Fresh Syria peace talks off to another stumbling start
GENEVA — Syria peace talks hosted by the United Nations in Geneva spawned a new series of meetings on Thursday with no hint of tangible progress toward a deal to end the six-year-old civil war. U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura had promised a refreshingly brisk pace of business-like meetings over a short four-day round, with new...
Syrian government denies U.S. accusation of crematorium at prison
May 19th, 20171 DAMASCUS — The Syrian government on Tuesday denied U.S. accusations that a crematorium had been built at one of its prisons that could be used to dispose of detainees' remains. A foreign ministry statement published by state news agency SANA said the U.S. administration had come out with "a new Hollywood story detached from reality"...
Spread of fighting, cholera pushes Yemen to collapse
May 19th, 20170 SANAA, Yemen — Spilling into the hallways of crowded Yemeni hospitals, children writhe in pain from cholera. Displaced villagers roam baking hot plains and barren mountains to evade warring militias. The escalating outbreak of disease and displacement of tens of thousands by recent fighting has inflamed one of the world's worst...
Palestinian killed as settler opens fire during peaceful protest
May 18th, 20170 WEST BANK ― A Palestinian man was killed in the occupied West Bank on Thursday when an Israeli settler opened fire as protesters crowded around his car and pelted it with rocks, according to multiple accounts. A Reuters photographer and other witnesses said hundreds of Palestinians had gathered near the city of Nablus to show...
Trump revealed classified intelligence to Russians about ISIS
May 15th, 20170 WASHINGTON ― President Trump disclosed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister about a planned ISIS operation during their meeting last week, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the situation said on Monday. The intelligence, both officials said, was supplied by a U.S. ally in the fight against the militant...
U.S. to arm Syrian Kurds fighting ISIS
May 10th, 20170 VILNIUS ― Despite fierce opposition from NATO ally Turkey, President Trump has approved supplying arms to Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from ISIS, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Ankara views the Kurdish YPG militia, fighting within a larger U.S.-backed coalition, as the Syrian...
Macron wins French presidency, to sighs of relief in Europe
May 7th, 20171 PARIS- Emmanuel Macron was elected French president on Sunday with a business-friendly vision of European integration, defeating Marine Le Pen, a far-right nationalist who threatened to take France out of the European Union. The centrist's emphatic victory, which also smashed the dominance of France’s mainstream parties, will bring...
Syrian opposition returns to Astana after Erdogan, Putin summit
May 5th, 20170 SOCHI, RUSSIA — On Wednesday, the leaders of Russia and Turkey publicly re-affirmed their commitment to working together to end the conflict in Syria, despite a gas attack on a Syrian city that tested their fragile alliance Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Tayyip Erdogan, have formed a pact on Syria...
Thousands protest Yemen president’s discharging of southern leaders
May 5th, 20170 ADEN — Tens of thousands of Yemenis protested in Aden on Thursday against President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's discharging of the provincial governor and a cabinet minister widely praised for helping drive Houthis from the city in 2015. The two men discharged, Aden provincial governor Aydaroos al-Zubaidi and cabinet member Hani bin...Poll: Arab youth disapprove of Trump, see him as anti-Muslim
DUBAI — A majority of young Arabs see President Trump's election as the factor most influencing their region in the next five years, a survey published on Wednesday showed, and they expressed concern that the U.S. president was anti-Muslim. Trump signed an executive order in March banning citizens from six Muslim-majority nations...Turkey’s EU dream is over, for now
VALLETTA — Turkey under President Tayyip Erdogan has turned its back on joining the European Union, at least for now, the bloc's top official dealing with Ankara said, offering economic cooperation instead if both sides can restore friendly ties. After years of deadlock on Turkey's bid to join the world's biggest trading bloc, EU...
Lebanese army chief visits Washington, meets officials
May 5th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Newly-appointed army commander General Joseph Aoun arrived in Washington, D.C. April 29 on an official visit, the first since assuming his post in March. The visit, which runs through May 6, is part of the ongoing Lebanese-U.S. military cooperation. Aoun received the invitation "through the established...
Deadly U.S. strike killed no militants in Mosul
May 5th, 20170 CAIRO — After an American airstrike killed more than 100 Iraqi civilians in a house in the western part of Mosul in March, U.S. officials suggested ISIS was to blame for the horrific toll, saying militants may have crammed the building with people, booby-trapped it with explosives, then lured in an airstrike by firing from the...
ISIS is developing own social media platform
May 5th, 20170 LONDON — ISIS militants are developing their own social media platform to avoid security crackdowns on their communications and propaganda, the head of the European Union's police agency said on Wednesday. Europol Director Rob Wainwright said the new online platform had been uncovered during a 48-hour operation against Internet...
Trump to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia in first foreign trip
May 4th, 20170 WASHINGTON ― President Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this month as part of his first foreign trip, wading directly into the tangled diplomacy of Middle Eastern politics, a senior administration official said on Thursday. The swing through the Middle East, added to a trip that includes a NATO meeting in Brussels on May......
Pope visits Egypt to mend ties between Muslims and embattled Christians
April 30th, 20170 VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis hopes to mend ties with Muslims on his trip to Egypt on Friday, but faces criticism from church conservatives for meeting Islamic religious leaders after a spate of deadly attacks against Christians. In a video message to the people of Egypt on Tuesday, Francis said the world had been "torn by blind...
Israel strikes alleged arms depot near Damascus airport
April 30th, 20170 BEIRUT — Israeli warplanes struck a weapons supply hub operated by Hezbollah near Damascus airport on Thursday, targeting arms sent from Iran in commercial and military cargo aircraft, Syrian rebel and regional intelligence sources told Reuters. The Israeli military said later that one of its anti-aircraft missiles intercepted a......
China bans ‘Muhammad’ and ‘Jihad’ as baby names in Muslim populated region
April 30th, 20172 BEIJING — The Chinese government has prohibited parents from choosing certain Islamic names for their children, like "Muhammad", "Arafat" and "Jihad." Officials described the ban as part of an effort to "curb religious fervor" in the western region of Xinjiang, home to more than 10 million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority...
Trump: Saudis not paying fair share for U.S. defense
April 29th, 20170 WASHINGTON — President Trump complained on Thursday that U.S. ally Saudi Arabia was not treating the United States fairly and Washington was losing a “tremendous amount of money” defending the kingdom. In an interview with Reuters, Trump confirmed his administration was in talks about possible visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel in...
‘I had no choice:’ Odeh accepts plea deal, resists admission of guilt
April 27th, 20170 DETROIT— Hours before Rasmea Odeh entered her plea in court on Tuesday, dozens of supporters, ranging from organizers and Chicago-based defense team members, rallied outside the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in opposition to the parameters set around her conviction. Groups in attendance included the U.S....
BREAKING: Federal government drop charges against AMP staffers
April 24th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.- Federal authorities have dropped charges against AMP (American Muslims for Palestine) staffers Taher Herzallah and Kareem El-Hosseiny. The two men, both employees for the group, faced charges for disrupting David Freidman's Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, vocalizing opposition to the U.S. Ambassador to......
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......
