Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his erstwhile rival Benny Gantz announced "significant progress" in talks Sunday towards forming an emergency unity government amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Gantz, whose now fractured centrist Blue and White alliance had positioned itself...

Spain awoke to its third week under near-total lockdown on Sunday, as the government met to approve a strengthening of measures and the coronavirus death toll rose by a record 838 cases overnight to 6,528. Second only to Italy in fatalities, Spain also saw infections rise to 78,797 from...

Saudi authorities have seized more than five million medical masks that were illegally stockpiled amid the coronavirus outbreak, state media reported Sunday. The commerce ministry seized 1.17 million masks from a private store in Hail, northwest of the capital, after authorities Wednesday...

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is warning Britons in a letter to 30 million households that things will get worse before they get better, as he himself self-isolates in Downing Street to recover from the coronavirus. Britain has reported 17,089 confirmed cases of the disease and 1,019 deaths...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- A 32-year-old Syrian psychiatrist died from COVID-19 on Friday in Italy, relatives said. Dr. Eyad al-Deqer was tested positive for coronavirus shortly two weeks ago before his death on Friday in the Italian city of Piacenza, south of Milan city. Italy’s death...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 10 inmates escaped from a prison controlled by the US-backed Kurdish-led forces in eastern Deir Ezzor province, local news site reported Saturday. The prisoners who were charged of drug dealing and murder took advantage of the electricity outage in the Kesra...

Armoured vehicles in the streets, hundreds arrested, smartphone surveillance -- sweeping measures to fight the coronavirus have raised concerns in the Middle East over the erosion of already threatened human rights. As the world battles the COVID-19 pandemic, more than three billion people...

China reported 45 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for Saturday, down from 54 on the previous day, with all but one involving travelers from overseas, the country’s health authority said on Sunday. In the last seven days, China has reported 313 imported cases of coronavirus but only 6...

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the ocean off its east coast on Sunday, the latest in an unprecedented flurry of launches that South Korea decried as “inappropriate” amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Two “short-range projectiles” were...

 Sovereign wealth funds from oil-producing countries mainly in the Middle East and Africa are on course to dump up to $225 billion in equities, a senior banker estimates, as plummeting oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic hit state finances. The rapid spread of the virus has ravaged...

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says an infant with COVID-19 has died and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of death. Officials didn't release other information about the infant, who was from Cook County, which includes Chicago, including whether the child had other health...

Saudi Arabia's Air Defense Forces intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile over the capital just before midnight, state media said early Sunday.  Residents of Riyadh reported on social media hearing loud explosions late Saturday. Minutes later, state media carried a statement by...

At least 100,000 could die from the COVID-19 pandemic in northwest Syria as overcrowded camps and the decimated healthcare system make the country particularly vulnerable, medical staff on the ground have warned. "In one year, we lost around 76 health facilities in northwest Syria," Dr...

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte is hoping the European Union will put together a cohesive response to the plight of countries like his, whose economy has been crippled by the coronavirus outbreak. Conte vowed to fight “to my very last drop of sweat” to prompt a “strong and cohesive European...

The accelerating death toll from the coronavirus epidemic sweeping the globe surged past 20,000 in Europe Saturday, with hardest-hit Italy and Spain both reporting more than 800 dead in a single day. As many as one-third of the world's population is now living under lockdown and US...

Iran is to allocate 20 percent of its annual state budget to fighting the coronavirus outbreak in the country, one of the worst-hit in the world, President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday. Iran's death toll from coronavirus rose to 2,517 Saturday, with 139 fatalities in the past 24 hours,...

The United Arab Emirates extended on Saturday to April 5 a nightly curfew to sterilize public places to combat the coronavirus as neighboring Qatar reported its first death from the disease. The UAE's deep clean campaign, being implemented between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. each day, began on...

(Eqtsad)- Egyptian authorities along with the UN refugees agency (UNHCR) in Egypt and other organizations have taken precautionary measures to limit its spread. According to the UNHCR, there are currently over 129,000 Syrian refugees in Egypt, where there are over 536 confirmed cases of...

Millions of people across the world have lost their jobs, and trillions of dollars have been wiped off the value of stock markets. But not everyone has lost out. Jeff Bezos, the world’s wealthiest person, is $5.5bn (£4.3bn) richer today than he was at the start of the year. His paper...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Turkish-backed forces on Saturday have thwarted Syrian regime attack in the southern region of Idlib province, rebel source told Zaman al-Wasl.   Fierce clashes reported early Saturday as the army's elite units seek to seize the villages of Sfouhn and al-Fatira in...