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Libya Unity Government Accuses Rival Haftar of Seeking Coup

Libya's U.N.-recognized government Tuesday accused rival military strongman Khalifa Haftar of seeking to stage a new coup after he claimed to have a "mandate" from the people to govern the country.

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Arab League to Meet over Israel's Plans to Annex West Bank

The Arab League said Monday it will convene an urgent virtual meeting this week to discuss how to galvanise opposition to Israeli plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

The extraordinary meeting -- scheduled for Thursday at the request of the Palestinian leadership -- will bring together Arab foreign ministers via video conference, rather than a face-to-face meeting, due to the global coronavirus pandemic. 

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Saudi-Led Coalition Rejects South Yemen Self-Rule Declaration

The Saudi-led military coalition on Monday rejected Yemen separatists' declaration of self-rule over the country's south and demanded "an end to any escalatory actions".

The separatists' move complicates a long and separate conflict, fought by the coalition and the internationally recognised government, against Huthi rebels who control much of the north.

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Israeli Strike on Syria Kills 4 Iran-Backed Gunmen, 3 Civilians

Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles toward areas near Damascus early Monday, killing three civilians, the Syrian military and state media said while a war monitoring group said four Iran-backed fighters were also killed.

The military said Syrian air defenses shot down some of the missiles in the attack, which happened around dawn. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that tracks the Syrian civil war, said the missiles hit positions belonging to Iran and its regional proxies, killing four fighters and causing damage south of Damascus. It did not give the nationalities of the dead gunmen only saying that they were not Syrians nor members of Lebanon's Hizbullah.

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Saudi Relaxes Virus Lockdown Except in Hotspot Mecca

Saudi Arabia on Sunday partially eased a 24-hour curfew in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic, except for in hotspots including the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

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Yemen Crisis Deepens as Separatists Declare Self-Governance

Yemeni separatists early Sunday declared self-rule of the country's south as a peace deal with the government crumbled, complicating a long and separate conflict with Huthi rebels who control much of the north.

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German Court Tries IS Jihadist over Yazidi Genocide

An Iraqi man believed to have belonged to the Islamic State group went on trial in Germany on Friday accused of genocide and murdering a child belonging to the Yazidi minority who he held as a slave.

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Sick, Stranded and Broke: Crisis Hits Gulf's Migrant Workers

When all nine men in his dormitory caught coronavirus, 27-year-old Nurudhin was bused to a remote quarantine camp -- becoming one of many migrant workers Gulf states are struggling to accomodate adequately.

The oil-rich Gulf is reliant on the cheap labour of millions of foreigners -- mostly from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka -- many of whom live in squalid camps far from the region's showy skyscrapers and malls.

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Foreign Caregivers on Frontline of Israel Virus Fight

Each time Maria, an Indian care worker living in Israel, goes shopping she is consumed by fears of bringing the coronavirus into the home of the 91-year-old woman she looks after.

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Israel Says Hamas Bomb Squad Arrested

Israel's Shin Bet said Wednesday it had arrested three Palestinians accused of being part of a "Hamas terrorist infrastructure" plotting bomb attacks on Israeli targets in the occupied West Bank.

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