RAMALLAH: Egyptian security officials have held talks with Palestinian leaders in recent days in part to prevent a new flare-up of tensions between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said Sunday.The Egyptian delegation led by deputy intelligence chief Ayman Badie was in the Gaza Strip on Friday and Saturday and the occupied West Bank…
KUWAIT CITY: The EU’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said Sunday the bloc is increasing its engagement in the Middle East, as she opened a new mission in Kuwait City.The office in Kuwait’s tallest skyscraper is the third such EU mission in the Gulf, after Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.“This also sends a message to the whole…
AFULA: A court on Sunday ordered a predominantly Jewish town in northern Israel to lift a ban on non-resident visitors to its parks, a prohibition that a rights group said was aimed at keeping Arabs out.The town of Afula denied the edict was racially motivated.In instructing the town to lift the order, Judge Danny Sarfati…
ANKARA: At a critical junction in bilateral relations, the new US ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, arrived in Ankara on Wednesday just as S-400 Russian air defense systems were delivered to Turkey. The American diplomat will now look to bring US-Turkey relations back on track, defusing complicated bilateral issues in Syria and derailing Russian-Turkish military cooperation. The…
ANKARA: At a critical junction in bilateral relations, the new US ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield, arrived in Ankara on Wednesday just as S-400 Russian air defense systems were delivered to Turkey. The American diplomat will now look to bring US-Turkey relations back on track, defusing complicated bilateral issues in Syria and derailing Russian-Turkish military cooperation. The…
BAGHDAD: Iraqi ex-prime minister Haider Al-Abadi is eyeing a sequel to his turbulent single term, he hinted to AFP, warning a failure to tackle sectarianism and corruption risks seeing his country “fall apart.”As the government of incumbent Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi faces growing criticism over poor services, Abadi has been working in the wings…
CAIRO: Members of a militant cell linked to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group have been arrested in Kuwait, the interior ministry said on Friday. The arrested people were wanted by Egyptian authorities, the ministry added in its statement. Members of the cell had escaped and were evading Egyptian authorities, making Kuwait the center of their…
GENEVA: Thirty men were sentenced to death by Houthi authorities in Yemen this week amid credible allegations that many were tortured during three years of politically-motivated detention, the UN human rights office said on Friday.It urged the Appellate Court in the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa, which is due to review the ruling, to take into…
DUBAI: Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards used drones and missiles to strike the headquarters of a Kurdish militant group near Iran's border with neighbouring Iraq's Kurdistan region, the Iranian semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Friday."A large number of terrorists were killed and wounded in the attacks that had started from Wednesday to target terrorist headquarters and…
BENGHAZI: At least four people were killed and 33 wounded when a car bomb hit a funeral of a former senior military commander in the east Libyan city of Benghazi, a spokesman for the eastern administration’s interior ministry said.The funeral at Benghazi's Huwari cemetery was for Khalifa Mismari, the assistant commander of Libya's special forces under…
LONDON: European powers must reinstate sanctions against Iran in response to Tehran’s breach of the international accord to curb its nuclear program, the Iranian opposition in exile warned.Europe had been attempting to preserve the 2015 deal since Donald Trump withdrew the US last year. But Iran has reacted to heightened tensions with Washington by enriching…
Algeria parliament elects opposition figure as chairman after protesters demand change ALGIERS: Algerian lawmakers late on Wednesday elected an Islamist opposition figure as chairman of parliament under pressure from mass protests demanding the departure of the ruling elite.The parliament elected Slimane Chenine of the Movement of National Construction party to replace Moad Bouchareb from the…
JERUSALEM: Palestinian family was evicted from a home in east Jerusalem near the Old City on Wednesday after Israeli settlers won a court battle that stretched more than two decades, activists said.The apartment in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan was home to a 53-year-old woman and her four children, according to Israeli NGO Peace Now,…
IRBIL: A new regional government came into power Wednesday in Iraqi Kurdistan, but the key post of oil minister remained unassigned and therefore de facto managed by new prime minister Masrour Barzani.Barzani was appointed premier nearly a month ago by his cousin Nechirvan Barzani, who had served as prime minister for seven years before he…
Trump accuses Iran of secret nuclear enrichment and warns of ‘substantial’ new sanctions WASHINGTON/VIENNA: President Donald Trump accused Iran on Wednesday of secretly enriching uranium for a long time and said US sanctions would be increased “substantially” soon, as the UN nuclear watchdog held an emergency meeting on Tehran’s breach of a nuclear deal.Washington used…
CAIRO: The battle between rival militias for the Libyan capital has killed more than 1,000 people since it began in April, the UN said Tuesday, a grim milestone in a stalemated conflict partly fueled by regional powers.Forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a veteran army officer, opened an offensive on Tripoli in early April, advancing on…
SARAFAND: Lebanese fisherman Hassan Younes has been diving the same waters off his coastal hometown for three decades but has never seen anything like this year as native species disappear and invasive lionfish take their place.Gone are the days when he used to boast an abundant catch of red lobster, sea urchin and red mullet.…
Iraqi PM warns disrupting Hormuz oil route would be 'major obstacle' to Iraq's economy BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said on Tuesday any disruption to oil exports through the Hormuz Strait will be a "major obstacle" for his country's economy.His government was studying contingency plans to deal with possible disruptions, including looking at alternative…
ANKARA: Former Turkish deputy prime minister Ali Babacan said on Monday he was resigning from President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party over “deep differences” with the party’s direction and said that Turkey needed a new vision.Babacan, along with former president Abdullah Gul, plans to launch a rival political party this year, according to people familiar with…
IDLIB: Regime bombardment Sunday killed 12 civilians including three children in an opposition bastion in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.Idlib, a region of some three million people, has come under increasing fire by the regime and its ally Russia since late April, despite a months-old international truce deal.The opposition bastion, which is administered by…
