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As more Arab countries are taking steps toward normalization with the Syrian government, Bahrain has appointed its first ambassador to the war-ravaged country after relations were strained following the outbreak of foreign-sponsored militancy in March 2011. Bahrain’s state-run news agency BNA reported that Waheed Mubarak Sayyar has been appointed to …

Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas has told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israeli raids and other acts of aggression have put the occupied West Bank on the brink of an “explosion.” Abbas told the Russian president during a telephone conversation on Thursday that Israeli settlements, land confiscation, home demolitions and “settler …

Two rockets have fallen into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Tel Aviv, with the Israeli military claiming they were fired from the besieged Gaza Strip. Informed sources with Palestinian resistance groups told the Palestine al-Aan news website that the rocket fire came during stormy weather on Saturday morning, …

Amid heightened tensions, the US Air Force flew a second spy aircraft over eastern Ukraine hours before the telephonic conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden on Thursday. According to reports, the overflight was carried out on Thursday morning to gather intelligence about the Russian …

China will take “drastic measures” if Taiwan makes moves towards independence, a Beijing official warned on Wednesday, adding that Taiwan’s provocations and outside meddling could intensify next year. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and in the past two years has stepped up military and diplomatic pressure …

Israel has launched artillery strikes against the Gaza Strip, injuring three Palestinian farmers in the besieged enclave. Israeli tanks opened fire at several posts belonging to the Palestinian resistance movements on the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) said. The Israeli …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday will name former U.S. official Rina Amiri as a special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights, two sources familiar with the decision said. Amiri has spent two decades advising governments, the United Nations, and think tanks on issues related to …

At least 31 people were killed in the collapse of a private gold mine in western Sudan, a mining official told Reuters on Tuesday. “Thirty-one bodies were recovered after the collapse of a gold mine in En Nahud locality in West Kurdufan state. Only one person was rescued alive,” said …

In diplomatic meetings next year, Russian officials will urge Washington to halt the bloc’s expansion At upcoming talks with Washington, Moscow will not only obstruct but will put a complete stop to any eastwards expansion of the US-led NATO military bloc, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said on Tuesday. Speaking …

U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, for the fiscal year 2022, which authorizes $770 billion in defense spending, the White House said on Monday. Earlier this month, the Senate and the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly for the defense bill with strong …

A lone gunman shot four people to death and wounded three, including a police officer, on Monday in a Denver-area shooting spree that unfolded at several locations and ended with police killing the suspect, authorities said. Investigators have yet to determine a motive for the rampage, which began around 5 …

Research by South African scientists suggests that Omicron could displace the Delta variant of the coronavirus because infection with the new variant boosts immunity to the older one. The study only covered a small group of people and has not been peer-reviewed, but it found that people who were infected …

Russian officials have agreed to sit with American officials next month among US accusations against Moscow of preparing to invade neighboring Ukraine, the US National Security Council (NSC) has said. The United States “looks forward to engaging with Russia” for a Strategic Security Dialogue on Ukraine on January 10, an …

The United Nations special envoy for Yemen has strongly condemned Saudi Arabia’s military escalation against various targets across the impoverished country, including the capital Sana’a. Speaking through a statement on Tuesday, the official, Hans Grundberg, warned that violations of the international humanitarian and human rights law in Yemen could not …

Iran and the five remaining signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal have held a new round of talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna focused on the removal of all sanctions imposed on Tehran after Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the agreement. Representatives of Iran and the P4+1 group of countries …

The highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus is sending daily infections in parts of the United States soaring to levels higher than the pandemic peak of early 2021. Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Puerto Rico are among the areas that have reported higher caseloads in the …

Russian diplomats and military officials will take part in talks with the United States next month on a list of security guarantees that Moscow wants from Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday. Lavrov made the comments in an interview live-streamed on his ministry’s website. He said the …

A senior UN official says he was “horrified” by reports that at least 35 civilians, including women and children, were killed and their bodies were burned in Myanmar, urging probe into the incident. The UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief, Martin Griffiths, in a statement said authorities in Myanmar must investigate the …

The two-day military exercise involving Japan’s self-defense forces, coast guard, and police was conducted in late November on a remote uninhabited island. According to Kyodo news agency, citing unnamed Japanese government sources, the island was chosen specifically because its landscape closely resembles that of the disputed Senkaku Islands, which have …

If Moscow encroaches on Ukraine’s sovereignty, the US will impose sanctions against Russia as no one has ever seen before, Vice President Kamala Harris warned on Sunday. In an interview with CBS, on Sunday, American Vice President Kamala Harris said that Washington is coordinating its position with allies and is …