Middle East

Reports say at least 17 Syrian government forces have been killed in attacks by foreign-backed terrorists in northern Aleppo province. The attacks were launched shortly after midnight on Saturday by two al-Qaeda-linked terror groups, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Hurras al-Deen, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Thirty …

Under the Arabian sun, a monumental construction effort is making headway. Located deep within Dubai’s desert interior, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park — named after the emirate’s ruler and the UAE’s vice president and prime minister — continues to grow and has just passed another milestone. In …

An 18-month-long long investigation has revealed that the US-led coalition killed more than 1,600 civilians during its campaign to capture the Syrian city of Raqqa, rights watchdog Amnesty International said in a press release on Thursday. The investigation, conducted by Amnesty and Airwars, “gives a brutally vivid account of more …

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the country can export as much oil as it needs, his official website reported, as the United States prepares to end sanctions waivers it granted to some importers of Iranian crude. “America’s efforts in sanctioning the sale of Iranian oil …

It was little over a year ago that the Saudi Arabian crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, made a high-profile visit to London. During his three-day stay, he was treated to lunch with the Queen, dinner with Princes William and Charles, and photos on the steps of Downing Street. The charm-offensive …

Yemen’s Houthi forces have missiles that could be fired at Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi should violence escalate in the main Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, where a fragile ceasefire is now in place, the leader of the Houthi movement said on Monday. “Our missiles are capable of reaching Riyadh …

China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it has formally complained to the United States over its decision to end waivers on sanctions on Iranian oil imports, adding another fault line to already complicated Beijing-Washington ties. China is Iran’s largest crude oil customer, with total imports last year of 29.27 million …

Iran’s parliament passed a bill on Tuesday requiring the government take firm steps to respond to “terrorist actions” by U.S. forces, state TV reported, retaliating against Washington’s blacklisting of the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards. Donald Trump on April 8 designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist group, …

The United States on Monday demanded that buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, a move to choke off Tehran’s oil revenues which sent crude prices to six-month highs on fears of a potential supply crunch. The Trump administration on Monday said it will not …

Iran and Pakistan will form a joint quick reaction force to combat militant activity on their shared border, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday during a televised press conference with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan arrived in Iran on Sunday to discuss security and regional issues, Iranian state …

Bahrain has revoked the nationality of 138 people convicted of terrorism in a mass trial, according to the kingdom’s state news agency. The Bahrain News Agency citing Advocate General Ahmed al-Hammadi reported Tuesday that the High Criminal Court also sentenced 69 terror suspects to life in prison. Thirty-nine of the …

Four attackers have been killed in an assault on a police station in Saudi Arabia’s central province of Riyadh. The London-based Arabic-language daily newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that the assailants targeted state security forces in the town of Zulfi, located about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the capital Riyadh, …

Egyptians voted on Sunday for a second day on whether to back constitutional amendments that could see President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stay in power until 2030. The three-day referendum was called last week, a day after Egypt’s 596-member parliament endorsed the draft amendments by 531 to 22. If approved, the …

ISIS terrorists have reportedly killed nearly 27 Syrian soldiers in a desert in the east of the country’s central province of Homs. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that the troops, among them four senior army officers, were killed during clashes over the past 48 hours. The …

Iraq will host senior officials from neighboring countries including regional arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran on Saturday, as it carves out a role as a mediator in the deeply divided region. The one-day summit will bring together parliament heads from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Kuwait, a parliamentary spokesman …

Google has blocked Press TV and Hispan TV’s access to their official accounts on the technology company’s platforms, including YouTube and Gmail, without prior notice, citing “violation of policies”. “Your Google Account was disabled and can’t be restored because it was used in a way that violates Google’s policies,” Google …

A coalition of opposition political parties Thursday called on Egyptian voters to reject proposed constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030. The Civil Democratic Movement, which includes liberal and left-leaning parties, held a news conference to decry the amendments, calling them an “assault …

An Israeli delegation has reportedly participated in a business conference in Bahrain despite statements about the cancellation of the controversial visit to the Arabic Gulf country. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Channel 13 on Wednesday that an Israeli foreign ministry delegation had arrived at the …

Expected or not, Donald Trump’s veto of a bipartisan Congressional resolution to end US military involvement in Saudi Arabia’s murderous war in Yemen is an outrage. It will prolong the unspeakable suffering of millions of Yemeni civilians, the blameless victims of Riyadh’s vicious war. Yet Trump’s uncaring arrogance also threatens …

At St. Catherine’s Monastery at the foot of Egypt’s Mount Sinai, the silence in the library is broken only by low electrical humming, as an early manuscript is bathed in green light. A team from Greece are photographing thousands of fragile manuscripts, including some of the earliest copies of the …