Coronavirus

Hajj 2023 will be free from restrictions, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced, following three years of limits on the number of pilgrims due to the Covid-19 pandemic

Saudi Arabia will remove COVID-19 restrictions for the 2023 Haj season and host pre-pandemic numbers of pilgrims, the Kingdom's Ministry of Haj and Umrah said on Monday, Reuters reports....

In 2022, the biggest energy issue in the Middle East was Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil cut as the world economy entered into a period of...

Several buses of Syrian refugee families were repatriated Wednesday morning from different areas in Lebanon

Rival Palestinian factions today agreed to resolve 15 years of discord through elections that will be held within a year, a Palestinian and an Algerian official said, according to Reuters.

Overlooking the Tigris River in Baghdad, a 100-year-old Iraqi mansion stands dilapidated and neglected. Visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of its faded glory are warned off by a...

The world is unlikely to meet the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, according to a new World Bank study. The bank's Poverty and Shared Prosperity report showed...

The OPEC+ group of oil producers is discussing output cuts of more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd), OPEC sources said, and voluntary cuts by individual members could...

Fans attending the World Cup in Qatar must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, regardless of their vaccination status, organisers said in a statement on Thursday, Reuters reports....

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi yesterday pledged to solve the problem of the shortage of production requirements resulting from the restrictions on imports within two months, adding that he...

African ministers meeting in Cairo two months ahead of the COP27 climate summit called on Friday for a sharp expansion of climate financing for their continent while pushing back...

Policymakers, lawmakers and insufficient oil and gas sector investments are to blame for high energy prices, not OPEC, the producer group's new Secretary-General, Haitham Al Ghais, told Reuters on...

Egypt's external debt rose to $157.8 billion in March, from $145.5 billion last December, an increase of about $12.3 billion in three months, while total deposits with the Central Bank amounted...

Israel's GDP grew by 6.8 per cent on an annual basis in the second quarter of 2022, after contracting by 2.7 per cent in the first quarter, the Israeli...

Israeli tourism continued to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic in July although it was 22.6% below its 2019 level, the Tourism Ministry said on Monday, reports Reuters. Tourism Minister...

The Moroccan government has extended the state of medical emergency for two extra months to face the rise in COVID cases. Last December, Morocco had imposed the state of...

People with disabilities are the largest and most diverse minority within the population, representing all abilities, ages, races, ethnicities, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. According to the World Health Organisation,...

The number of people affected by hunger globally grew to as many as 828 million in 2021, swelling by about 46 million from 2020 and 150 million from the...

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites in Makkah and Madinah, allowed back foreign travellers this year to perform the Hajj.

Saudi Arabia's population has decreased by at least 2.6 per cent over the past two years, due to the significant amount of expatriate workers who left the Kingdom throughout...

Family of Palestinian activist Nizar Banat, who was murdered last year, yesterday called on international donors to stop funding the Palestinian Authority (PA)'s institutions, a statement said. Nizar Banat...

Global airlines hit out at governments on Monday for what the industry's leading ambassador termed their "shambolic" handling of the COVID-19 crisis, and urged nations to rip up the...

With a mandate to expand trade and economic interactions, New Zealand's new ambassador to Turkiye says she draws inspiration from "historical foundations" laid in Gallipoli to promote bilateral relations....

A new political action committee (PAC) plans to unseat Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib over her clear support for the people of occupied Palestine, the Intercept revealed on Friday....

Morocco jails 162 people for publishing fake news

Saudi Arabia's flag carrier, Saudia, has restarted flights to the Turkish city of Istanbul, after being halted for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On Saturday, the first...

OPEC+ will likely stick to modest oil output increases on Thursday, arguing it is not responsible for geopolitics and supply disruptions while stressing its worries over the demand outlook...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday the problem of global food security could not be solved without restoring Ukrainian agricultural production and Russian food and fertilizer output to...

Turkey registered 1,480 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to official data released Sunday, reports Anadolu Agency. The Health Ministry said 12 virus-related fatalities and 2,113...

The Russian invasion of Ukraine clearly reveals that the world is witnessing a Cold War. The rivalry between the US and China is also following the pattern of a Cold War. In...

While the world endured global supply chain issues and delays for over two years throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, markets suffered, economies buckled, and there were real...

Communal meals, in which hundreds of people packs around long tables to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, have returned to Egypt's streets after being widely...