An almost three millennia-old network of hewn-rock ducts unearthed in Jerusalem has baffled archaeologists, given the lack of comparable biblical finds, or obvious links to an ancient Jewish temple and palace that once stood nearby.

Nine Syrian soldiers and three jihadist fighters were killed yesterday, a war monitor said, in the second significant rebel attack on government positions in northwest Syria in a week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday thanked authorities in Saudi Arabia -- with which his country has no formal ties -- for their “warm attitude” following an emergency aircraft landing in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia has sentenced to death a government critic who denounced alleged corruption and human rights abuses on social media, his brother and others familiar with the case told AFP yesterday.

Authorities in Iran have begun legal proceedings against a prominent pop singer over his latest song urging women to take off their mandatory headscarves, the judiciary said yesterday.

The UAE's Ministry of Economy hasimposed administrative penalties on 225 companies with value of about 76.9 million dirhams (Tk 229.57 crore) this year to combat money laundering and terror financing, reports the UAE-based Khaleej Times

Iran yesterday unveiled its latest domestically built drone that can fly at a higher altitude and for a longer duration with enhanced weapons capabilities, state media reported.

Israeli troops killed a Palestinian teenager near the West Bank city of Jenin yesterday, the Palestinian health ministry said, as violence surged in the occupied territory.

Saudi border guards fired “like rain” on Ethiopian migrants trying to cross through Yemen into the Gulf kingdom, killing hundreds since last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report yesterday.

More than four million Yemenis will receive less food assistance as a result of funding shortages, compounding one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, the UN’s food agency warned yesterday.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian preached unity and dialogue during a visit to Saudi Arabia yesterday, his first since the two Middle East rivals announced a surprise rapprochement in March.

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian gunman during a raid that set off clashes in the flashpoint town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, medical officials and militant groups said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has decreed a 100-percent pay rise for civil servants and pensioners while fuel subsidies were lifted in a country ravaged by 12 years of war.

Islamic State jihadists killed three fighters loyal to the Damascus government in an attack in the Syrian desert yesterday, a war monitor said, the latest such deadly assault.

Israeli troops killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank yesterday, in the first deadly raid in the Jericho area for months.

Iranian authorities yesterday arrested nine followers of the Bahai faith over a host of corruption charges including money laundering and tax evasion, the intelligence ministry said.

An attack by Islamic State group jihadists on Syrian government forces in the war-torn country’s east has killed 33 soldiers, a monitor said yesterday, revising an earlier toll of 26 deaths.

Saudi Arabia yesterday named a non-resident ambassador for the Palestinian Territories who will also serve as consul general in Jerusalem, a new position announced amid speculation about possible future ties with Israel.

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded at least eight others during an operation in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank yesterday, Palestinian officials said.

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in a clash in the occupied West Bank yesterday, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade armed group said.