Middle East

Reopening schools is easy. Keeping them open will be the hard part. As educators prepare to welcome students back to class for the first time in months, schools’ ability to quickly identify and contain coronavirus outbreaks before they get out of hand will be put to the test in thousands …

The police are forced to intervene after around 7,000 take to streets in Beirut to protest the government’s handling of the aftermath of a recent huge deadly explosion in the Lebanese capital that sent the country’s main grain silo up in smoke. The rallies were held at the city’s Martyrs’ …

Hezbollah’s leader denied on Friday accusations that his movement has arms warehoused at Beirut port, backing an investigation into a huge blast there that rocked the city. In a televised speech, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called Tuesday’s explosion “an exceptional event” in Lebanon’s modern history that required unity and calm. Hezbollah …

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message referred to the 75th anniversary of atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, saying the US, ISRAEL nuclear weapons “threaten our region”. “75 years ago today, the US gained the infamy of becoming the 1st and ONLY user of nuclear …

Just days after the brutal killing of prominent Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in the fall of 2018, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman dispatched a group of hitmen, known as the Tiger Squad, to Canada to seek out and kill one of his former top intelligence officials who had …

Egypt and Greece on Thursday signed a maritime deal that sets the sea boundary between the two countries and demarcates an exclusive economic zone for oil and gas drilling rights. The deal is a response to a similar agreement between Turkey and Libya’s Tripoli-based government last year that has spiked …

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has offered condolences to the Lebanese nation and government over a recent deadly massive blast in the Arab country that killed more than 100 people.  “We sympathize with the dear citizens of #Lebanon and stand by them in the painful tragedy of the …

On Wednesday evening, the Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab received an Iraqi delegation headed by Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar, representing Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, and which included Deputy Health Minister Hani Al-Aqabi, Chargé D’affaires, Amin Al-Nasrawi, Political Advisor Ahmad Jamal and Oil Minister’s Office Head Haidar Obaid, in the …

Lebanon mourned on Thursday the victims of the most powerful blast to hit the country that was already being crushed by an economic crisis, as rescuers searched for those missing since the explosion that flattened Beirut port and devastated the city. French President Emmanuel Macron, making the first visit by …

The Latest on the explosion in Beirut (all times local): 11:29 p.m Germany has dispatched dozens of search and rescue specialists to Lebanon to help in the race to find survivors trapped beneath rubble following Tuesday’s explosion in Beirut. About 50 staff of Germany’s THW civil protection organization flew out …

Firefighters and civil defense crews are battling a major fire at a fruit and veg market in the United Arab Emirates’ city of Ajman on Wednesday. No injuries have been reported, and the cause of the blaze is still unknown. Only a day after a massive explosion devastated Beirut, the …

U.S. officials said Wednesday there is no indication the massive explosion in Lebanon that killed at least 100 people was an attack, contradicting President Donald Trump who said American generals told him it was likely caused by a bomb. The officials, speaking only on condition of anonymity to discuss internal …

Libya’s Deputy Parliament Speaker Jalal Saleh Shuwaidi has warned Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi against plans to send troops to assist militias loyal to putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar, saying that the Libyan desert would swallow Egypt if it proceeded. Noting that the Egyptian military has no power to enter another …

Residents of Beirut awoke to a scene of utter devastation on Wednesday, a day after a massive explosion at the port sent shock waves across the Lebanese capital, killing at least 100 people and wounding thousands. Smoke was still rising from the port, where huge mounds of grain gushed from …

The Jordanian Seismological Observatory recorded, on Tuesday, the explosion that occurred in Beirut Port with a seismic capacity equivalent to 4.5 on the Richter scale. This was stated, according to a statement by the head of the observatory, Mahmoud al-Qaryouti, which was reported by the Al-mamlaka TV on its website. …

A massive explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the port, damaging buildings across the capital, and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. More than 78 people were killed and more than 4000 injured, with bodies buried in the rubble, officials said. Hours later, ambulances still carried …

A massive explosion has rocked Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, causing many casualties, damaging buildings and shattering windows. The blast, which flattened much of the capital’s port, was felt across the city as a giant mushroom cloud rose above it. Lebanon’s health minister said “hundreds” of people were wounded as witnesses said …

A large explosion rocked Beirut on Tuesday, injuring many people as glass shattered and balconies collapsed from the impact Lebanon’s state news agency NNA and two security sources said the blast had occurred in the port area where there are warehouses housing explosives. It was not immediately clear what caused …

Turkey’s consumer price inflation fell to a lower-than-expected 11.76% year-on-year in July, official data showed on Tuesday, reversing two months of rising inflation as the economy continued to emerge from lockdown. The figures boosted the lira TRYTOM=D3, which firmed to 6.9270 against the dollar. The currency weakened last week to …

The Israeli Army announced this evening that its fighters launched an attack against military targets in Syria, describing the airstrikes as a response to an operation on Sunday. According to a statement from the Israeli Army to Reuters, among the targets included in the strikes were Syrian observation sites, intelligence-gathering …