Middle East

Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar al-Ja’afari says the United States has been occupying the country’s oil fields and looting its resources as the UN remains silent on Washington’s act of theft. “The US occupies Syrian oil wells and plunders the Syrians’ revenues in the shadow of the UN Security Council’s silence,” …

Senior officials from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party have reportedly been working behind the scenes to bring him down following his indictment on corruption charges. After three years of investigations, Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit charged Netanyahu with fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three different scandals …

Iranian Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri on Saturday warned regional countries of unspecified dire consequences if it is proven that they meddled to stoke unrest in Iran, the semi-official news agency Fars reported. “Some countries in the region should know that they will be not have an easy life in the region …

At least 10 people were killed and 25 wounded when a car bomb exploded on Saturday in a Syrian border town seized by Turkish-backed forces last month, witnesses and a rescuer said. Tel Abyad was one of two border towns that saw some of the heaviest fighting when Ankara launched …

Saud Abdul Ghani, a professor of engineering at Qatar University, has revealed how the stadium cooling system will work in the stadium in southern Qatar in preparation for hosting the 2022 World Cup. “You can see the size of this huge stadium,” Abdel Ghani said in an interview with CNN. …

Israel’s Attorney General has indicted PM Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges after months of uncertainty over whether Netanyahu would be able to retain his leadership of the country. He is charged with bribery and fraud. Netanyahu faces charges of breach of trust and fraud stemming from three cases in which …

Iran on Thursday began restoring internet access in the capital Tehran and a number of provinces, local news agencies and residents said, after a days-long nationwide shutdown meant to help stifle unrest over fuel price hikes. The Revolutionary Guards said calm had returned across Iran, state TV reported, after protests …

South Korea says all the crew members and the three vessels seized earlier by Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement in the Red Sea have been released. The three vessels and the 16 people on them had been detained a few miles off Uqban Island, off the western coasts of Yemen, on …

Israel said its aircraft struck dozens of Syrian military targets in Syria on Wednesday in retaliation for rockets fired towards Israel a day earlier. Syrian state media reported two civilians were killed and several others injured in the attacks but said Syria’s air defenses destroyed most of the missiles fired …

US troops have abducted two Syrians from their home in the northeastern Hasakah province, the Al-Ikhbariya television channel said Tuesday. US forces were deployed from a helicopter straight onto a house in the province’s south and detained two brothers, the broadcaster claimed. There was no immediate information on who the …

Russia intends to start deliveries of nearly two dozen Su-35E air superiority fighter planes to Egypt between 2020-2021 in a deal worth the equivalent of over $2 billion. US officials have repeatedly warned that the delliveries could lead to sanctions against Cairo. Egypt’s decision to purchase Russian-made fighter aircraft may …

Kuwait’s caretaker prime minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak declined to be reappointed as premier in the OPEC oil producer on Monday, rebuffing the offer from the ruling emir after submitting the government’s resignation last week. The cabinet resignation came after lawmakers sought a no-confidence vote against the interior minister over alleged …

Lebanon is like a sinking ship that will go under unless action is taken, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was quoted as saying on Monday, referring to the country’s deep economic and political crisis. Berri told visitors that efforts to form a new government were “completely frozen” and awaiting developments at …

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has thrown his weight behind a recent government decision to ration gasoline and increase its price. The government decided on Friday to cut gas subsidies to fund support for the poor. Gasoline in Iran still remains among the cheapest in the …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani referred to events in the country over the past three days, saying: “The government’s goal in the livelihood support project is to deliver assistance to middle-income families with low income to society.” “We have only three ways: to raise popular taxes or to export more oil …

Lebanon has slipped into further political uncertainty as a candidate to fill the vacant post of the country’s premiership has decided to halt his bid. Lebanese broadcasters LBCI and al-Jadeed reported on Saturday that Mohammad Safadi had withdrawn his candidacy to be the head of the next Lebanese government. A …

Israel has carried out fresh air raids on the Gaza Strip in violation of a ceasefire that ended a flare-up marked by dozens of Palestinians killed in bombings and hundreds of rockets launched at Israeli cities. The Al Aqsa TV channel said Israeli warplanes hit an outpost belonging to Hamas …

Members of the Iranian parliament, known as Majlis, have protested a government decision to increase the price of gasoline at short notice, saying they will submit a bill to revise the controversial move. Mojtaba Zonnour, a member of Iranian parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, said on Saturday …

Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Tehran will keep helping the Palestinians with no reservation, and calls on other Muslim countries to follow suit. Speaking in a Friday meeting with the ambassadors of Muslim countries and participants of the 33rd Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, Ayatollah …

During the early hours of Thursday, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential area in central Gaza Strip. The attack claimed the lives of members of the same family, including women and children, while they were sleeping in their home. Neighbors rushed to the scene following the attack to help save …