MIDDLE EAST

Turkish forces down Syrian planes over Idlib: monitor

9:34 pm March 1, 2020

Beirut: Turkish forces downed two Syrian war planes over northwest Syria Sunday, a war monitor said, after Ankara announced a cross-border military operation there. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the two Sukhoi jets fell in regime-held territory, likely after being targeted by Turkish F-16 planes. Syrian state news agency SANA […]

Afghan foreign minister likely to visit India this month

Peace, but not at our cost: Afghan women fear Taliban return

2:32 pm March 1, 2020

Kabul: As US troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, opening the door for a potential Taliban comeback, women across the war-torn country are nervous about losing their hard-won freedoms in the pursuit of peace. The militants were in power for around five years until the US invasion of 2001. They ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist […]

Iran’s deputy health minister says he has coronavirus

10:02 pm February 25, 2020

Tehran: Iran’s deputy health minister confirmed on Tuesday that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus, amid a major outbreak in the Islamic republic. Iraj Harirchi coughed occasionally and wiped sweat from his brow repeatedly during a news conference in Tehran on Monday with government spokesman Ali Rabiei. At the time, he denied a lawmaker’s claim […]

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

Afghanistan finds first coronavirus case: health minister

2:19 pm February 24, 2020

Kabul: Afghanistan has detected its first novel coronavirus case, the country’s health minister said on Monday, a day after Kabul announced it would suspend air and ground travel to Iran, where 12 people have died from the outbreak. “I announce the first positive coronavirus (case) in Herat,” health minister Firozuddin Feroz told a press conference, […]

Internet disruption reported in southeast Iran amid unrest

Voting underway in Iran parliamentary election

3:48 pm February 21, 2020

Tehran: Iranians began voting Friday in a parliamentary election which conservatives are expected to dominate, capitalising on public anger against moderate conservative President Hassan Rouhani over a ravaged economy, corruption and multiple crises. State television showed the Islamic republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casting the first ballot in Tehran. As he voted, Khamenei called […]