Syrian President Bashar Assad and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus, the president's office said Monday, with both having only mild symptoms of the illness.

In a statement, Assad's office said the first couple did PCR tests after they experienced minor symptoms consistent with the COVID-19 illness. It said Assad, 55, and his wife Asma, who is 10 years younger and announced her recovery from breast cancer in 2019, will continue to work from home where they will isolate between two to three weeks.

Libya's parliament meets Monday ahead of a vote on a new interim unity government for the divided country, a crucial step toward December elections and stability after a decade of violent turmoil. 

Israel on Monday launched a campaign to vaccinate some 100,000 Palestinians in the West Bank who hold permits to work in Jewish settlements in the occupied territory and inside the Jewish state.

Pope Francis concluded on Monday the first-ever papal trip to Iraq, which went off without a hitch despite security worries and a second wave of coronavirus cases in the country.

After a decade of unfathomable violence and human tragedy that has made Syria the defining war of the early 21st century, the fighting has tapered off but the suffering hasn't.

At least eight migrants and guards were killed, and scores more injured, in a fire on Sunday at a holding facility in Yemen's capital, the International Organization for Migration said. 

Pope Francis vowed Sunday to keep Iraq in his heart, as he concluded the largest mass and final public event of a historic trip meant to encourage the country's dwindling Christian community and deepen interfaith dialogue.

A Saudi-led military coalition mounted air strikes on Yemen's Huthi-controlled capital Sanaa on Sunday after it intercepted a string of drones launched by the Iran-backed rebels, state media reported.

The Iraq meeting of Pope Francis and Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of Shiite Islam's top clerics, was front-page news in Iran Sunday, with some media declaring it a chance for peace in the neighboring country.

Pope Francis prayed Sunday for "victims of war" in northern Iraq, where the Islamic State group ravaged one of the world's oldest Christian communities until the jihadists' defeat three years ago.