Saudi Arabia and the Palestinians yesterday agreed to establish a joint economic committee and a business council, as the Palestinian Authority faces a financing gap that could top $1.8 billion.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s brother entered prison yesterday to begin a five-year sentence after he was convicted of corruption, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, citing his lawyer.

At least three people were killed and about 20 children wounded when a Taliban truck bomb detonated near a rural police station and partially destroyed a nearby religious school, Afghan officials said.

Hundreds of people were killed or wounded in violence related to Afghanistan’s recent presidential election season as the Taliban sought to undermine the democratic process, a UN agency said yesterday.

A diet heavy on cheap, modern food like instant noodles that fills bellies but lacks key nutrients has left millions of children unhealthily thin or overweight in southeast Asia, experts say.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday arrived in Saudi Arabia, where he was set to seal oil agreements and try to use his influence to defuse tensions boiling in the Gulf.

Suspected missile strikes hit an Iranian oil tanker off the Saudi coast yesterday, its owner said, the first Iranian vessel targeted since a spate of attacks in the Gulf Washington blamed on Tehran.

World governments reacted with concern after Turkey launched a military offensive on Kurdish forces in northern Syria, while the UN Security Council plans to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the assault. Here are some of the initial comments following the start

Saudi Arabia announced Wednesday it will allow women in the ultra-conservative kingdom to serve in the armed forces as it embarks on a broad programme of economic and social reforms.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi on Wednesday promised a full probe into last week’s violence that left more than 100 dead in anti-government protests, as calm returned after three days of national mourning begins.

War-ravaged Yemen is on course to become the world’s poorest country if the conflict persists, the United Nations said in a report. “If fighting continues through 2022

Thousands of Iranian women fans are to attend a football match freely today for the first time in decades, after FIFA threatened to suspend the country over its controversial male-only policy.

Iraq’s military yesterday admitted for the first time it had used “excessive force” in nearly a week of deadly protests, as paramilitary units said they were ready to back the government.

The Afghan Taliban said it has freed three Indian engineers held hostage for over a year in an exchange for securing the release of 11 of its members, including some high-ranking officials of the militant group, according to a media report yesterday. The prisoner swap

The Iraqi government announced a series of reforms early yesterday after an “extraordinary” session overnight in response to sweeping anti-government rallies that have left nearly 100 dead in less than a week.

Saudi Arabia yesterday announced it would allow unmarried foreign couples to rent hotel rooms together as the ultraconservative kingdom begins offering up tourist visas for the first time.

A curfew was lifted in Baghdad yesterday following days of protests which have left nearly 100 dead, but tensions remained after firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr demanded the government quit.

A three-man crew including an Emirati who became the first Arab to reach the International Space Station returned to Earth safely yesterday and were in good shape, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said. Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates touched

Peace talks in Afghanistan must resume as soon as possible, Pakistan and the Taliban militant group urged yesterday, after President Donald Trump broke off negotiations last month seeking to end the United States’ longest war.

Israel’s parliament was sworn yesterday without a new government formed as a deadlocked general election left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to find a path to extend his long tenure in power.