The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's wife and dozens of others as it vowed a vast pressure campaign under a new law that has already rattled the war-torn nation's economy. "We anticipate many more sanctions and we will not stop until Assad...

A Libyan official said Wednesday international efforts were underway to form a fact-finding commission to probe violations committed by warlord Khalifa Haftar's militia. "Libyan authorities continue to document these violations in order to bring perpetrators to justice," Naser Gheita, an...

Syria's central bank devalued the Syrian pound Wednesday giving in to weeks of depreciation on the black market as new US sanctions took effect. The central bank raised the official exchange rate from 704 to 1,256 Syrian pounds to the dollar, in a statement published on its social media...

It was the first day that the whole of the Tunis medina was open for business after nearly three months of lockdown, but market vendor Abdelaziz Talbi wasn't working. He had nothing to sell. Three weeks earlier, just as Tunisia began easing its lockdown to allow some markets to open, the...

Months into Iran's fight against the coronavirus, doctors and nurses at Tehran’s Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital still don a mask, a disposable hazmat suit and a double layer of latex gloves every day to attempt to contain a pandemic that shows no signs of slowing. The hiss of high-flow oxygen...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is protected from the coronavirus by special disinfection tunnels that anyone visiting his residence outside Moscow or meeting him in the Kremlin must pass through, his spokesman said Wednesday. One such special tunnel, manufactured by a Russian company...

The UN special envoy for Syria said Tuesday he hopes that talks on drafting a new constitution for the country can be held in late August, warning the war-torn nation has plunged into economic crisis with rising fears among its people. Geir Pedersen told the UN. Security Council that a...

An uncle of Syrian President Bashar Assad was sentenced to four years in prison in France on Wednesday for illegally using Syrian state funds to build a French real estate empire. The anti-corruption groups that launched the legal proceedings against Rifaat Assad announced the decision...

Zaman Al-Wasl has obtained documents revealing a new identity of pro-Bashar al-Assad militant and security agent who applied for asylum in Germany after participating in cracking down the Syrian activists and leading most of them behind bars. Tariq Hassan Alour, originally from...

Turkey has launched Operation Claw-Tiger against terrorists in northern Iraq, the National Defense Ministry announced early Wednesday.  The ministry said on Twitter that Turkish commando forces are already in Iraq’s Haftanin region, adding the operation is taking place in order to...

A Paris court will give its verdict Wednesday in a trial on money laundering charges for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's uncle, who amassed a fortune in France over several decades. Rifaat al-Assad, 82, may not be in the dock for judgement, having been hospitalised last December during...

Like she had done for years, Nisrine Saleh arrived at the bank to withdraw her monthly pension, paid by Iraq's government. But this time, the $920 disbursement was more than $100 short. Cash was missing from nearly one million retired Iraqis' allowances in June, Prime Minister Mustafa...

London's West End has traditionally drawn people from all over the world to see its shows but theatres have been forced to reinvent themselves because of the coronavirus outbreak. Fifteen million tickets are sold each year for performances including top attractions such as "The Phantom of...

With 740 new coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, the United States has seen more people die from the pandemic than died in World War I, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The new figure, counted at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT) Tuesday, brought the country's total COVID-19 deaths up to...

New US sanctions against the Syrian government aim to "starve" the country and its neighbour Lebanon, the head of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah said Tuesday. "The Caesar Act aims to starve Lebanon just as it aims to starve Syria," Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech. "Syria...

The United States on Tuesday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that he will never secure a full victory and must reach a political compromise, on the eve of stinging new sanctions. The war-torn nation has seen an intensifying economic crisis and on Wednesday the Caesar Act takes...

Turkish and Russian troops carried out their 17th joint patrol along the key M4 highway in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said Tuesday. "To maintain the Turco-Russian ceasefire agreement in Syria, the 17th Combined Land Patrol was conducted in...

Palestinian security services have been destroying secret files, fearing Israeli raids on their offices as the Jewish state weighs annexing parts of the occupied West Bank, sources in such organs say. "We have been ordered to destroy confidential documents in our possession and we have...

Iran criticised on Tuesday a plan to put forward a resolution at a meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog urging the country to allow access to two disputed sites. European states are expected to submit the resolution at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board of...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Syrian-American Medical Association (SAMS) has built a new hospital for patients infected with coronavirus in northern Idlib province, local activists said. Ibrahim Abboud, The hospital director, said the hospital is a precautionary step to contain the Covid-19...