Iran orders the closure of schools, universities and cultural centres after a coronavirus outbreak that has killed five people in the Islamic republic -- the most outside the Far East.

The coronavirus has spread to several Iranian cities, a health ministry official says, as an outbreak that the authorities say began in the holy city of Qom caused two more deaths.

Turkey said Thursday it wanted no “face off” with Russia over its Syrian ally’s months-long offensive against Turkish-backed rebels in northwest Syria.

Iran went to the polls yesterday for a general election that conservatives are expected to dominate amid voter apathy after an economic slump, multiple crises and the disqualification of thousands of candidates.

Iranians vote in a parliamentary election likely to help hardline loyalists of the supreme leader cement their grip on power amid intensifying US pressure over Iran’s nuclear programme and simmering discontent over economic privations.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement accuses the Saudi-led coalition of carrying out retaliatory air strikes that killed at least 30 people including civilians, in the latest flare-up of a five-year war.

Indonesia wasn’t feeling the love for Valentine’s Day on Friday as authorities arrested couples in one city, scolded stores over condom displays and warned students they would be reprimanded for amorous activities.

Afghan government forces and Taliban insurgents waged war against each other in the past 24 hours despite US officials saying there had been a breakthrough in recent days in peace talks to end the 18-year-old conflict.

Global spending on defence rose by four percent in 2019, the largest growth in 10 years, led by big increases in the US and China, a study said yesterday.

Israeli strikes on Damascus airport killed seven fighters, a war monitor said yesterday, the latest in a string of attacks targeting Iran’s military presence in Syria.

The Philippines yesterday lifted a coronavirus travel ban on Taiwan after Taipei threatened retaliation.

A Turkish court yesterday acquitted renowned novelist Asli Erdogan on charges of membership of an armed terror organisation.

Tensions escalated yesterday between Syria’s regime and rebel-backer Turkey as a Syrian military helicopter was shot down and Ankara warned of a “heavy price” for any attacks on its forces.

US President Donald Trump’s peace plan to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, dubbed the “Deal of the Century”, will die before Trump dies, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says in a tweet from his official account.

Four Bangladeshis are killed when a bus rams into their bicycles on a road in Oman.

Saudi Arabia has barred an Iranian delegation from an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Jeddah where US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan will be discussed, the Iranian foreign ministry says.

Israeli police forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, leaving at least 10 worshippers injured and detaining three, a Palestinian official is quoted as saying by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.

Syria government forces recaptured a strategic highway town in the northwest from jihadist and allied rebels yesterday, in the latest blow to the country’s last major opposition bastion.

A Dutch court yesterday said it was not able to hear a war crimes case about a deadly 2014 Israeli air strike in which politician Benny Gantz was a named defendant.

The Taliban claimed a US forces aircraft crashed in eastern Afghanistan yesterday hours after the plane went down into an area controlled largely by the insurgents.