Iraqi PM warns low oil prices could hurt fight against terror
LONDON — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Thursday he feared lower revenues from falling global oil prices could hurt his country's military campaign against "Islamic State." Speaking after attending a meeting of members of the U.S.-led coalition against "Islamic State" in London, Abadi said allies could help by potentially...Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi resigns
SANAA — Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi resigned on Thursday, a government source said.Just before, Prime Minister Khaled Baha offered his government's resignation to Hadi, saying it did not want to be dragged into "an unconstructive political maze".This was an apparent reference to a stand-off between Hadi and...Lebanese army thwarts series of terrorist plots
A bombing targeted a cafe in a predominantly Alawite neighbourhood in Lebanon's second city, Jan 10.BEIRUT — The Lebanese army foiled a series terror plots Thursday, announcing the arrest of a cell planning a number of suicide attacks in the country and dismantling a car packed with explosives in northeastern Lebanon. Interior...Iraq asks for greater U.S. support in fighting extremists
Iraqi fighters prepare to fire a weapon during fighting with IS militants at Al-Nibai, north of Baghdad Jan. 12.BAGHDAD — Iraq told President Obama's envoy that the U.S.-led coalition battling "Islamic State" needs to do more to help Iraq defeat the jihadists controlling large areas of the north and west of the country. Parliament...Egypt’s high court overturns last conviction against Mubarak
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak waves to his supporters inside a cage in a courtroom at the police academy in Cairo April 13, 2013.CAIRO — Egypt's high court on Tuesday overturned the only remaining conviction against former president Hosni Mubarak, opening the way for his possible release four years after the revolution that...
Nasrallah threatens Israel over Syria Strikes
January 16th, 20150 Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.BEIRUT — Lebanon's Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Thursday that Israeli strikes inside Syria were also an aggression against Syria's regional allies, and they have the right to retaliate. "The frequent attacks on different sites in Syria is a major breach," Nasrallah told...How did Yemen become the perfect home to al-Qaeda training camps?
SANAA — Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris last week. Nasr al-Ansi, a top commander with the group, made the claim in a video on its Twitter account. According to Yemeni intelligence, both Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi, the two brothers who carried out the...Kuwaiti MP jailed for criticizing Sisi
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (L), speaks with the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah during a meeting on Jan. 5.KUWAIT CITY — Authorities in Kuwait detained a former liberal opposition lawmaker for allegedly insulting the Gulf state's ruler and criticizing a visit by the Egyptian president, his lawyer said on...“Islamic State” militants execute two Tunisian reporters in Libya
Executed journalist Sofiene Chourabi at his office in Tunis, September, 2012.TUNIS — The Libyan branch of the "Islamic State" jihadist group on Thursday claimed to have killed two Tunisian journalists who went missing in September. In a statement released on jihadist websites showing pictures of Sofiene Chourabi and Nadhir Ktari, IS...Saudi Arabia to publicly flog liberal activist
Leafletss promoting the release of Saudi activist Raif Badawi.RIYDH — A liberal activist sentenced to prison and flogging in Saudi Arabia will face a first round of lashes on Friday, rights watchdog Amnesty International said on Thursday. Raif Badawi, who set up the "Free Saudi Liberals" website, was arrested in June 2012 and charged...Yemeni police arrest six suspects in police college bombing
People look at the wreckage of a car at the scene of a car bomb attack outside the police college in Sanaa Jan. 7.SANAA — Police in Yemen arrested six people suspected of involvement in Wednesday's bombing of a police college in Sanaa, the capital's police chief told Yemeni television on Thursday. The car bomb, which exploded in the...Winter storm threaten refugees in the Middle East
Syrian refugee children look out of their tent at a refugee camp in Zahle, in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon.BEIRUT — A storm buffeted the Middle East with blizzards, rain and strong winds on Wednesday, keeping people at home across much of the region and raising concerns for Syrian refugees facing freezing temperatures in flimsy...Palestinian “Santas” protest in Bethlehem
Palestinian protesters wearing Santa Claus costumes scuffle with Israeli soldiers during clashes at Bethlehem checkpoint, West Bank.BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Palestinian protesters festively dressed as Santa Claus marched Tuesday in Bethlehem, a day before the beginning of Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city revered as the...“Islamic State” captures Jordanian pilot in Syria
"Islamic State" extremists with the Jordanian pilot, in Raqqa, Syria, Dec. 24.AMMAN — "Islamic State" militants took a Jordanian pilot prisoner after his warplane came down in northeast Syria on Wednesday, the first captive taken from the U.S.-led coalition battling the jihadi group. Jordan's armed forces said one of its pilots had...Qatar and Egypt discuss reconciliation
CAIRO — Egyptian and Qatari intelligence officials have met in Cairo to discuss reconciliation as part of Saudi-brokered efforts to end an 18-month standoff over Doha's support of the Muslim Brotherhood, security and diplomatic sources said. The sources said Qatar's intelligence chief — Ahmed Nasser Bin Jassim al-Thani — was......
Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef fined $6.5 million
CAIRO — A prominent Egyptian satirist has been fined millions of dollars over a dispute with a television channel which suspended his show after it lampooned military leaders, officials said Tuesday. Bassem Youssef, often compared to U.S. satirist Jon Stewart, moved al-Bernameg (The Program) to Saudi-owned channel MBC last year after...Veteran secularist Essebsi wins Tunisia’s first free presidential vote
TUNIS — Veteran Tunisian politician Beji Caid Essebsi won the country's first free presidential election in the final step of a transition to democracy after an uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Essebsi, a former Ben Ali official, beat rival Moncef Marzouki with 55.68 percent of the vote against 44.32......
Lebanese PM calls rivals to elect president
BEIRUT — Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam called Wednesday on rivals Hezbollah and the Future Movement to facilitate the election of a new president. Speaking following a meeting with Patriarch Beshara Rai at the seat of the Maronite Church in Bkirki, Salam said he hoped that the Hezbollah-Future dialogue, which kicked off Tuesday...Suicide bomber kills 33 anti-“Islamic State” fighters
BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber attacked fighters opposed to the "Islamic State" as they gathered Wednesday to receive salaries south of Baghdad, killing at least 33 people and wounding 55 others, Iraqi police and medical officials said. "The attacker was wearing an Iraqi army uniform, and an explosive vest packed with ball bearings," a...Of $5.4 billion pledged for Gaza, only a fraction delivered
GAZA — Two months after donors pledged $5.4 billion to help rebuild Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian, U.N. and other officials say barely 2 percent of the money has been transferred. The conference in Cairo had been hailed as a success, with Qatar promising $1 billion, Saudi Arabia $500 million and the United...Saudi Arabia will not reduce oil output despite plunging prices
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the OPEC oil cartel, cannot reduce its output, the kingdom's oil minister said on Thursday despite plunging prices. Ali al-Nuaimi added that commodity price fluctuations are to be expected, and he expressed optimism for the future despite crude's price drop of about 50 percent since......
“Islamic State”-linked group claims 2013 murders of Tunisian politicians
Slain Tunisian politician Chokri Belaid.TUNIS — Jihadists who have since joined the "Islamic State" group claimed the 2013 murders of two secular politicians that plunged Tunisia into crisis, warning of more killings just days before a presidential runoff election. "Yes, tyrants, we're the ones who killed Chokri Belaid and Mohammed...
Draft UN resolution sets deadline to end Israeli occupation
December 19th, 20140 RAMALLAH — Jordan submitted a draft resolution on ending Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands captured in 1967 to the UN Security Council for a possible vote. The resolution wants Israeli security forces withdrawn from the illegally occupied West Bank no later than the end of 2017. Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said......
U.N. appeals for $8.4 billion for humanitarian relief to Syrians
A Syrian refugee girl cries at a tent at the Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, Dec. 7.NEW YORK — The United Nations launched its biggest ever humanitarian appeal for Syria on Thursday, seeking $8.4 billion after only securing about half the funding it asked for in 2014. The aid is...The U.S. carried out 97 percent of December coalition airstrikes in Syria
Moke rises after an U.S.-led air strike in the Syrian town of Kobani Oct. 10.WASHINGTON — As U.S. fighter jets pound "Islamic State" targets in Syria, Washington's coalition allies appear increasingly absent from the air war. Although President Obama's administration announced the Syrian air strikes three months ago as a joint......