Tag Archives: Middle East

Thousands of Lebanese protesters took to the streets on Saturday, with some throwing stones and demanding the government resign over its handling of a deep economic crisis as hardship increases. The demonstrators, many wearing face masks and carrying the national flag, converged on the main square in Beirut that was …

A number of people were injured on Saturday in an explosion of a car bomb near Grain Silos of Tal Halaf, south Ras al-Ayn city in the northwestern countryside of the Syrian city of Hasaka. SANA news agency quoted local sources as saying that a car bomb exploded near the …

Turkish police used pepper spray to disperse a group of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers in capital Ankara protesting on Friday the stripping of parliament seats of three opposition MPs, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported. Ankara riot police intervened in the group in a bid to stop the deputies making their …

The spokesman of the UN-backed Libyan government’s forces, Mohamed Gonono, on Thursday announced taking over the entire capital Tripoli and expelling the rival eastern-based army. “Our brave forces have taken control of all of Tripoli, after regaining control of southern Tripoli from the militias of Haftar (eastern-based army commander),” Gonono …

Israeli forces break into the house of Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, the preacher of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem al-Quds, to take him for questioning, sparking clashes near the dwelling. The Palestinian Shehab News Agency reported on Wednesday that the raid into Sheikh Sabri’s home, situated in …

The social network got a video of the destruction of the column of the Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) by fighters of the Government of National Accord (GNA) and pro-Turkish militants near Tripoli. The video shows the fire of military personnel of the GNA on military transport following the road, …

The Israeli regime plans to demolish 200 Palestinian-owned industrial facilities in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds, the Palestinian media says. Palestine’s official Wafa news agency, citing an al-Ahd website for the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Israeli authorities on Sunday distributed evacuation and demolition notices targeting 200 Palestinian …

Two main figures of Algeria’s “Hirak” protest movement will soon be freed at the president’s initiative, the leader of an opposition party said Tuesday. “President Abdelmadjid Tebboune assured me that he would use his constitutional prerogative to ensure that Karim Tabbou and Samir Benlarbi regain their freedom,” Sosiane Djilali said. …

The worst of the coronavirus pandemic has passed but declaring victory against the disease would be premature, Lebanon’s health minister said Monday, as the country gradually opened up. “I think the worst-case scenario has passed and is behind us, but at the same time we need to stay alert and …

An unarmed Palestinian man has been shot and killed by police at one of the entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday. Israeli police said officers believed the man had a gun and opened fire on him when he refused to stop for them. Relatives named the deceased as 32-year-old …

Five Palestinians, including a photojournalist working with Anadolu Agency, were injured after Israeli forces dispersed two rallies rejecting settlements building in the occupied West Bank. “Israeli forces dispersed a weekly anti-settlement rally,” Murad Shtewi, coordinator of the “Popular Resistance” committee in the town of Kafr Qaddum, north of the West …

Turkey on Friday resumed some mass prayers at a limited number of mosques after a break of more than two months, as Ankara continued to ease restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus outbreak. Turkey had suspended prayers, limited travel, and closed shops and restaurants. However, the government has started to …

The Western military coalition, purported to fight the Daesh terrorist group, has reportedly deployed three Patriot missile batteries at a US base in Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr. The Arabic-language al-Alam television news network, citing local sources, reported on Wednesday that the batteries were deployed to the base set …

Saudi Arabia will be sending back its ambassador to Iraq soon, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan announced on Saturday. The move follows directives from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. Prince Faisal made the announcement after his meeting Ali Allawi, Iraq deputy premier and acting minister of …

A woman has died in Gaza Strip after contracting coronavirus, the Palestinian enclave’s first fatality from the global pandemic, the health ministry said. It said the 77-year-old woman had suffered from a prior chronic illness and had traveled to Gaza through neighboring Egypt on May 19. She had been quarantined …

Lebanon’s financial meltdown could tip the country into a full-blown food crisis, as people hit by soaring prices and the fallout of COVID-19 become unable to afford even basics like bread, the prime minister warned. Lebanon has been paralyzed by an economic crisis that has seen dollars dry up, banks …

Associates of jailed members of the Saudi royal family have hired lobbyists with close connections to US President Donald Trump to advocate for their release, the New York Times reported. A former senior associate of Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz bin Salman al Saud hired Robert Stryk, a lobbyist with strong …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that a four-day lockdown starting on May 23 would be imposed nationwide as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus during the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday. Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdogan also said schools would not re-open this …

A Chinese envoy has accused the United States of undermining the global economy by building trade barriers and artificially prolonging the global coronavirus pandemic by halting funding to the World Health Organization. China’s ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Wang Qun, made the unusually harsh remarks at a meeting …

Nakba Day is observed on 15 May every year and commemorates the displacement of Palestinians when the Israeli state was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War. “Nakba” is the Arabic word for “catastrophe” or “disaster” and the occasion remembers the 700,000 Palestinians forced to flee as a …