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The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak surged past 1,000 in China on Tuesday as the World Health Organization warned that the epidemic poses a “very grave” global threat. The WHO is holding a conference in Geneva on combatting the virus as Beijing struggles to contain a disease that …

An Iraqi court has sentenced two suspects to death for the killing of a Turkish diplomat and two Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) citizens in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil. The 2nd Criminal Court in Erbil sentenced two people to death over the killing of diplomat Osman Köse and two …

At least 16 people drowned and dozens more were unaccounted for after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees sank off southern Bangladesh early Tuesday, officials say. Some 130 people were packed on the fishing trawler that was trying to get across the Bay of Bengal to Malaysia, coast guard spokesman Hamidul …

Iraq’s capital of Baghdad awoke on Tuesday to a sight not seen in over a decade — their city covered in snow. It was a rare moment of respite during which residents took selfies and children played in parks, lobbing snowballs before the fluffy flakes disappeared and the white cover …

The film about a poor family who worms their way into the lives of a rich household became the first non-English-language film to win the best picture. South Korean President Moon Jae-in started his presidential staff meeting on Monday with a round of applause for the South Korean film “Parasite,” …

People across China trickled back to work on Monday after an extended Lunar New Year holiday as the government eased restrictions imposed to counter the coronavirus, but the World Health Organization said the number of cases outside China could be just “the tip of the iceberg”. The death toll from …

The United States has announced to Iraq its readiness to renew sanctions waivers allowing the country to continue importing gas and electricity from Iran, Iraqi officials say. The Associated Press cited what it called three senior members of Iraq’s government as saying that the US State Department has conveyed its …

A group of Salvadoran soldiers armed with automatic weapons have briefly occupied El Salvador’s parliament while President Bukele issued an ultimatum to lawmakers to approve a loan, which the government needs to equip crime-fighting forces. They forced their way into the Congress building on Sunday, with President Nayib Bukele taking …

The United States has started withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, media said on Monday citing Iraqi parliament member Ali al-Ghanimi. According to al-Ghanimi, US troops are beginning to leave 15 military bases in Iraq. In his words, the Americans have confined their presence by two big bases, the one …

At least eight people were killed and dozens of others were wounded in a car bomb explosion in Afrin in Aleppo Governorate, in northwestern Syria. A source in the local administration of the city told “Sputnik” News Agency that, “6 people were killed and 11 others wounded, one of them …

Ciara or Sabine: Call it what you want, but countries across Europe are being hit by a powerful storm. Transport has been plunged into chaos and schools have been canceled. Northern Europe is currently being hit by a major storm, which is moving south. Known either as Ciara or Sabine …

A Boeing 737 airliner with 96 people on board made a hard landing in northwestern Russia on Sunday due to a problem with the chassis, emergency officials and aviation authorities said. Nobody was injured when a UTair aircraft, en route from Moscow, landed at the airport of Usinsk, a town …

China raised the death toll from its coronavirus outbreak to 811 on Sunday, passing the number killed globally by the SARS epidemic, as authorities made plans for millions of people returning to work after an extended Lunar New Year break. Many of China’s usually teeming cities have almost become ghost …

Qatar is reportedly expected to acquire submarines from Italy and turn into the first Gulf Arab country to operate those watercraft. The American business magazine Forbes reported that a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Italian company Fincantieri, Europe’s largest shipbuilder, covers the “supply of cutting-edge naval vessels and submarines” …

The US military says two American soldiers have been killed and six others wounded in an attack in eastern Afghanistan. Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for US forces, confirmed late on Saturday that the casualties took place in the Sherzad district of eastern Nangarhar Province after an individual in “Afghan …

The death toll from a shooting spree by a soldier in northeastern Thailand has reached 26 people, as officials rule out ideological motives in the attack. Thai security forces shot and killed the rogue soldier behind the mass shooting in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima City, about 250 kilometers from the capital, …

At least 33 people were killed in eastern Turkey Wednesday by a second avalanche which buried a team of rescuers searching for people hit by the first the day before. The bodies of 33 rescue workers and civilians were discovered in Van province, where they had been helping dig out …

A reservoir containing an estimated 80 trillion cubic feet of shallow gas, and spanning around 5,000 square kilometers, was discovered on Monday, UAE authorities reported. The reserve, located between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is the fourth largest in the world, and the first major natural gas discovery in 15 years, …

Two suspected rebels and an Indian paramilitary soldier were killed in brief fighting in disputed Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said. Indian forces detained a suspected rebel after the fighting. Paramilitary officer Pankaj Singh said three rebels arrived on a motorbike and fired at a patrol on the outskirts of Kashmir’s …

Iraq’s premier-designate Mohammed Allawi has met with dozens of representatives of the protest movement rocking the capital and south since October, a participant in the meetings said Wednesday. The protesters have been demanding an overhaul of the ruling elite and have rejected Allawi as a product of the political class …