International

U.S. sanctions hundreds of Syrian research center employees

April 24th, 20170 WASHINGTON ― The Treasury Department sanctioned 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), an agency that Washington says develops chemical weapons for the government of Bashar al-Assad, the Treasury said in a statement. Some of the people blacklisted had worked on Syria's chemical weapons program for...

Israeli troops kill Palestinian who rammed West Bank bus stop

April 20th, 20170 BETHLEHEM ― Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian driver who rammed his car into a bus stop in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday injuring a pedestrian, the army and a hospital spokesman said. An army statement said the car rammed a bus stop at Gush Etzion Junction, a busy intersection near a cluster of Israeli West Bank...

Trump signs executive order scrutinizing skilled immigrant visas

April 19th, 20170 President Donald Trump will be ordering a thorough review of the country's high-skilled immigration visa program Thursday after having signed an executive order Tuesday targeting the H-1B program.  The move signals a further attempt at Trump to target foreign companies that typically hire foreign workers over Americans.  In the...

Emirates reduces flights on five U.S. routes as Trump’s restrictions hit demand

April 19th, 20170 DUBAI ― Emirates, the largest international airline by passenger traffic, said on Wednesday it was cutting flights on five U.S. routes after restrictions imposed by President Trump's administration weakened demand from the Middle East. Since taking office, Trump has signed two executive orders banning refugees and citizens from...

More than a thousand Palestinians in Israeli jails begin hunger strike

April 17th, 20170 WEST BANK ― Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails began a hunger strike on Monday in response to a call by prominent prisoner Marwan Barghouti, widely seen as a possible future Palestinian president. Palestinians termed the open-ended strike a protest against poor conditions and an Israeli policy of detention without trial that...

U.S. drops largest non-nuclear bomb on ISIS in Afghanistan

April 13th, 20171 The United States dropped a massive GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever used in combat, in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday against a series of caves used by ISIS militants, the military said. It was the first time the United States has used this size of bomb in a conflict. It was dropped from a MC-130 aircraft in the...

British PM to raise ‘hard issues’ with Saudi Arabia

April 8th, 20170 RIYADH —British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday she would raise "hard issues" with Saudi Arabia's leaders on a visit to the country, as critics urged her to pressure Riyadh over its air war in Yemen and human rights record. May also said she was appalled by reports of a chemical weapons attack in northern Syria that...

Trump’s son-in-law visits Iraq with top U.S. general

April 8th, 20170 BAGHDAD — President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, flew into Iraq last week with the top U.S. general to get a first-hand assessment of the battle against ISIS from U.S. commanders on the ground and Iraqi leaders. For Kushner, who has not been to Iraq before, the trip comes at a critical time as Trump examines ways to accelerate...

Israel Aerospace Industries signs near $2 billion missile deal with India

April 8th, 20170 JERUSALEM — State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has struck a deal worth almost $2 billion to supply India's army and navy with missile defense systems, the company said on Thursday, describing it as Israel's largest ever defense deal. IAI said in a statement it would supply an advanced air defense system, including...

With healthcare faltering in Gaza, care in Israel is sought after

April 8th, 20171 GAZA — For many patients suffering from life-threatening diseases in the Gaza Strip, treatment in neighboring Israel or the occupied West Bank is a much sought-after option. But Israel tightly restricts Palestinian passage from the Gaza Strip, one of its bitterest enemies. Although it exempts from the ban Gazans seeking "life-saving...

U.S. warships strike Syrian airfield in response to Idlib ‘chemical attack’

April 7th, 20170 President Trump ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons attack was allegedly launched, declaring he acted in America's "vital national security interest." The deadliest chemical weapons attack in years in Syria killed dozens of people in the rebel-held northern Idlib province on Tuesday...

Yemeni Americans stage New York protest, urge U.S. to rethink Saudi alliance

April 2nd, 20170 NEW YORK CITY — On a cold, snowy Sunday morning, more than 100 Arab Americans gathered outside the United Nations headquarters to protest the United States' support for Saudi Arabia, which they say is the culprit responsible for extreme devastation and famine in Yemen. Dozens of Yemeni, Lebanese and Iraqi American demonstrators met...

