A group of U.N. human rights experts urged Yemen's Shia rebels on Thursday to free all prisoners from the Baha'i religious minority, following an earlier decision by the rebels to pardon their jailed...More
While the Covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 180,000 people worldwide and infected more than 2.5 million, Syria has officially reported relatively few cases. If the epidemic were to worsen there...More
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic is “a human crisis that is fast becoming a human rights crisis. ” The U.N. chief said in a video message that...More
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines, has announced that the holy fasting month of Ramadan will start on Friday, as Muslims worldwide face unprecedented restrictions to counter coronavirus...More
Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief on Thursday warned the U.S. of a "decisive response" after President Donald Trump said he ordered the U.S. Navy to destroy Iranian boats that harass American ships...More
At the entrance of an Istanbul mosque, the racks usually reserved for the shoes of the faithful are loaded with pasta packages, oil bottles, biscuits – like a supermarket. But they aren't for sale...More
Pakistan has lifted restrictions on congregational prayers at mosques, but put in place a host of safety conditions to avert the further spread of the coronavirus in the country, a statement said at...More
Hundreds of Tunisians stranded for weeks in war-racked Libya due to the coronavirus have returned home after forcing their way through a border crossing, the UN and aid groups said on Tuesday...More
Sixty-eight people, mostly staff, have come down with the coronavirus at a prison in the southern Moroccan city of Ouarzazate, prison authorities said on Tuesday, without reporting any deaths...More
Israeli civil rights activists again submitted a petition to the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, in response to a coalition agreement that would see the indicted...More
Six people were publicly flogged in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province on Tuesday for breaking local Islamic law, despite widespread bans on mass gatherings over coronavirus fears. Officials...More
Most days, you can find Dayaram Kushwaha and his wife, Gyanvati, hauling bricks for stonemasons in a booming northern suburb of New Delhi. They bring their 5-year-old son, who plays in the dirt while...More
Bangladesh will sue factory owners that do not pay their staff during the coronavirus lockdown, an official has warned, with tens of thousands of garment workers struggling after factories shut...More
Egypt on Tuesday flew a plane of medical supplies to the United State s to assist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a role reversal for a top U.S. aid recipient. Egypt's general-turned-...More
Algerian authorities have blocked a third online news website that covered the anti-government "Hirak" protest movement, stirring condemnation this week from media watchdog Reporters Without Borders...More
Afghan toilet paper entrepreneur Zuhal Atmar overcame patriarchy and security threats to build a business that was set to go global due to a coronavirus-induced shortage. But then, the supply of her...More
When Anwar al-Bunni crossed paths with fellow Syrian Anwar Raslan in a DIY store in Germany five years ago, he recognised him as the man who had thrown him in jail a decade earlier. On Thursday, the...More
Polls opened in Mali on Sunday for the final round of legislative elections aimed at reviving public faith in the country's embattled institutions despite a bloody jihadist conflict and the...More
Bangladesh has tightened a clampdown on seven villages after tens of thousands attended the funeral of a popular local cleric in spite of a nationwide lockdown to control the spread of the...More
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...More
Days before the holy fasting month of Ramadan begins, the Islamic world is grappling with an untimely paradox of the new coronavirus pandemic: enforced separation at a time when socialising is almost...More
Turkish authorities blocked Saudi and United Arab Emirates news websites on Sunday, days after the sites of Turkey's state broadcaster and news agency were blocked in Saudi Arabia. The apparently...More
From cancelled iftar feasts to suspended mosque prayers, Muslims across the Middle East are bracing for a bleak month of Ramadan fasting as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic lingers. Ramadan is a...More
After nine years of war, Syria is broken into three rival parts unable to work together and ill-prepared to cope with the coronavirus, an enemy that knows no conflict lines. Medical personnel in...More
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would halt funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic while his administration reviews its response to the...More
In a pre-dawn raid in food-starved Zimbabwe, police enforcing a coronavirus lockdown confiscated and destroyed 3 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables by setting fire to it. Wielding batons, they...More
German authorities say police have arrested four suspected members of the Islamic State group alleged to be planning an attack on American military facilities. Federal prosecutors said the suspects...More
Throwing the baby out with the bathwater At the height of a global pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump has halted funding to the World Health Organization, saying it had promoted China's "...More
India will allow industries located in the countryside to reopen next week, as well as resuming farm activities to reduce the pain for millions of people hit by a lengthy shutdown in its coronavirus...More
Iraq has suspended the licence of the Reuters news agency after it published a story saying the number of confirmed COVID-19 ca ses in the country was higher than officially reported. Iraq’s media...More
Doctors say authorities in India's West Bengal state are slowing down the detection of coronavirus cases with a cumbersome, bureaucratic testing process that is putting health workers at risk...More
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has started an online wedding service for couples wishing to get married despite the coronavirus pandemic , Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National reported on Sunday...More
Sri Lanka made cremations compulsory for coronavirus victims on Sunday, ignoring protests from the country's minority Muslims who say it goes against Islamic tradition. Of the seven deaths from the...More
Thousands of garment workers who produce items for top Western fast fashion brands protested against unpaid wages in Bangladesh 's streets on Monday, saying they were more afraid of starving than...More
Sabir Durrani says he offers prayers almost every day at a mosque in the central Pakistani city of Multan. He says that often a dozen or more men are in attendance – none of them wearing protective...More
German archaeologists have explored an ancient palace in Iraq that they could only access after the area was blown up by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia. "The extremists caused a great deal...More
Coronavirus testing has resumed in the Gaza Strip after Israel allowed five testing kits purchased by the World Health Organization (WHO) into the enclave, a Gaza health ministry spokesman said on...More
The Turkish parliament on Tuesday approved a law that allows for the release tens of thousands of prisoners as a safety measure against the coronavirus outbreak in Turkey . "The draft has become law...More
Turkey ordered citizens to stay at home for 48 hours across 31 cities starting midnight on Friday to contain the spread of the new coronavirus , immediately triggering panic-buying in some cities...More
In South Asia's latest moves to curb the coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh has extended its nationwide lockdown by 11 days while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with states on...More
Days after the coronavirus crisis took hold in Pakistan , Aamir Gill, a cleaner and member of the country's Christian underclass, was fired with no warning or severance by the wealthy family he had...More
Soldiers and police hit the streets of Indonesia 's capital Jakarta to enforce its toughest social distancing rules yet as coronavirus infections surge and critics warn of a looming public-health...More
Yemen 's internationally recognised government announced on Friday the first confirmed case of the new coronavirus in the war-torn country , stoking fears that an outbreak could devastate its already...More
Hamas arrested a Palestinian in Gaza on Thursday, saying that he had taken part in a video conference with Israelis and describing his act as "treason". The Gaza Interior Ministry identified the man...More
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen announced on Wednesday that its forces would begin a cease-fire on Thursday, a step that could pave the way for the first...More
The Gaza Strip has no more coronavirus test kits, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday, amid fears of disaster if the illness spreads in the blockaded, densely packed enclave. "Testing at...More
Bangladesh has imposed a lockdown in a southern district that hosts more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims in an attempt to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in the crowded refugee camps,...More
India n authorities have identified and sealed dozens of hot spots in the Indian capital and the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state comprising residential districts to check the rising trajectory of...More
The Afghan government freed 100 Taliban prisoners on Wednesday as a first step in a peace process with the hard-line Islamists, despite the group's suspension of talks on a planned prisoner exchange...More
Turkey will monitor the mobile phones of those diagnosed with the new coronavirus to ensure they do not break quarantine, authorities said on Wednesday, marking the latest measure to stem an outbreak...More
Israel called on Tuesday for the immediate resumption of indirect talks with Gaza's Hamas rulers on the return of two Israeli civilians and the remains of two soldiers held for years in the...More
The Taliban on Tuesday recalled the group's negotiators from Kabul hours after they suspended talks on a prisoner exchange process with the Afghan government, a spokesman for the hard-line Islamist...More
Already reeling from a couple of blistering winters, the weavers of Kashmir face a bleak future. With few prospects to tempt the young and the collapse of the 2020 tourism season, the days could be numbered for this time-honoured craft. By Sugato Mukherjee
