The Iraqi National Security Adviser, Qassem al-Araji, on Saturday, described the al-Hol Camp in eastern Syria as a “real threat” to the country. At the same time, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, noted that the situation in the Camp is now …

Ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait went back to Lebanon in what appeared to be a diplomatic turnaround that comes as the crisis-stricken country is gearing up for consequential elections. The foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait issues separate statements on Thursday announcing their ambassadors’ return to Lebanon after …

Issuing a statement, the Iranian foreign ministry announced that 15 US authorities were subject to sanctions by Iran for terrorist acts, promotion and support of terrorism, as well as violating human rights. The statement reads as: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in conformity with …

North Korea is demolishing a South Korean-owned hotel at a North Korean resort that was one of the last symbols of inter-Korean engagement, according to Seoul officials who called for the North to stop the “unilateral” destruction. South Korea built dozens of facilities at North Korea’s Diamond Mountain resort to …

Donald Trump Jr. texted White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, two days after the 2020 presidential election with strategies for overturning the result if Trump’s father lost, CNN reported Friday. The text was sent two days before Joe Biden was declared the winner, according to CNN. It reportedly laid …

Japan and the Philippines agreed Saturday to start talks toward a possible defense agreement that would allow closer cooperation between their militaries amid regional tensions with China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and their Philippine counterparts, Teodoro Locsin and Delfin …

At least 12 soldiers and four paramilitary fighters were killed and 21 wounded in an attack on an army base in Burkina Faso’s insurgent-hit center-north on Friday, the army said in a statement. The attack took place early in the morning at Burkina Faso’s Namissiguima military base in the province …

France heads to the polls on Sunday with Emmanuel Macron facing a far tougher test than first envisaged They are antique car aficionados and struggling students. They are retired people living in the countryside, cheerful multilingual accountants who have lived abroad, and even frustrated, disadvantaged members of the country’s Muslim …

Prime minister would have to step down if 172 members of the 342-member House vote against him Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan faces a no-confidence motion in the national assembly – a major challenge to his political career – on Saturday as political uncertainty deepens in the country. The parliament …

Saudi Arabia says Muslims from inside and outside the country will be able to perform the Hajj providing they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and no older than 65. Saudi Arabia has said it will allow one million people – from both inside and outside the kingdom – to perform …

A force of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF – Al-Hashed Al-Sha’abi) had carried out a storming operation targeting various areas of Hit district, one of the results of which was the destruction of a secret underground tunnel, a security source said on Friday. The source said to “Al-Ghadeer” website: “The …

The global average of true infection numbers is believed to be 16 times higher than the number of confirmed reported cases – but could have been 97 times higher in Africa, WHO says. More than two-thirds of people living in Africa may have contracted COVID-19 over the past two years, …

China’s President Xi Jinping commended the country’s “tested Zero-Covid” strategy on Friday even as Shanghai prepared nearly 130,000 beds for new coronavirus patients. At an event to honor Olympic athletes, Xi lauded the country’s efforts to hold the recent Winter Games which he said showed the country’s virus policy “once …

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has reportedly been offered the chance to take his ‘dream’ first step into international football, with Brazil willing to pay him £10million per year to become their new manager. They will face stiff competition as the Dutch FA are said to have also drawn up …

Shining only ~300 million years after the Big Bang, it may be home to the oldest stars in the universe. An international team of astronomers has recently spotted the most distant galaxy ever, located about 13.5 billion light-years away. Astronomers named this galaxy HD1, which is exceptionally bright in ultraviolet …

A severe dust storm sweeping Iraq and the Kurdistan Region has resulted in five deaths in Salahaddin province’s Tuz Khurmatu along with hundreds of hospitalizations in Erbil and Sulaimani. “Five civilians have died of dust in Khurmatu and others have suffered from strain and are receiving treatment due to the …

More than 30 people were killed and over 100 were wounded in a rocket strike on a railway station in east Ukraine on Friday as civilians tried to evacuate to safer parts of the country, the state railway company said. It said two rockets had struck a station in the …

The Kremlin said on Friday that what it calls Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine could end in the “foreseeable future” since its aims were being achieved and work was being carried out by both the Russian military and Russian peace negotiators. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also said Moscow understood that …

Police forces were hunting for a man who left a parcel bomb in the Cathedral of Toulouse, Southwestern France, on Friday, ahead of the first round of voting in France’s presidential race on April 10, police said. The man deposited the parcel around 0700 GMT at the altar of the …

World food prices jumped nearly 13% in March to a new record high as the war in Ukraine caused turmoil in markets for staple grains and edible oils, the U.N. food agency said on Friday. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded …