Several suspected Islamic State militants escaped from a prison in the eastern province of Hassakeh in Syria on Sunday, after inmates rioted and took control of the ground floor of the prison...More
Pakistan’s biggest charity, famous for its emergency services for the poor, is kitting staff out in rain coats and rubber boots in the battle against the coronavirus as it can't get hold of proper...More
Iran's coronavirus death toll has risen to 2,640, a health ministry official said on Sunday, as the Middle East's worst-hit country grapples with the fast-spreading outbreak. "In the past 24 hours we...More
The overall number of Covid-19 cases in India crossed the 1,000 mark on Monday, even as the government said there were no plans to prolong the three-week nationwide lockdown. The total number of...More
Egypt began deep cleaning the area around the Giza pyramids last week as authorities work to disinfect tourist spots closed down by the coronavirus outbreak. Workers wearing face masks and gloves...More
Some Shia pilgrims returning to Iraq from Syria have tested positive for coronavirus, raising concern that such pilgrim travel could be a source for a larger spread of the disease around the country...More
Tunisians stuck inside through a coronavirus lockdown have in large numbers been watching a spangly-costumed actress belly dancing in her living room with the message: "Stay at home and I'll dance...More
Syria's health ministry said on Sunday that a woman who died after being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment was found to have been infected by coronavirus in the country's first officially...More
Closed borders and social distancing rules to stem the coronavirus outbreak failed to stop one transnational couple in Indonesia from tying the knot on Wednesday, minus the customary kiss to seal the...More
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said this week that systematic testing for coronavirus had started in Syria's last rebel stronghold, the north-western province of Idlib. Testing began "after a...More
They have been hailed as India's coronavirus "heroes", but doctors, nurses, delivery drivers and other frontline workers have been attacked and in some cases evicted from their homes by panicked...More
Four employees working with a French Christian charity who were kidnapped in Iraq in January have been released, France's presidency said on Thursday. The release of the four men with SOS Chretiens d...More
Islamic clerics in Pakistan on Thursday defied a government call to close mosques for daily prayers and Friday congregations amid a nationwide lockdown as coronavirus infections surged past 1,100...More
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, Benny Gantz, was elected parliamentary speaker on Thursday in a surprise manoeuvre that could herald a unity government keeping the veteran...More
The United States blacklisted five Iran - and Iraq -based companies and 15 individuals on Thursday for supporting terrorist groups, its third round of sanctions on Iranian targets in the last two...More
Istanbul prosecutor's office said on Wednesday it had prepared an indictment against 20 suspects over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, including the former deputy head of Saudi Arabia...More
The world's largest democracy went under the world's biggest lockdown on Wednesday, with India's 1.3 billion people ordered to stay home in a bid to stop the coronavirus pandemic, while in the U.S.,...More
Egypt has declared a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for two weeks from Wednesday to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and those who violate the measure will be punished under emergency laws, the prime...More
Boko Haram jihadists have killed nearly 100 Chadian soldiers in a seven-hour attack on an island army base, in their deadliest assault yet on the country's armed forces. President Idriss Deby told...More
Libya has reported its first case of the novel coronavirus, a particular source of concern in the North African country where civil war has badly degraded the public healthcare system. Libya has been...More
The European Union will send €20 million in humanitarian aid to Iran, which is subject to U.S. sanctions, to help alleviate the coronavirus outbreak, and will support Tehran's request for IMF...More
In an appeal issued on Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged warring parties across the world to lay down their weapons in support of the bigger battle against COVID-19: the common...More
Qatar announced $150 million in aid to the Gaza Strip over a period of six months, to support United Nations humanitarian programmes in the Palestinian territory and efforts to contain the new...More
Iran's supreme leader refused U.S. assistance on Sunday to fight the new coronavirus, citing an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus could be man-made by America. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 's...More
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in the Afghan capital on Monday amid an ongoing political crisis, a raging Taliban insurgency and rising coronavirus cases - all of which further threaten...More
The UN's refugee chief voiced alarm on Thursday over the impact that border closures implemented to halt the spread of COVID-19 could have on access to asylum for people fleeing war and persecution...More
India hanged four men on Friday who were convicted for the rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi in 2012, in a case that shocked the world and shamed the country over its appalling...More
