A senior United Arab Emirates official (UAE) said Lebanon was paying the price of deteriorating ties with wealthy Gulf Arab states as it struggles to cope with a deep economic crisis. Gulf states have long channeled funds into Lebanon's fragile economy but they are alarmed by the rising...

Iran plans to export oil from a port on its Gulf of Oman coast by March, the president said Thursday, a shift that would avoid using the Strait of Hormuz shipping route that has been a focus of regional tension for decades. Tensions have spiked between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when...

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday accused Russia and Poland of interfering in upcoming presidential elections, claims that were quickly denied by the Kremlin. The interference is coming from "those who live in Poland and those who incite from Russia," Lukashenko said...

DR Congo's government on Thursday officially declared an end to an Ebola epidemic that broke out in the east of the troubled country in August 2018 and went on to claim 2,277 lives. The outbreak was "the longest, most complex and deadliest" in the 60-year history of the Democratic Republic...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syria's health ministry on Thursday has confirmed 11 new coronavirus cases, topping the total of infections to 242. At least seven people have died of COVID-19 in the war-torn country but experts doubt that the number is accurate, saying Syria is seen at high risk from...

Iranian state television has broadcast the suspected coerced confessions of at least 355 people over the last decade as a means to both suppress dissent and frighten activists in the Islamic Republic on behalf of security services, according to a report released Thursday. The study...

Asian stocks posted their biggest drop in eight sessions, bonds rose and the US dollar was firm Thursday as surging US coronavirus cases and an International Monetary Fund downgrade to economic projections knocked confidence in a recovery. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares...

Vineyard owner Haidar al-Zahar recalls with joy the day in 2005 when Israel removed its settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip, part of a withdrawal that few Palestinians thought they would ever see. "I felt like a prisoner who suddenly found himself a free man," he said. A decade and...

The UN humanitarian chief warned that without massive financial support, Yemen will "fall off the cliff," with many more people starving to death, succumbing to COVID-19, dying of cholera and watching their children die because they haven’t been immunized for killer diseases. Mark Lowcock...

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 jolted Chiba prefecture in eastern Japan, the country’s meteorology agency said Thursday. The agency said the quake occurred around 4:47 a.m. local time off the coast with its epicenter at a depth of 30 kilometers (18 miles) and was felt in neighboring...

The European Parliament’s budgetary committee on Wednesday approved a proposal on supporting Syrian refugees in Turkey with an additional €485 million ($545 million).   On June 3, the European Commission proposed to top up humanitarian aid for refugees and host communities in...

Liverpool will be crowned champions of England for the first time in 30 years on Thursday should Manchester City fail to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Jurgen Klopp's men moved to the brink of a long-awaited Premier League title in the style that has made them worthy champions-elect by...

South Korea and the United States on Thursday reaffirmed their commitment to defending "the hard-fought peace" on the divided peninsula as the allies marked the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. Communist North Korea invaded the US-backed South on June 25, 1950, triggering...

President Donald Trump is facing a critical decision on Israel that could alter America’s position in the Middle East and may affect his election-year support with a central part of his political base. In the coming days, Trump must decide whether to support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...

Russia and China will be isolated at the United Nations if they continue down the "road to dystopia" by blocking a US bid to extend a weapons ban on Iran, US Iran envoy Brian Hook told Reuters ahead of his formal pitch of the embargo to the UN Security Council Wednesday. The 13-year-old...

The head of the Arab League warned a high-level UN meeting Wednesday that Israel’s annexation of parts of the West Bank would endanger Middle East peace and could ignite "a religious war in and beyond our region." Ahmed Aboul Gheit, secretary-general of the 22-member organization, said...

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom said on Wednesday he expected the number of novel coronavirus cases around the world, now at about 9.3 million, to reach 10 million next week. Tedros also told a news briefing he backed Saudi Arabia's decision to ban pilgrims from...

Researchers in Brazil began administering an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University to volunteers, the Federal University of Sao Paulo said Wednesday. The vaccine, developed together with pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca, is one of the most promising of the dozens...

A Syrian yogi will be kicked out of Bali for holding a crowded gathering that violated the Indonesian holiday island's coronavirus restrictions, a justice official said Wednesday. House of Om, a holistic retreat in Bali's cultural hub of Ubud, found itself in a hot water after a video went...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday that the Trump administration was imposing sanctions on five Iranian ship captains who had delivered oil to Venezula. Speaking to reporters, Pompeo also said the United States continues to support Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido....