Middle East

Heavy clashes have broken out between Syrian government troops and remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the country’s central province of Homs with reported casualties from both sides. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a report on Saturday that clashes had taken place between Syrian …

Egypt will hold inaugural elections for a new second parliamentary chamber on Aug. 11-12, election commissioner Lasheen Ibrahim said on Saturday. Amendments made to Egypt’s constitution last year provided for the creation of the Council of Senators, a 180-member secondary chamber that will be two-thirds elected by the public and …

A spokesperson for the Turkish Justice and Development Party Omar Glick accused France of participating in the mass graves crimes carried out by the militias of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who is supported by Paris. Glick pointed out that France is complicit in the mass grave crimes by supporting Haftar …

Yemen’s army says its drones have hit targets in southwestern Saudi Arabia, following warnings that retaliatory attacks would hit deep in Saudi territory if the kingdom did not stop its aggression against the impoverished nation. The spokesman for Yemen’s Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a tweet that …

The US has warned the Libyan National Army (LNA) that its affiliation with a Russian paramilitary force and perpetuation of the oil shutdown contradicts the interests of Libya. “The U.S. delegation emphasized that the LNA’s affiliation with the Wagner group, a Russian Ministry of Defense proxy, and perpetuation of the …

The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Kalamar, regretted what she saw as the failure of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to take a more courageous stand regarding her investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “After my investigation into the killing of Khashoggi, I concluded that there …

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab says certain internal elements together with foreign parties are seeking to push the cash-strapped Arab country deeper into economic crisis as the local currency has been on a downward trajectory for weeks, losing more than half of its value. “Unfortunately, there are internal parties that …

A series of large explosions shook a fireworks factory in northwest Turkey’s Sakarya province on Friday, killing two people and wounding 73, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said. Fire crews fought to contain the blaze ignited by an initial blast at 11.15 am (0815 GMT) in the province’s Hendek district, Turkey’s …

Twenty Saudi nationals have gone on trial in absentia in Turkey over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. Those being tried include two former top aides to Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi was …

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Thursday said France will return the remains of 24 resistance fighters who were killed during its colonisation of the North African country. “Within a few hours Algerian military planes will fly in from France and land at the Houari Boumediene international airport with the remains …

The US military has sent a new convoy of trucks loaded with military hardware and logistical gears to Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah as Washington seeks to control and loot crude resources in the war-torn country. Syria’s official news agency SANA, citing unnamed local sources in al-Ya’rubiyah town, reported that …

A former U.N. envoy to Libya has accused the Security Council of “hypocrisy” and of undermining his efforts to bring peace to the war-torn North African country. In a podcast interview, Ghassan Salame said the majority of the U.N. Security Council supported the military offensive launched last year by Libyan …

The police department in Miami-Dade has dismissed two officers after one punched a black woman at Miami International Airport. The department ordered an investigation into the incident on Wednesday night when a video – dated 1 July – was shared online. Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo Ramirez III wrote on Twitter …

The Turkish ambassador to Paris yesterday accused France of having a biased policy over Libya and turning a blind eye to violations of the UN arms embargo by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to the benefit of eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar. “When one supports the legitimate government [Government …

The prefabricated steel framework of Natanz open site has broken, spokesman for Iran Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Thursday. Kamalvandi said the accident happened on Thursday morning at the open site of Natanz facility under construction, but, it caused no human casualties nor has it disrupted the …

A Turkish court will open the trial on Friday of 20 Saudi officials indicted over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a step his fiancee hopes will shed more light on the death and reveal where his body was hidden. The indictment by Istanbul prosecutors accuses the former deputy …

Earlier this week, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said that the 1 July deadline for Israel to extend its sovereignty over some parts of the West Bank, was not “a sacred date,” stressing that his priorities lay in tackling COVID-19, not new territory. Palestinians take to the streets of Ramallah …

Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Turkey issued a joint statement, emphasizing their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria. President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H.E. Hassan Rouhani, President of the Russian Federation, H.E. Vladimir …

Ankara has taken aim at France for allegedly ignoring violations of an international arms embargo placed on Libya, claiming that illegal activity was being carried out to benefit commander Khalifa Haftar. According to Reuters, Turkey’s ambassador to Paris, Ismail Hakki Musa, said on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates and …

Italian police said Wednesday that they had seized a world record 15-ton haul of amphetamines made by ISIS in Syria. The drug, in the form of 84 million Captagon tablets, was worth about one billion euros ($1.1 billion), police said in a statement, describing the operation as “the biggest seizure …