Saudi Arabia announced 50 billion riyals ($13.3 billion) in budget spending cuts after the crash in oil prices and the coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc on its public finances. As the kingdom doubled down in its price war with Russia, authorities signed off on expenditure reductions...

The shutdown of English football was extended until at least April 30 on Thursday after the Premier League and English Football League (EFL) held crisis meetings. "We've collectively agreed that the professional game in England will be further postponed until no earlier than Thursday 30...

Lawmakers in breakaway northern Cyprus voted Thursday to postpone a Turkish Cypriot leadership election scheduled for April 26 by six months because of the coronavirus. The election will now be held on October 11, and dovish incumbent Mustafa Akinci will remain in office in a caretaker...

The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on five companies based in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly shipping oil from Iran in defiance of President Donald Trump's unilateral sanctions. The Treasury Department said that the five companies bought hundreds of thousands of metric...

India banned incoming international flights on Thursday, restricted public gatherings and blocked roads to seal Kashmir after the insurgency-torn region reported its first coronavirus infection. Elsewhere in densely populated South Asia, Sri Lanka postponed parliamentary elections as the...

The Taliban should commit to a ceasefire as a way of tackling the novel coronavirus, Afghanistan's defence minister said Thursday, while also vowing that security forces would respond to continued insurgent attacks. "Our proposal is that to prevent this plague, a ceasefire should come, so...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Turkish-backed Syrian forces thwarted regime army incursion into southern region of Idlib province on Thursday in a new breach to the two-week-old ceasefire, rebel source told Zaman al-Wasl. The National Army said the regime forces backed by Shiite militias launched...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- One Turkish soldier was killed in northwestern province of Idlib, the governor’s office in Turkey’s central Sivas province said on Thursday, topping the death toll of Turkish soldiers killed in Idlib to 59 in the past five weeks. It did not provide additional...

Civil liberties activists asked Israel's Supreme Court Thursday to suspend cellphone monitoring put in place under emergency regulations to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Surveillance began this week after the government approved special orders that circumvented customary...

Turkey has sent 500,000 coronavirus test kits to the United States upon their request, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Thursday. In a speech to parliament, Koca said that Ankara aimed to increase rapidly its own testing within Turkey and had a target of carrying out 10,000 to 15,000...

Saudi Arabia canceled “Jeddah Season”, a weeks-long entertainment and cultural festival in the Red Sea port city, as part of measures to curb the coronavirus outbreak, state television reported on Thursday. The event, which had been scheduled for June and July, was first run last year under...

World athletics chief Sebastian Coe admitted on Thursday that the Tokyo Olympics could be moved to later in the year by the coronavirus outbreak, but said it was too early to make a definitive decision. Olympic bosses acknowledged on Wednesday there was no "ideal" solution as a growing...

Turkish clothing retailers said on Thursday they were shutting stores and shopping centers were set to close due to the spread of the coronavirus, after Ankara promised economic support and advised Turks to stay home for three weeks unless necessary. Turkey announced a second death and said...

Iran’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak jumped to 1,284 on Thursday, a health ministry official told state TV, as the total number of infected people increased to 18,407 in the Islamic Republic, the worst-affected country in the Middle East. “With 149 new deaths in the past 24...

Russia Thursday reported its first coronavirus-related death, an unnamed 79-year-old woman in Moscow with underlying health issues who died from pneumonia after testing positive for the virus. Russia, which has temporarily barred entry to foreigners and imposed an array of flight...

Seven Middle Eastern countries have suspended commercial flights due to the fast-spreading virus. The aviation industry's largest trade association announced Thursday that airlines in the region have already lost more than $7 billion in revenue. The International Air Transport Association,...

Lockdown measures taken in Italy over the coronavirus pandemic will be extended beyond their original deadlines, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Thursday. Imposed nationally on March 12, the shutdown of most businesses and a ban on public gatherings in Italy, the European country worst...

World finance leaders tried to lift confidence with emergency measures to pour cash into panic-stricken markets on Thursday, as investors everywhere dumped assets, switching to dollars amid the escalating coronavirus pandemic. Policymakers in the United States, Europe and Asia have slashed...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime forces have detained at least 50 men in eastern Deir province in an arrest campaign tracking wanted people, local activists said Thursday. The oil-rich province is divided between the US-backed Kurdish forces and Iran-run militias.  Also in...

Public Health England is working on an antibody test which will show who has had the novel coronavirus despite having no symptoms.  Research on the test is progressing quickly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday at a press conference in Downing Street. “The great thing...