The second round of Lebanese expats voting has ended on Monday at 8:00 Beirut time with the last ballot box closed in Los Angeles the United States, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

NNA added that the voter turnout in each ballot box will emerge respectively according to the states in South and North Americas.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday that a ban on Filipino workers heading to Kuwait that's been in effect since February would now be permanent, inflaming a dispute sparked by complaints of the abuse of Filipina housemaids and workers in the Persian Gulf country.

Kuwait on Wednesday expelled the Philippine ambassador and recalled its own envoy from Manila over the dispute. The highly unusual move came as a surprise in Kuwait, a typically sedate and oil-rich nation that has been both a long target of Duterte's criticism and heavily reliant on Filipina nannies and maids.

A Lebanese humanitarian worker from the International Committee of the Red Cross has been laid to rest in his hometown, Breeh, a week after being shot dead in Yemen.

Hanna Lahoud, 38, was in charge of the ICRC's detainees program in Yemen. He was shot on his way to visit a prison in the southwestern province of Taiz. An investigation is underway to determine who killed him.

President Donald Trump is claiming credit for a historic inter-Korean summit, but now faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders' bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility.

Trump must contend with two nagging suspicions: first about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed; secondly, whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.

Syrian state media is reporting that government forces have pushed into a Damascus neighborhood held by the Islamic State group from different directions and captured buildings on several street blocks and tunnels used by the extremists.

State news agency SANA said Thursday that dozens of IS fighters were killed in battles in the southern Damascus neighborhood of Hajar al-Aswad during which ground forces closely coordinated with the air force in bombarding the area.

Iranian media confirmed on Thursday that Abbas Edalat, a British-Iranian scientist and peace campaigner, has been arrested for his alleged role in an "infiltration network". 

Iran's president has ruled out any changes or additions to the 2015 nuclear deal, in response to French efforts to convince U.S. President Donald Trump to stick with the landmark agreement.

French President Emmanuel Macron suggested during a state visit to Washington this week that there could be a way to move toward a "new agreement" that would address Trump's concerns.

Three years ago, Ahmad Mohsin was forced to relocate his campsite in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley after soldiers raided the community of Syrian refugees where he lived and smashed their belongings. The message was clear, he said: they were not wanted.

It landed with a thud on newsstands at Walmart and rural supermarkets last month: Ninety-seven fawning pages saluting Saudi Arabia, whose ambitious crown prince was soon to arrive in the U.S. on a PR blitz to transform his country's image.

As questions swirled about the glossy magazine's origins, the Saudis said they were just as perplexed as everyone else, declaring on Twitter: "If you find out, we'd love to know."

President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, is facing serious opposition before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which may not have enough votes to recommend him for confirmation because all Democrats, and at least one Republican, have said they will oppose him.

The full Senate is still expected to consider Pompeo's nomination later this week. But the rare rebuke expected from the panel Monday, even after Pompeo's recent visit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, would be the first time in years that a nominee for the high-level Cabinet position did not receive a favorable committee vote.