Iraq has extended an entry ban for any non-Iraqis coming from Iran, the prime minister said, as authorities in Tehran announced 15 more cases of coronavirus and a death toll of eight. Baghdad had banned crossings by non-Iraqis from Iran Thursday for three days and Prime Minister Adel...

An Israeli cycling team raced through Dubai Sunday, taking part in the UAE Tour for the first time in the latest overture between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations. Gulf Arab nations have made a number of recent moves hinting at warmer ties with the Jewish state, with...

Iran's interior minister said on Sunday that 42.6 percent of eligible voters turned out at the country's parliamentary election, in remarks aired live on state television. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the participation rate was "acceptable" for Iran after it experienced bad weather, an air...

The surge in the number of new coronavirus cases in Italy has hit sporting events as four Serie A football matches were postponed on Sunday, with Inter Milan's Europa League game next week also in doubt. The match between Torino and Parma in the northern city of Turin was called off Sunday...

Abu Jabber has a plan to escape the Syrian regime's advance: he has built a ladder from rusty metal for him and his 11 children to climb over the Turkish border wall. Six months ago, the family fled deadly fighting in Idlib province of northwest Syria, seeking shelter near the border...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Two regime army officers were killed in double rebel attack in the town of Nawa in southern Daraa province, pro-regime activists said Saturday.  A series of snap attacks has been carried out by the opposition armed groups against regime army and allied militants...

Israeli forces on Sunday shot dead a Palestinian suspected of placing a bomb near the Gaza border, before extracting his body with a bulldozer, the army said. "Following the successful thwarting of the attack near the Gaza Strip fence earlier this morning, an IDF (Israeli army) bulldozer...

China’s National Health Commission announced Sunday the death toll of the novel coronavirus hit 2,444 with thousands of patients facing serious health conditions. According to the commission’s statement, 97 people lost their lives due to the virus, now officially called COVID-19, and about...

At least seven people were killed and five others injured on Sunday in eastern Turkey when an earthquake hit the border region with Iran, authorities said. Tremors from a 5.7-magnitude quake centered in northwestern Iran were also felt in Turkey's Van province. Some buildings were...

Naval forces from the Arab-led coalition fighting in Yemen Sunday foiled an "imminent terrorist" attack by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in the southern Red Sea, a major commercial shipping channel, the Saudi-led coalition said. The forces destroyed an unmanned boat laden with explosives...

A minibus stopped outside the world's largest cemetery in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf. Five women got out, telephone cameras filming the scene, and dashed excitedly towards a grave. Clad in black, they joined wailing women and men beating their chests in grief at Wadi al-Salam...

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday accused foreign media of trying to use a deadly outbreak of coronavirus in Iran to "discourage" people from voting in a general election. "This negative propaganda began a few months ago and grew larger approaching the election and in the past...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said he would hold a summit with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany on March 5 to discuss the escalating violence in Syria's last rebel enclave of Idlib. The announcement comes a day after two European Union heavyweights France and...

 The highway that links the Syrian capital with the northern city of Aleppo is open for public use for the first time in nearly eight years after government forces recently captured parts of it that had been held by insurgents, the transportation minister said Saturday. The reopening...

The world’s top economies called on Saturday for a coordinated response to the coronavirus outbreak, which the IMF predicted would lower China’s growth this year to 5.6% and shave 0.1 percentage points from global growth. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva...

 Chelsea's Olivier Giroud and Marcos Alonso returned to the starting lineup to stunning effect by grabbing a goal apiece in a crucial 2-1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur in the battle between the London rivals for fourth place Saturday. It was only Chelsea's sixth win in 14 home...

The top diplomat in eastern Libya says the shutdown of vital oil facilities in the country would come to an end "when Libyans are guaranteed of the fair distribution of their resources." The closures came about when powerful tribal groups loyal to Libyan military commander Khalifa Hifter in...

Populist cleric Moqtada Sadr returned to Iraq Saturday with a threat to organise protests outside parliament unless lawmakers back the government of prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi in a confidence vote. The Shiite cleric with a cult-like following in Iraq has thrown his weight...

South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as first vice president on Saturday, formally rejoining the government in the latest bid to bring peace to a nation ravaged by war. President Salva Kiir hailed the "official ending of war" and said peace was now "irreversible" as the new...

 (Zaman Al Wasl)- A Turkish soldier was killed on Saturday in an attack by Syrian regime forces in the northern Idlib region, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter. Turkey retaliated to the attack with full force and 21 regime targets were heavily hit and destroyed, said the...