GAZA CITY: Hamas is facing the biggest demonstrations yet against its 12-year rule of the Gaza Strip, with hundreds of Palestinians taking to the streets in recent days to protest the dire living conditions in the blockaded territory.With little tolerance for dissent, the militant group has responded with heavy-handed tactics. It has arrested dozens of…
JEDDAH: Iran’s missile program is destabilizing the Middle East, and Tehran risks starting a regional arms race by supplying weapons to armed groups in Lebanon and Yemen, a senior US arms control official said on Tuesday. “Iran must immediately cease activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, and halt…
AMMAN: Issam was reduced to tears recounting his life as a drug addict, as Jordanian authorities press an unprecedented campaign in the Muslim-majority country where substance abuse remains taboo.Slogans such as “No to Drugs” are part of the new drive, launched in the wake of a worrying rise in the number of cases of addiction,…
AMMAN: Issam was reduced to tears recounting his life as a drug addict, as Jordanian authorities press an unprecedented campaign in the Muslim-majority country where substance abuse remains taboo.Slogans such as “No to Drugs” are part of the new drive, launched in the wake of a worrying rise in the number of cases of addiction,…
AMMAN: Issam was reduced to tears recounting his life as a drug addict, as Jordanian authorities press an unprecedented campaign in the Muslim-majority country where substance abuse remains taboo.Slogans such as “No to Drugs” are part of the new drive, launched in the wake of a worrying rise in the number of cases of addiction,…
CAIRO: A century after Egypt’s March 1919 revolution, the prominent Wafd party credited with leading popular demands to end the British occupation, has now been largely sidelined on the country’s political scene, analysts say.A one-time liberal opposition force with a mass following, Wafd is considered Egypt’s oldest surviving party, having started its political life under…
SYRIA: The Syrian crisis enters its ninth year this month, leaving in its wake a trail of death, destruction, destitution, displacement and division. The war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced at least 12 million, and left the country’s economy and infrastructure in ruins. Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a speech on Feb.…
BEIRUT: Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt has expressed concern about reports that Syrian refugees returning to their country from Lebanon face torture and murder. This coincides with a debate in Lebanon about whether Syrian refugees should return without waiting for a political solution to the conflict in their country. UN Special Coordinator Jan Kubis…
DAMASCUS: Syrian regime forces will reclaim control of northeastern areas controlled by the US-backed Kurds, whether by force or through reconciliation, the defense minister warned Monday. Marginalized for decades, Syria’s minority Kurds have carved out a de-facto autonomous region across some 30 percent of the nation’s territory since the devastating war broke out in 2011. Backed…
ALGIERS: Algeria’s army should take responsibility for finding a quick solution to its political crisis, its chief of staff said on Monday, in the most overt signal of potential military intervention since mass demonstrations erupted three weeks ago. “The army will remain a fortified fortress for the country,” the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Gaed…
BAGHOUZ, Syria: US-backed fighters said they had taken positions in Daesh’s last enclave in eastern Syria and air strikes pounded the tiny patch of land beside the Euphrates River early on Monday, a Reuters journalist said.Smoke rose over the tiny enclave as warplanes and artillery bombarded it. Another witness said the militants had earlier mounted…
BAGHOUZ, Syria: US-backed fighters said they had taken positions in Daesh’s last enclave in eastern Syria and air strikes pounded the tiny patch of land beside the Euphrates River early on Monday, a Reuters journalist said.Smoke rose over the tiny enclave as warplanes and artillery bombarded it. Another witness said the militants had earlier mounted…
BAGHDAD: Two Iraqi soldiers were killed in rare clashes Sunday with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the north of the country where the group has bases, the army said overnight.The PKK, seen as a “terrorist” group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since…
LONDON: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that the government would file a legal case in Iran against US officials who imposed sanctions on the country as a precursor to action in international courts. Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television that US sanctions had created difficulties including a weaker rial…
ALGIERS: Thirteen independent Algerian unions have refused to back the newly-appointed prime minister’s efforts to form a government he hopes will placate protesters who are pressuring President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his inner circle to step down. “We will not hold discussions with this system, we belong to the people and the people said ‘No’ to…
ALGIERS: Thirteen independent Algerian unions have refused to back the newly-appointed prime minister’s efforts to form a government he hopes will placate protesters who are pressuring President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his inner circle to step down. “We will not hold discussions with this system, we belong to the people and the people said ‘No’ to…
SYRIA: The Syrian crisis enters its ninth year this month, leaving in its wake a trail of death, destruction, destitution, displacement and division. The war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced at least 12 million, and left the country’s economy and infrastructure in ruins. Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a speech on Feb.…
SYRIA: The Syrian crisis enters its ninth year this month, leaving in its wake a trail of death, destruction, destitution, displacement and division. The war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced at least 12 million, and left the country’s economy and infrastructure in ruins. Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a speech on Feb.…
SYRIA: The Syrian crisis enters its ninth year this month, leaving in its wake a trail of death, destruction, destitution, displacement and division. The war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced at least 12 million, and left the country’s economy and infrastructure in ruins. Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a speech on Feb.…
CAIRO: Hundreds of Sudanese took part in anti-government protests in the capital and other cities on Sunday as the government announced it had secured $300 million in loans to address the economic crisis that triggered the unrest.The demonstrations began in December over price hikes and food shortages, and quickly escalated into calls for President Omar…
