Talks to form Israel's next government will ramp up again this week, but an agreement to form a coalition may require a political miracle.

Aid agencies are moving to prevent a novel coronavirus outbreak in conflict-plagued northwestern Syria, where damaged health infrastructure and massive displacement make containment a nearly impossible task. 

Saudi authorities have cordoned off eastern Qatif region, a stronghold of the kingdom's Shiite minority, in a bid to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, the interior ministry said Sunday.

An Iranian commander has been shot dead south of the Syrian capital, a war monitor reported Saturday.

At least 32 people died Saturday after a fuel tanker crashed into two buses and several other vehicles on a road connecting the Syrian capital to Homs province, state media reported.

Saudi Arabia released images of King Salman carrying out his royal duties on Sunday, after a stunning purge of at least three princes including his brother and nephew for allegedly plotting a coup.

British police said on Saturday they were reviewing an investigation into the disappearance of the ruler of Dubai's daughter after a court found that she had been abducted by her father.

Saudi authorities have detained three princes including King Salman's brother and nephew on charges of plotting a coup, the US media reported Friday, signalling a further consolidation of power by the kingdom's de facto ruler.

Syria's war-ravaged northwest woke up to relative calm Friday, its skies free of warplanes for the first day in months, following a Russian-Turkish ceasefire deal.

The United States blocked adoption of a U.N. Security Council statement Friday that supported a Syrian ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey, diplomats said following a closed-door meeting.