Suspected Islamist militants killed 29 Malian soldiers on Thursday in an attack on a base in the country's northeast, the army said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in...More
Qatar has removed exit visa requirements for an additional segment of its foreign labour force, including some of those working in the oil and gas industry, according to official tweets posted on...More
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday discussed the migrant crisis and the situation in Syria's rebel enclave of Idlib, with the leaders of France, Germany and Britain. The four-party...More
British diplomats and rights groups are cautiously welcoming Tehran's temporary release of a jailed British-Iranian woman into the custody of her family in Iran. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 42, who...More
Algeria has banned street protests over the coronavirus, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Tuesday, bringing to an end a year of unprecedented mass demonstrations that brought down the veteran...More
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and International Organisation for Migration will temporarily suspend sending refugees on to resettle in new permanent homes abroad because of travel disruptions caused...More
Iranian prisoners will be released on parole ahead of the Persian New Year on 20 March and in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Political detainees are among 85,000 prisoners to be released in...More
Confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel have jumped by 40 percent to 427 in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, predicting a steeper rise as mass-testing is implemented. Having...More
Nearly 70,000 Afghans have returned from virus-hit Iran in the past 20 days, an official said Monday, overwhelming health workers at border crossings and raising fears of a major outbreak in the...More
The novel coronavirus killed a top Iranian cleric on Monday, the Islamic Republic s aid as it reported yet another record high single-day death toll in one of the world's worst-hit countries. The...More
Israel's ex-military chief Benny Gantz was nominated on Monday to try to form a government, but further talks were expected with his bitter rival, premier Benjamin Netanyahu, on an emergency alliance...More
Hundreds of thousands of Islamic worshippers gathered in eastern Pakistan this week amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, ignoring government warnings that such events could propagate the disease...More
Religious authorities moved to cancel or limit weekly prayer gatherings across the Middle East on Friday to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as they encouraged the faithful to pray for...More
The United States waged a series of precision air strikes on Thursday against an Iran-backed militia in Iraq that it blamed for a major rocket attack a day earlier that killed two American troops and...More
Sudan's economy has sunk into a deep crisis since the overthrow of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bash ir almost a year ago, risking collapse and social unrest in a country in transition. Mass protests...More
Turkey's president on Wednesday made the incendiary claim that the Greek authorities' alleged mistreatment of migrants at its border was comparable to "what the Nazis did", and said he would denounce...More
Days before the first anniversary of a shooting in Christchurch that killed 51 Muslim worshippers, a post appeared on an encrypted messaging app showing a balaclava-clad man outside one of the...More
Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on Greece to reverse its "draconian policy" towards over 450 migrants detained on a navy ship docked in Mytilene port in Lesbos. The men, women and children were...More
Faiz shares the couple's story with 1.4 million social media followers under the hashtag #NikahMuda or young marriage. The seeds of this trend may have been planted back in 1998 – when many adherents...More
Turkey announced on Wednesday its first coronavirus case, a man who had recently travelled to Europe and is in good health. "The test of a patient suspected of carrying the coronavirus returned...More
Egyptian authorities said on Tuesday that 25 people who had intially tested positive for the coronavirus during a Nile River cruise had since tested negative. Health Minister Hala Zayed told...More
Moroccan journalist and activist Omar Radi defended himself on Thursday against charges of insulting a judge in a tweet that criticised his heavy sentencing of anti-government protesters. Radi, who...More
Stern-faced EU leaders warned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to respect the terms of a previous deal to keep migrants away from Europe's borders, after the Turkish leader came to Brussels...More
Israel will impose a two-week quarantine on all travellers entering the country, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, toughening already significant travel restrictions. "After a day of...More
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is set to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners in coming days to pave the way for direct talks with the insurgent group aimed at ending the 18-year-long war in Afghanistan,...More
Allegations of homosexuality: a good one and a half years ago, 57 men were temporarily arrested in Lagos. They are still awaiting the court's verdict. By Reuters photographer Temilade Adelaja.
