Tag Archives: Middle East

The US is offering two $1million cash rewards to bring Pakistani national and human smuggler Abid Ali Kahn to justice and to crackdown on his people-smuggling network that operates across the Middle East and Asia, the Department of State announced on Thursday. Ali Khan allegedly operates a Pakistani-based smuggling network …

The Saudi-led coalition has rejected the findings of a report by the UN Human Rights Council that strongly condemns the egregious violations committed by the foreign forces in Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Abdul Aziz Al-Wasel, said the coalition “does not accept the report,” calling …

A container ship said to be the largest in the world is on course for the Suez Canal, months after its sister ship Ever Given blocked Egypt’s crucial waterway, halting traffic for six days and disrupting global trade. The Ever Ace – currently docked in Suffolk, in the UK – …

The appointment of a new government in Lebanon is a “very important step” for the crisis-hit country, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Friday, wishing Prime Minister Najib Mikati “the best success.” Guterres added of the new government that “of course it is not enough, there are many other things to …

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Friday he hoped to stop his country’s collapse and bring back prosperity. In an emotional speech after signing a decree with President Michel Aoun to form the new cabinet, Mikati said the situation in the country was “difficult,” adding that there were no reserves …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called upon the international community, financial institutions, and the private sector to come together to spark a “green recovery” to help meet the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “A green recovery has become an urgent need, coming at the top of the government …

The assistant to Iran’s foreign minister and director-general for the Persian Gulf affairs of the Foreign Ministry has expressed the country’s intention to cooperate at a maximum level with all its neighbors, saying Tehran-Riyadh ties will be in the interests of the entire region and the Muslim world. “We think …

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian highlighted today Iraq and Syria’s role in facilitating initiatives in the region. This came during a meeting between the Iranian Foreign Minister, who began a visit to Damascus on Sunday morning, with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Earlier today, Abdollahian held talks with his Syrian …

The nine countries attending Baghdad’s Conference for Cooperation and Partnership endorse the principles of “good neighborliness” and “national sovereignty”, a joint communique released by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Saturday, asserting “joint cooperation” and “mutual interest” to cope with common challenges. The participants of the Baghdad …

Several Middle Eastern leaders and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Baghdad on Saturday at a summit hosted by Iraq, which wants its neighbours to talk to each other instead of settling scores on its territory. Iraq’s security has improved in recent years but it is still plagued by big …

The Lebanese Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at an open ground near Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms area on Friday, escalating cross-border hostilities, Reuters reported. In a statement, Hezbollah said the attack with dozens of rockets was a response to Israeli airstrikes on Thursday which the Shi’ite …

Shadi Salim, 41, shot dead near occupied West Bank village of Beita, the scene of protests against an Israeli outpost. A Palestinian man has been killed in Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank, the scene of confrontations between protesters and Israeli forces for weeks, Palestinian officials said. Shadi Omar …

Yemeni army soldiers and fighters from allied Popular Committees are advancing on new fronts in the country’s southeastern province of Shabwah after capturing a strategic hilltop position. A Yemeni military source told the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency that Saudi-paid militants and troops withdrew from Aqabat Malih after …

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has released two videos showing armed Israeli settlers and masked Zionists fatally shooting Palestinians who did not pose any danger to them, with the Tel Aviv regime’s soldiers standing idly by. The first clip captured on May 14 shows Israeli forces in the West Bank …

Since the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Mohammad bin Salman, the de facto leader of the Saudi Kingdom, has kept a rather low profile in the international arena. But that does not mean the young prince has made a U-turn in his major policies, …

A bus carrying Afghan, Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants crashed in eastern Turkey early on Sunday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 26 others, local authorities said. The crash occurred in Van province’s Muradiye district near the Turkish border with Iran, where the vehicle caught fire after tumbling into a …

A fire aboard a ship in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port was extinguished on Thursday after it had been sparked overnight by an explosion in a container, the Dubai government’s media office said. Summary | Blast that caused blaze could be heard 22 km away Explosion blamed on flammable material in …

A small training aircraft has crashed in Lebanon’s town of Ghosta, north of the capital Beirut, carrying a pilot and two passengers, aviation sources said on Thursday. Initial reports suggested all three passengers were killed in the crash, the sources said. The plane belonged to flight training firm Open Sky …

The container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March and has been detained there since is due to finally resume its journey on Wednesday after the owner and insurers reached a compensation settlement with the canal authority. One of the world’s largest container ships, the Ever Given became wedged …

Jordan’s security court will hand down its verdict in a behind-closed-doors trial of a former royal confidant accused of destabilising the monarchy on Monday, an official source said. The prosecution accuses former finance minister Bassem Awadallah, along with a minor royal, of backing the aspirations of the former heir to …