The ruling party in South Korea clinched a landslide victory in the general elections held amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to unofficial results on Thursday. With nearly all votes for the directly contested seats counted, the country's election commission said the ruling...

Coronavirus outbreaks across the Middle East threaten to shatter the lives of millions of already destitute people in conflict zones, and could fuel socio-economic upheaval, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Thursday. Curfews and lockdowns imposed as public health...

His home in volatile northwest Syria may have been destroyed, but Hassan Khraiby decided returning was better than risking his 10 children catch the coronavirus in a packed displacement camp. "We were scared the coronavirus might spread because of the severe overcrowding," 45-year-old...

The World Health Organization's European office said Thursday that despite some "optimistic signs" in some of the countries worst hit by the new coronavirus, the number of cases was rising and approaching one million in the continent alone. "We remain in the eye of the storm," WHO regional...

Japan's government will convene a key panel of medics Thursday to advise on its state of emergency over the coronavirus, as local media reported the prime minister would expand the measures to cover the entire country. Shinzo Abe has already declared a month-long state of emergency in seven...

It may be small but Pinor village in a remote corner of northwestern Spain has the peculiar distinction of being known for coffins, with coronavirus death doubling demand at its nine workshops. Spain is suffering one of the world's most deadly outbreaks that has killed more than 18,500...

Yemen's war shows no signs of abating, one week after the Saudi-led military coalition declared a unilateral truce due to the coronavirus threat looming over the impoverished nation. Yemen announced its first case of the COVID-19 respiratory disease last Friday, as aid organisations warn...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- A fire broke out in four warehouses in Souq al-Hal, the main fruit marketplace in the Syrian capital on Thursday, local media outlets said. The state-run news agency (SANA) said no casualties had been reported and the blaze was under control. Shop owners ruled...

Rafael Nadal thinks the global nature of tennis means there is little chance tournaments will go ahead any time soon as sport continues to be paralysed by the coronavirus pandemic. Novak Djokovic also anticipates a lengthy delay before tennis can be played even behind closed doors, with the...

Syria’s close ally Russia clashed with European nations in the U.N. Security Council Wednesday over a report from the global chemical weapons watchdog blaming the Syrian air force for a series of attacks using sarin and chlorine on a rebel-held town in 2017. Moscow dismissed it as...

Eleven vessels from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) came dangerously close to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Gulf, the U.S. military said Wednesday, calling the moves "dangerous and provocative." While such interactions had occurred occasionally a few years...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian pregnant women in deserted Rukban camp at the Jordanian border are at risk of birth complications that might be fatal due to severe shortages in healthcare facilities. Chokri Shihab, the director of Palmyra medical center, said that 6 women in the camp are in...

As the rising sun gently begins to illuminate Jerusalem's golden Dome of the Rock and the city slowly awakens, Firas al-Qazzaz's hypnotic voice echoes softly through the Old City. He is the latest member of his family in 500 years to lead prayers from the minaret at the cherished Al-Aqsa...

Inside the Syrian capital's Great Umayyad Mosque, six muezzins sit before a loudspeaker, collectively reciting the call to prayer that can be heard across the ancient quarters of Damascus. They are among 25 muezzins who take shifts intoning the azan, or call to prayer, in groups, using a...

President Donald Trump vowed to unveil plans Thursday to reopen the world's top economy, following cautious moves in Europe, claiming the US had "passed the peak" of new coronavirus cases, even as the country logged a record number of deaths from the disease. Since emerging in China late...

Israel's president on Thursday tasked parliament with forming a government after its centrist speaker Benny Gantz failed to reach a unity deal with right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following a March 2 election, Israel's third stalemate vote in less than a year, Gantz was given...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday called for coronavirus cooperation in talks with a top Chinese official, signaling a bid to keep a lid on renewing tensions. President Donald Trump's administration has berated China for not sharing data more quickly and said Tuesday it was...

Italian Prime Minster Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday he had still not decided whether to tap an EU economic rescue package designed to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. EU member states ended weeks of wrangling and agreed the 500-billion-euro ($545-billion) emergency plan last Thursday....

The head of Libya’s UN-recognized government said he won’t resume negotiations with warlord Khalifa Haftar, accusing him of exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to launch a new offensive against the government. In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica published on Wednesday, Fayez...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday announced first steps in undoing coronavirus restrictions that have plunged the economy into a recession, with most shops allowed to open although schools must stay closed until May 4. Shops up to 800 square metres (8,600 feet) are allowed to...