Middle East Headlines

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah confirmed that the government's top priority is fighting corruption and protecting public money, saying that this digital transformation in governmental wor...

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The US Federal Reserve kept on Wednesday interest rates unchanged at zero to 0.25 percent. The Federal Reserve affirmed, "the COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and...

CAIRO, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population recorded on Tuesday 48 fatalities and 632 novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infections in the past 24 hours. The figures took the country's tally to 163,761 infections and 9,115 deaths,...

RABAT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Mauritania's health ministry reported on Wednesday one fatality and 46 Coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours. In a statement, the ministry added infections reached in total 16,506, while the death toll reached 419. Also...

TUNIS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Tunisia's Ministry of Health said Wednesday that 76 patients died from Coronavirus and 1,661 people tested positive over the past 24 hours, bringing the country's caseload to 202,323. The Covid-19 death toll reached 6,446 a...

AMMAN, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The Syrian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that 61 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's caseload to 13,823. Five more fatalities were recorded over the pa...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah confirmed Wednesday that the government's top priority is fighting corruption and protecting public money, saying that this digital transformation in govern...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Minister of Interior Sheikh Thamer Al-Ali Al-Sabah on Wednesday issued a decision giving a new grace period to residency violators to help them adjust their status as of the first of February and March 2. Those who didn't adju...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on Wednesday hoped that the program of the upcoming government could address all pending files and issues that concern citizens. In a speech while meeting with ...

MADRID, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Spain on Wednesday reported 492 deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 40,285 infections over the past 24 hours. The overall infections and death rose to 2,670,102 and 57,291 respectively, the ministry of health said in ...

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- NATO's Military Committee Wednesday held it first meeting of 2021 in Brussels during which it discussed a wide range of issues related with international security. "To our South in Iraq, the security situation remains ch...

GENEVA, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Switzerland's ministry of health affairs on Wednesday said that 58 patients died from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and 2,222 people tested positive for the disease in the past 24 hours. The death toll rose to 8,545 and the...

LONDON, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The UK on Wednesday confirmed 1,725 new coronavirus deaths and 25,000 infections in the last 24 hours. The death toll rose to 101,887 and overall infections to 3,715,000, the British Department of Health said in a statement. The d...

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- US President Joseph R. Biden spoke Wednesday with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan to discuss the policy issues and global challenges that Japan and the United States will face together. The two leaders discussed the US-...

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that based on recommendations people should get their second dose as close to the recommended interval as possible. "The CDC still recommends that people get...

RIYADH, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday discussed humanitarian situation of Rohingya refugees, a Muslim minority. In a statement, the OIC Secretariat...

PARIS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- France strongly condemned Wednesday the latest air attack on the Saudi capital Riyadh this past Saturday. "France denounces this deliberate attack targeting residential areas in violation of international law, this attack illus...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said on Wednesday that the demographics issue needs to move to an acceptable position during the coming period in order to correct the imbalances in the labor m...

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The European Union (EU) Wednesday repeated its call to AstraZeneca to live up to its contractual obligations in an escalating row between the EU and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company. "The 27 European Union Member S...

Basra, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's national football team lost 1-2 to Iraq in an international friendly on Wednesday as part of the preparation for the resumption of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023. Th...

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The Ministry of Health in Luxembourg Wednesday announced 237 new coronavirus infections raising the total number of cases to 50,089. One more death from COVID-19 was reported in the country in the last 24 hours increasing the to...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said on Wednesday that the coming formation will work, as a teamwork, to find solutions to all problems that the country is suffering. While meeting with editor...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Two persons who attempted to smuggle a large amount of narcotics into the country were detained, the Ministry of Interior said Wednesday. According to a ministry statement, some 200 kgms of hashish were found in their possession. ...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on Wednesday called for vigilance against emergence of new strains of the novel coronavirus. During a meeting with the local chief editors, the prime minister a...

IRBIL, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi anti-terrorism squad on Wednesday declared killing nine members of the so-called Islamic State (Daesh) in a raid in the south of Kirkuk governorate. The force said in a statement that during a firefight, members of the no...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Kuwait Oil Undersecretary Sheikh Dr. Nimr Fahad Al-Malek Al-Sabah held talks on Wednesday with Secretary General of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) Ali bin Sabt on boosting cooperaion. The ministry s...

