Over the course of Yemen's civil war, African migrants determined to reach oil-rich Saudi Arabia have endured unspeakable cruelties - torture, rape, detention, extortion - often perilously close to front lines.

Now, the coronavirus pandemic has dealt yet another blow to vulnerable migrants caught in Yemen's war zone.

Facing a worsening economic crisis and with little chance of Western or oil-rich Arab countries providing assistance without substantial reforms, Lebanon's cash-strapped government is looking east, hoping to secure investments from China that could bring relief.

But help from Beijing risks alienating the United States, which has suggested such a move could come at the cost of Lebanese-U.S. ties.

The first COVID-19 vaccine tested in the U.S. revved up people's immune systems just the way scientists had hoped, researchers reported Tuesday -- as the shots are poised to begin key final testing.

After Beirut went into lockdown in March, Walid Ataya returned to his bakery, pizzeria and wine room each morning, perching on a stool at the sidewalk bar to maintain an outpost of commerce and consider his next moves.

Before the pandemic, Lebanon faced an economic crisis rooted in years of government mismanagement and corruption that had sparked nationwide protests. Ataya, who fled when Israel invaded in the mid-1980s, had no intention of leaving again.

At least two doctors in Syria's opposition-held northwest have been infected with the coronavirus, according to a monitoring group Saturday, raising the total number of cases in the overcrowded rebel enclave to three.

The Syrian opposition and militant groups control the Idlib area, which is home to more than 3 million people, most of them displaced by the war and living in tent camps and overcrowded facilities. Local health facilities have been targeted in Syrian government attacks that have recently displaced nearly a further million people.

Tropical depression Fay moved north over New York early Saturday and was expected to continue to weaken through the weekend, forecasters said.

The depression had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 2 a.m. advisory. It was located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of New York City.

Dozens of Lebanese protesters held a raucous anti-U.S. rally outside the fortified American Embassy in Awkar on Friday, denouncing what they said was Washington's "interference" in Lebanon's affairs while some chanted in support of Iran-backed Hizbullah.

The crowd, made up of mostly young men who support Hizbullah and allied political parties, hurled stones at riot police near the embassy, from which they were separated by layers of barbed wire. Some protesters tried to remove the wire, at which point they were sprayed with water cannons.

Iran's military chief has signed an agreement with Syria's president to reinforce Syria's air defense systems as part of a military cooperation agreement, Iranian state TV reported Friday.

Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, met with Syria President Bashar Assad during his second visit to Syria since 2019.

Is it safe to visit the dentist during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Britain and Saudi Arabia put forward late entries Wednesday for the contest to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization, joining six others hoping to lead the Geneva-based trade body that has faced scorn and pressure from the Trump administration.

The candidacies came in just before the deadline in the race to succeed the current WTO chief, Brazil's Roberto Azevedo. He made a surprise announcement in May that he would leave the job a year early, citing a "personal decision."