Lebanon’s prime minister-designate Mustapha Adib has called for the formation of a new government in record time and urged immediate reforms as a step towards securing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany Mustapha Adib is poised to be designated prime minister after winning the support of major parties to form a new government facing a crippling financial crisis and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion.

Qatar has announced changes to its labour laws, raising the minimum wage by 25 percent to 1,000 riyals ($275) a month and scrapping a requirement for workers to get permission from their employers to change jobs.

The death toll from the Beirut port blast has risen to 190 with more than 6,500 injured and three people missing, Lebanon’s caretaker government says in a report.

Iran has agreed to allow the UN watchdog the access it has requested to two alleged nuclear sites, as the head of the agency ended his first visit to Tehran.

Families and rescue workers in Afghanistan yesterday searched for survivors of flash floods that killed more than 122 people and destroyed more than 1,500 houses north of the capital, Kabul, officials said.

Israeli tanks and aircraft carried out new strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza overnight in response to the launch of so-called fire balloons across the border, the army said yesterday.

Qatar’s massive migrant workforce is still being exploited by employers who withhold wages, threaten expulsion, and deduct pay, leaving some staff unable to eat, Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said on Sunday that “sabotage” was the cause of an explosion that damaged the Natanz nuclear facility last month.

Israeli planes launched raids against Gaza late Thursday in response to rocket fire, as mediators sought to broker an end to the latest flare-up.

Saudi Arabia has said it will not follow the United Arab Emirates in establishing diplomatic ties with Israel until the Jewish state has signed an internationally recognised peace accord with the Palestinians.

At least 45 migrants and refugees perished off Libya this week in the deadliest shipwreck there so far this year, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

A female activist was killed and three others wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their car in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, security and health sources say.

Twenty-nine Bangladeshi expatriates, who were stranded since arrival at Abu Dhabi airport, have been all permitted entry after a day.

Six members of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s honour guard were wounded yesterday when a rocket struck his palace compound, two officials told AFP.

A recently discovered transcript of an interview with a British intelligence officer who played a leading role in the 1953 coup that restored powers to the shah of Iran claims that Britain was the driving force behind the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh.

Israel would oppose any US F-35 warplane sales to the United Arab Emirates despite forging relations with the Gulf power, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, citing a need to maintain Israeli military superiority in the region.

The UAE’s decision to normalise ties with Israel could propel Saudi Arabia to deepen its furtive relations with the Jewish state as Riyadh seeks to entice investments to fund an ambitious economic transformation, analysts say.

Israeli security guards have shot and wounded a deaf Palestinian who was not able to hear the orders to stop at an occupied West Bank checkpoint.

Afghan authorities and the Taliban have hit an impasse over the planned release of hundreds of insurgents after opposition from some foreign governments, officials said yesterday, apparently stalling peace talks.