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The European Commission is planning to name Saudi Arabia in a list of countries that have failed to fight against terrorist financing and money laundering, a report says. Brussels is in the final stages of adopting the list, which will include 23 countries and jurisdictions who failed to combat “dirty …

  A draft of constitutional amendments proposed by Egyptian lawmakers shows the changes would allow President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to stay in power for up to 12 years beyond his current term. Sisi came to power in June 2014, one year after he led the military to oust the first …

A non-governmental rights group says Bahraini officials have revoked the citizenship of hundreds of people after convicting them of alleged terror charges as the Al Khalifah regime presses ahead with its crackdown on political dissent in the Persian Gulf kingdom. Javad Firooz, the chairman of the Salam for Democracy and …

Australia’s parliament had to reset all the passwords on its computer network Thursday after an unknown attacker tried to hack into the system. In a statement, the legislature’s presiding officers said “a number of measures” had been taken to protect the network following a “security incident on the parliamentary computing …

France’s foreign ministry said Thursday it had recalled its ambassador to Rome for consultations after a series of “provocations” by Italy’s populist government. “For several months France has been the subject of repeated accusations, unfounded attacks and outlandish claims,” the ministry said in a statement, calling them “unprecedented” since the …

There are 50 days to go until Britain leaves the European Union and still no one knows how it will happen, if at all. It was this looming milestone that surely contributed to the howl of despair from European Council president Donald Tusk on Wednesday, when he said there is …

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the days of foreign intervention in Latin America are “long ago gone,” expressing hope that no foreign forces would enter Venezuela, after US President Donald Trump repeated his threats of taking military action against the South American country. “I was very encouraged by …

President Donald Trump spoke for more than an hour and 20 minutes last night, but the moment that may be remembered best from his State of the Union address had no words at all. It was when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stood and applauded a line from Trump’s speech …

Testimony by U.S. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen before the House Intelligence Committee has been postponed until Feb. 28, the panel said on Wednesday, the latest snag over an appearance by Trump’s one-time “fixer.” Cohen, who is set to go to prison on March 6 after pleading guilty …

Two men have died in floodwaters that have forced large-scale evacuations in the Australian city of Townsville. The pair’s bodies were found near a park on Tuesday, following what has been described as a “once in a century” flood in the northern Queensland city. Police did not confirm whether the …

Secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement has strongly dismissed latest allegations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the movement is in control of the Lebanese government, stressing the new administration belongs to all political factions participating in it. The Israeli premier is “provoking the United States, European countries …

As Bahraini people gear up to mark the eighth anniversary of their uprising against the ruling Al Khalifah regime on February 14, the country’s main opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has reaffirmed its determination to continue peaceful rallies until its demands for political reforms are met. Al-Wefaq, which …

A report has found that the British army allowed soldiers to shoot and kill unarmed civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan for activities defined as suspicious such as those holding a mobile telephone or a shovel. An investigation by the Middle East Eye established that British soldiers killed a number of …

Russia has denounced coordinated attempts to “legitimize usurped power” in Venezuela after a number of European countries recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as “interim leader” of the Latin American country. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that “attempts to legitimize usurped power” constituted “interference in Venezuela’s …

  UK trade secretary Liam Fox says the European Union’s refusal to renegotiate a divorce agreement is a sign the bloc is becoming “irresponsible” in its way of treating the issue of Brexit. “It is in all our interests to get to that agreement and for the EU to say …

Australian Defense Force officials admit that a 2017 airstrike by the country’s jet fighters on the northern Iraqi city of Mosul has claimed the lives of six to 18 civilians. The defense minister, Christopher Pyne, described the deaths as “deeply regrettable” but said a 12-month investigation into the airstrike on …

  ABU DHABI|Pope Francis will become the first pontiff to visit the Arabian Peninsula on Sunday, just hours after issuing his strongest condemnation yet of the war in Yemen, where his host the United Arab Emirates has a leading military role. The pope said in his regular Sunday address in …

U.S. President Donald Trump said it was important to keep a U.S. military base in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran, according to a CBS interview to be broadcast on Sunday

Transparency International says the Emirati city of Dubai has turned into “a money laundering paradise,” where criminals can easily purchase luxurious property with their dirty cash. In its Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 released recently, the leading anti-graft NGO said Dubai “has become an active global hub for money laundering.” Citing …

Elizabeth Warren has reportedly apologized for previously relying on a DNA test to prove her Native American ancestry. The Massachusetts senator “reached out to us and has apologized to the tribe”, Cherokee Nation spokeswoman Julie Hubbard said in a statement relayed by CNN. The Independent has contacted Ms. Hubbard and …