Imran Khan has called upon his countrymen ‘not to panic’ amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the country. Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called upon his countrymen “not to panic” amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the country, warning that the spread of COVID-19 was inevitable and that Pakistan […]

JERUSALEM (NYTIMES) – Benny Gantz, the centrist former army chief battling to depose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, on Sunday (March 15) won the endorsements of a narrow majority of lawmakers, earning him a fresh chance to form a government and break Israel’s year-long political deadlock. The surprise majority for Mr Gantz, 60, who […]

RIYADH/DUBAI (REUTERS) – Saudi Arabia closed public spaces on Sunday (March 15) and announced a pause in most government operations while Qatar and Oman imposed entry restrictions as Gulf Arab states broadened efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus and support their economies. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar reported new cases, […]

Bloc stands by Greece and accuses Ankara of using migratory pressure for ‘political purposes’, a charge Erdogan denies. European Union countries offered more money for border policing in Greece and humanitarian aid in Syria’s Idlib, but they were in a bind over Turkey as they sought to avert a mass influx of refugees and migrants. […]

Attack against Abdallah Hamdok in Khartoum underlines fragility of transition to civilian rule, analysts say. Sudanese authorities have arrested a number of suspects in connection with what the government called an assassination attempt against Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, in an incident that underlines the fragility of the country’s transition to civilian rule. Officials and state media […]

Former state TV journalist Fodil Boumala was arrested in September and accused of undermining national unity. A court in Algeria has ordered the release of a prominent human rights activist and key figure in a year-long protest movement demanding radical political change.   Fodil Boumala was arrested in September 2019 and accused of undermining the country’s […]

At least 10 wounded as barrage of Katyusha rockets hits Taji military base near Baghdad where US personnel are housed. At least three US-led coalition soldiers have been killed after multiple rockets hit an Iraqi base housing US and coalition troops on Wednesday, according to a statement by Operation Inherent Resolve. The statement added that at […]

Hamas denounces the Saudi prosecution of more than 60 Palestinians over ‘false accusations’ and ‘unjust trials’. Saudi Arabia has put dozens of Palestinian activists on trial, accusing them of supporting the Gaza-based rulers Hamas. According to Arabic press reports, 68 Palestinian and Jordanian citizens faced the “special terrorism court” in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, beginning on Sunday. […]

The US has launched retaliatory air strikes against a pro-Iranian militia group in Iraq, after a rocket attack killed two of its soldiers. The strikes targeted five weapons storage facilities across the country, the US defence department said. Two Americans and a British soldier were killed in Wednesday’s rocket attack on the Camp Taji military […]

TEHERAN (AFP) – Iran announced on Thursday (March 12) that another 75 people had died of the new coronavirus, bringing the overall number of deaths to 429 out of more than 10,000 infections. “Seventy-five people hospitalised in the past few days have lost their lives and today a total of 429 infected people are no […]