Two JDL members arrested for brutally beating Palestinian man outside AIPAC conference

April 1st, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C. ― A 55-year old Palestinian-American instructor at a North Carolina community college was “brutally beaten” by members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) whil e walking through a protest outside the AIPAC conference in Washington D.C. on Sunday. The man was identified as Kamal Nayfeh. The JDL members...

Lebanon’s Aoun takes tumble as Arab summit starts

March 29th, 20170 AMMAN ― Lebanese President Michel Aoun tripped and fell face down as Arab heads of state gathered at the start of their summit at the Dead Sea in Jordan on Wednesday, television footage showed. Aoun, 82, appeared to trip on a low, red-carpeted podium where flags of Arab states had been arranged. Two men in suits rushed to help him...

Iran steps up support for Houthis in Yemen’s war

March 24th, 20170 ANKARA — Iran is sending advanced weapons and military advisers to Yemen's rebel Houthi movement, stepping up support for its ally in a civil war whose outcome could sway the balance of power in the Middle East, regional and Western sources say. Iran's enemy Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition fighting the Houthis in the...

UN: ‘Worst is yet to come’ with 400,000 trapped in west Mosul

March 24th, 20170 MOSUL — About 400,000 Iraqi civilians are trapped in the ISIS-held Old City of western Mosul, short of food and basic needs, as the battle between the militants and government forces rages around them, the United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday. Many fear fleeing because of ISIS snipers and landmines. But 157,000 have...

Israeli ban targeting boycott supporters raises alarm abroad

March 24th, 20170 JERUSALEM — A law barring foreigners from entering Israel if they back boycotts against the country is causing alarm among liberal American Jews and others who perceive an attempt to suppress critical political opinion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government has long campaigned against the Palestinian-led Boycott,...

ISIS claims responsibility for UK parliament attack by British man

March 23rd, 20170 LONDON ― The attacker who killed three people near parliament in London before being shot dead was named on Thursday as British-born Khalid Masood, who was once investigated by MI5 intelligence officers over concerns about violent extremism. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency,...

US bans electronics on flights from eight Middle Eastern and North African countries

March 21st, 20170 Washington, D.C.-Large electronics such as laptops, tablets, e-readers, and portable video players are among the devices that will be banned from flights from eight-majority Muslim countries. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security declared any electronic device larger than a mobile phone would be banned from airlines from these...

Lebanon’s Gumblatt affirms son as political heir

March 19th, 20170 BEIRUT - Lebanon's main Druze leader, Walid Gumblatt, on Sunday publicly confirmed his son Taymour as his political heir, extending the tradition of dynastic politics that plays a big part in the country's sectarian government. Gumblatt, the leading politician of the minority Druze community, took off his Palestinian koufieh...

Lebanese consulate moves to accomodate community growth

March 15th, 20170 SOUTHFIELD — A vast, green vista, dotted with skyscrapers and notable landmarks, unfolds below the large windows of a contemporary office – a landscape reminiscent of millions' homeland of Lebanon. Bilal Kabalan, consul general of Lebanon, looks through binoculars from his office and points out the several observable towns where...

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to be released

March 13th, 20170 CAIRO ― Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown as president of Egypt in an uprising in 2011, will be released from detention in a military hospital, the public prosecutor ruled on Monday, his lawyers and judicial sources said. "He will go to his home in Heliopolis," Mubarak's lawyer Farid El Deeb said, adding the ageing former president...

Lebanon appoints new army chief

March 10th, 20170 BEIRUT — Lebanon appointed General Joseph Aoun as army commander on Wednesday, replacing General Jean Kahwaji at the head of a force that has been guarantor of civil peace since the 1975-90 civil war. The Lebanese government also filled several high-ranking security and judicial posts, Information Minister Melhem Riachi said in a...