Alaa Arnous and his family found the photo of his father Mohammed online last week, the first proof of his fate since he was seized by Syrian government forces seven years ago. The image showed his corpse, his face battered and bruised, his mouth hanging open.

A state-linked technology company in the United Arab Emirates has signed a partnership with two major Israeli defense firms to research ways of combating the coronavirus pandemic.

The agreement, announced late Thursday, comes just weeks after the UAE warned Israel that proceeding with its planned annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank would upend its efforts to improve ties with Arab states.

Tokyo prosecutors said Friday they have filed a request for the extradition of two Americans arrested in the U.S. for allegedly helping Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan, flee Japan while he was out on bail.

"We express our deepest gratitude for the cooperation the U.S. authorities have shown to our request," the Tokyo District Prosecutors Office said in a statement.

A string of top retail shops in Lebanon announced temporary closures on Thursday after the country's currency lost five sixths of its value, triggering sharp price hikes.

Protesters closed the Beirut areas of Qasqas, Corniche el-Mazraa and the roundabout of Cola on Wednesday amid rising anger as the dollar exchange rate hit new highs amid an unprecedented economic and monetary crisis driving Lebanese into poverty.

Iranian state television is reporting an explosion from a gas leak in a medical clinic in northern Tehran has injured at least three people.

The explosion Tuesday night led to fire and state TV said firefighters were battling the blaze.

Protesters closed several major roads in Beirut and several regions on Tuesday amid rising anger as the currency hit a new record low on the black market, electricity cuts increased and the government raised the price of bread for the first time in more than a decade.

As prices increased over the past weeks, people have been rushing to supermarkets and groceries to buy goods. On Tuesday afternoon, Al-Makhazen Coop, one of the largest retailers in the country closed its stores in Beirut.

Calling Iran "the world's most heinous terrorist regime," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to extend the U.N. arms embargo against Tehran, which expires in October, and reject "extortion diplomacy."

The United States has circulated a draft Security Council resolution to extend the arms embargo indefinitely, and Pompeo said the United States' "overwhelming preference" is to work with its 15 members to adopt it.

The Lebanese judge who issued a ruling banning foreign and local media from interviewing the U.S. ambassador in Beirut resigned Tuesday, according to state media.

Judge Mohammed Mazeh was referred to questioning by the Judicial Inspection Board for the ban, which caused an uproar in Lebanon.

Donors from around 60 countries and international agencies are meeting Tuesday to drum up financial aid for Syria as the coronavirus and economic chaos wreak even more havoc in a country shattered by a conflict now in its 10th year.

The war has killed more than 400,000 people and sparked a refugee exodus that has destabilized Syria's neighbors and impacted Europe. Around 11 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and some 9 million don't have enough to eat. More than half of the population have no jobs.