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The European Union Wednesday announced that it is preparing new temporary rules to help air carriers cope with the drastic decline in air traffic caused by the Coronavirus crisis and avoid operating empty flights. EU ambassadors...

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias at NATO Headquarters in Brussels Wednesday and exchanged views on a number of topics, including the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah affirmed on Wednesday the right of any parliament member to use the grilling tool. In a speech during his meeting with the editors-in-chief of local newspapers,...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on Wednesday said the State of Kuwait was the first among nations for securing vaccination against COVID-19 for all. The international community has chosen the ...

AMMAN, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Jordan recorded on Wednesday 14 deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in addition to 870 new positive cases in the past 24 hours. A joint statement by the premiership and the health ministry said the country's death toll...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait and the Republic of Honduras held on Wednesday the first round of bilateral consultations virtually. Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said in a press statement that the two sides addressed cooperation at various levels...

WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The US reported 142,511 new coronavirus cases and 3,990 virus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University. The tally showed that the confirmed cases nationwide reached 25,439,570 and at least 425...

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The Netherlands Wednesday reported 4,744 new coronavirus infections raising the total cases to 961,611. Up to 69 more deaths from COVID 19 in the last 24 hours was reported by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and t...

CAIRO, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry on Wednesday expressed his confidence the European Union would continue supporting the Palestinian cause at various levels. The Europeans will continue backing the Palestinian people via vario...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Chinese authorities said on Wednesay that about 23 million doses of vaccines against coronavirus (Covid-19) had been given to the people in the country. Deputy Head of the National Health Committee Zeng Yixin, during a press confe...

MANAMA, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Bahrain's Ministry of Health announced Wednesday discovering Covid-19 variant in a number of existing active cases in the Kingdom. The Undersecretary of the Bahraini Ministry of Health, Dr. Waleed Al-Manea, confirmed in a spee...

BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Norway on Wednesday reported 280 new coronavirus cases raising the total number of infections to 61,594. Six more deaths from COVID-19 was reported over the last 24 hours by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health raising the t...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The Public Authority for Food and Nutrition on Wednesday declared a ban on imports of all forms of bird meat and eggs from Holland due to spread of a highly contagious strain of bird flu. Adel Al-Suwait, the secretary general of t...

RIYADH, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Saudi Arabia declared on Wednesday listing four more deaths with the novel coronavirus (covid-19) in past 24 hours in addition to 216 new infections with the contagion. The local health department said in a statement that the deat...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Kuwait listed 580 new COVID-10 cases and zero virus-related deaths on Wednesday. The figures took the caseload to 162,862, while deaths remained at 957, the health ministry said. The number of people hospitalized with the virus cu...

BAGHDAD, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Up to eight patients with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) gave up struggle for their lives in Iraq over past 24 hours. Iraqi Ministry of Health said in a statement, on Wednesday, authorities recorded 879 new infections with the ...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Number of coronavirus recoveries in Kuwait rose by 436 during last 24 hours, with the caseload swelling to 155,739 since local eruption of the pandemic months ago, the health ministry said on Tuesday. This comes after the necessar...

TEHRAN, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Iran announced on Wednesday 91 deaths due to COVID-19 and 6,608 new infections in the past 24 hours. Iran's Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said the total death toll rose to 57,651 as well as confirmed cases to alm...

TOKYO, Jan. 27 (KUNA) -- Japan reported 3,496 new cases of the coronavirus over the last 24 hours as of 4 p.m. (0700 GMT) on Wednesday, raising the nation's total number to 374,067, the health ministry and local authorities said. The country's cum...

2956580 KUWAIT -- His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah hosts President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Duarte Pacheco on the occasion of his official visit to the country. 2956571 BASRA -- The Kuwaiti and Iraqi national...

VIENNA, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- OPEC daily basket price stood at USD 54.87 per barrel (pb) Tuesday, compared with USD 54.85 pb the previous day, said the OPEC Secretariat on Wednesday. OPEC annual price in 2019 was USD 41,47 pb. Oil prices are still affected by ...

RAMALLAH, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Palestinian Minister of Health Dr. Mai Al-Kailah declared on Wednesday recording five deaths and 608 new infection cases with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Palestinian territories over the last 24 hours. The minister, ...

KUWAIT, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah received at the General Office of the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Wednesday, the visiting President of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) Duarte Pachec...