imposed on Tel Aviv. In his briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Gantz warned that such war would have serious consequences on Lebanon....

 China Monday announced unspecified sanctions against 11 US politicians and heads of organizations promoting democratic causes, including Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who have already been singled out by Beijing. Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday said the 11 had...