MIDDLE EAST

44-yr-old Coronavirus: NDA suspends large gatherings, expeditionsgaon resident tests positive of coronavirus

Iran says 92 dead amid 2,922 cases of the new coronavirus

10:56 pm March 4, 2020

Tehran: Iran says the new coronavirus has killed 92 people amid 2,922 confirmed cases across the Islamic Republic. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour announced the new figures at a news conference Wednesday in Tehran. There are now over 3,140 cases of the new virus across the Mideast. Of those outside Iran in the region, most […]

COVID surge, vaccine shortages spread beyond India’s borders

US launches airstrike against Taliban to defend Afghan forces

10:52 pm March 4, 2020

Kabul: The US launched an airstrike against Taliban fighters to defend Afghan forces on Wednesday, an American military spokesman said, as violence spirals after a string of deadly attacks by the insurgents, throwing the country’s nascent peace process into grave doubt. News of the airstrike in southern Helmand province — the first in 11 days […]

Internet disruption reported in southeast Iran amid unrest

Iran says ‘no obligation’ to let UN nuclear watchdog into certain sites

9:47 pm March 4, 2020

Vienna: Tehran has no obligation to grant the UN’s nuclear watchdog access to sites in Iran when it deems that requests are based on “fabricated information”, Iran’s UN ambassador in Vienna said Wednesday. “Intelligence services’ fabricated information… creates no obligation for Iran to consider such requests,” said a statement from Iran’s ambassador to the UN […]

Israel’s Netanyahu ‘determined’ to continue Gaza operation

Israeli exit polls: Netanyahu ahead, but short of majority

8:24 pm March 3, 2020

Jerusalem: Israel’s embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced an uncertain path to staying in office on Tuesday, even as preliminary results showed his Likud party pulling ahead of its opponents in the country’s third election in less than a year. Exit polls on Israeli TV stations showed Likud and its allies capturing 59 seats out […]

Iran opposes Afghan pact it says US had ‘no right’ to sign

9:41 pm March 1, 2020

Tehran: Iran voiced its opposition on Sunday to an Afghanistan accord between the United States and the Taliban, saying Americans had no right to decide on the country’s future. “The United States has no legal right to sign a peace agreement or to decide the future of Afghanistan,” the foreign ministry said in a statement […]