A feared resurgence of the Islamic State has not so far materialized in Iraq, paving the way for a further coalition troop drawdown, a US commander said Wednesday.

Amid mounting calls for Israel's government to appoint a dedicated coronavirus response coordinator, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has named a public health professional to the post, his office said Thursday.

It said in a statement that the job went to Ronnie Gamzu, CEO of Tel Aviv's Sourasky medical complex.

Kuwait's 91-year-old ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah left for the United States Thursday to undergo medical treatment, his office said, days after he had surgery for an undisclosed illness.

Turkey's top security council reaffirmed its determination to back the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, against the rival eastern based commander Khalifa Haftar, in a strongly worded statement Wednesday.

Israeli police arrested two prominent Palestinian cultural leaders on Wednesday at their home in east Jerusalem on a suspicion of "funding terrorism," police and a defense lawyer said.

Rania Elias, who heads the Yabous Cultural Center and her husband Suhail Khoury, Director General of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, were detained at their home in Jerusalem's Beit Hanina neighborhood. 

Kuwait's 91-year-old ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed Al-Sabah will travel to the United States to complete medical treatment a few days after he underwent successful surgery, his office announced Wednesday.

Qatar Airways said Wednesday it will seek $5 billion in compensation from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt for closing their airspace to the flag carrier as part of a regional feud.

Acute food insecurity is forecast to rise sharply in war-ravaged Yemen over a combination of factors exacerbated by the coronavirus, a report by several UN agencies said Wednesday. 

The report, which covers only the southern parts of Yemen, forecasts that the number of people "facing high levels of acute food insecurity" will increase from two million in February-April this year to 3.2 million in July-December.

Syria's ruling Baath party and its allies have won a majority in parliamentary elections held across government-held areas of the war-torn country, results announced Tuesday showed.

Ailing Saudi King Salman chaired a virtual cabinet meeting from a hospital office late Tuesday, a day after he was admitted due to gall bladder inflammation, the Saudi Press Agency reported.