RIYADH. – Saudi Arabia on Thursday suspended visas for pilgrims wishing to visit Mecca over coronavirus fears, the foreign ministry said. The government is “suspending entry to the Kingdom for the purpose of Umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque temporarily”, the foreign ministry said in a statement, referring to the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that can […]

MADRID. — The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a joint statement on Wednesday, calling for responsibility and coordination regarding the outbreak of the coronavirus disease. In the face of travel restrictions in some parts of the world and an expected drop in tourist numbers in the coming weeks […]

WASHINGTON. – President Trump announced Wednesday night that he’s placing Vice President Mike Pence in charge of efforts to tackle the coronavirus, as the administration seeks to reassure the public and the markets amid the global coronavirus outbreak. The president, speaking for only the second time from the White House press briefing room, tried to instil […]

The coronavirus (COVID-19), is spreading more quickly in Europe, the Middle East and other parts of the world than in China where the virus first emerged in the central city of Wuhan at the end of last year. The number of new infections inside China was for the first time overtaken by fresh cases elsewhere on Wednesday, […]

BEIJING. — China will provide support within its capacity to countries with weaker health systems to help them strengthen their epidemic prevention and control capabilities, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks when asked to comment on a statement from World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s video address […]

NEW DELHI. – US President Donald Trump failed Tuesday to strike a trade deal with India at the end of a visit big on photo opportunities but short on substance and overshadowed by deadly riots. US-Indian trade relations have worsened in recent years as Trump’s “America First” aim of reducing deficits has collided with the […]

CAIRO. – Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for three decades before he was ousted amid the Arab Spring protests in 2011, died Tuesday at age 91. The burly autocrat with the trademark sunglasses went on to spend years behind bars for his role in the deaths of protesters but was freed in 2017 after […]

TEHRAN/DUBAI. – Speaking from the quarantine, Iran’s vice health minister announces that he has tested positive for the new coronavirus(COVID-19), but expresses certitude that the country will overpower the epidemic over the upcoming weeks. “I contracted coronavirus, too,” Iraj Harirchi said in a video that surfaced on Tuesday. He stated that he had entered “isolation” […]