Never-ending destruction of historical sites in Mecca and Medina, cradle of Islam
May 15th, 20210 Saudi Arabia, in which Wahhabism is the state form of Islam, has a long history of vandalizing and demolishing historical monuments. Cultural devastation of Islamic heritage sites is not a new phenomenon to the Bedouin kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After the conquest of Mecca and Medina in the mid-1920s Saudis went on an orgy of...
Israel’s violent assault on Gaza continues, as death toll passes 100
May 14th, 20210 GAZA — Israel’s violent assault on Gaza continued into Friday, with the reports confirming Israel’s airstrikes had killed at least 115 killed, including 27 children, 11 women and wounding over 600. More bodies remain trapped under the rubble. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has responsibility for the welfare of...
Top scientists question the need for COVID-19 booster shots
May 13th, 20210 COVID-19 vaccine developers are making ever bolder assertions that the world will need yearly booster shots, or new vaccines to tackle concerning coronavirus variants, but some scientists question when, or whether, such shots will be needed. In interviews with Reuters, more than a dozen influential infectious disease and vaccine...
Israel levels third high rise as bombardment of Gaza continues
May 12th, 20210 PALESTINE — Israel’s assault on Gaza continued on Wednesday, leveling a third high rise, the 16-story al-Shorouk tower, which housed local and foreign media outlets as well as shops and apartments. Israeli authorities said Hamas members were using each of the three buildings it has so far targeted for military purposes, though...
20 Palestinians, including nine children, killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza, amid days of violence
May 10th, 20210 PALESTINE — Israel directed military operations to Gaza, killing 20 Palestinians, including nine children, in airstrikes as violence and crackdowns by Israeli forces continued on Palestinians over protests stemming from threatened eviction of families from Sheikh Jarrah. Days of violence in Jerusalem, including the multiple raids...
Lebanon’s lights may go off as cash for electricity runs out
May 7th, 20210 BEIRUT – Lebanon's lights may go off this month because cash for electricity generation is running out, a lawmaker said on Thursday, as the country grapples with a deep economic crisis. Lebanon's parliament had approved a $200 million emergency loan to finance fuel imports for power generation in March, but a committee reviewing the...
Saudi Arabia considers barring overseas Hajj pilgrims for second year, sources say
May 5th, 20210 RIYADH – Saudi Arabia is considering barring overseas pilgrims from the annual Hajj for the second year running as COVID-19 cases rise globally and worries grow about the emergence of new variants, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Such a move would restrict the pilgrimage to Mecca, a once in a lifetime duty...
Syrian court selects two candidates to appear on ballot against Assad
May 3rd, 20210 DAMASCUS — On Monday, Syria's higher constitutional court selected two obscure figures to appear on ballots standing against President Bashar al-Assad in a May 26 election, which the West rejects as a farce that will hurt diplomatic efforts to end the civil war. From a list of 51 potential candidates, the court approved just...
Blinken meets Israel’s Mossad spy chief for talks on Iran
May 1st, 20210 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and its ambassador to Washington on Thursday, and the Israeli officials expressed “deep concern” about Iran’s nuclear activities, according to a person familiar with the matter. The meeting in Washington followed talks this week between U.S....
82 dead, more than 100 injured in Baghdad hospital fire
April 29th, 20210 BAGHDAD — A fire caused by an oxygen tank explosion at a COVID-19 hospital, Ibn Khatib, has resulted in the death of at least 82 people and injured more than 100 more. The explosion occurred on April 24. Witnesses and authorities said that the blaze caused some people to jump from hospital windows. Prime Minister Mustafa...
Well-known Lebanese composer Samir Sfeir believed to be detained in Saudi Arabia for unknown reasons
April 28th, 20210 BEIRUT — Samir Sfeir, a well-known Lebanese music composer, is believed to be detained in Saudi Arabia for unknown reasons, according to local media and international news sources. Sfeir has sung about Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun and is said to be close to the president’s party. He is from Ajaltoun, Lebanon. The Lebanese...
Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of “apartheid” crimes against Palestinians
April 27th, 20210 NEW YORK — On Tuesday, an international rights watchdog accused Israel of pursuing policies of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians — and against its own Arab minority — that amount to crimes against humanity. New York-based Human Rights Watch published a 213-page report, which it said was not aimed at comparing...
A Palestinian prayer for Ramadan: May the voices of the oppressed be heard
April 26th, 20210 Palestinians COVID-19 cases, especially in Gaza, have reached record highs, largely due to the arrival of a greatly contagious coronavirus variant, which was first identified in Britain. Gaza has always been vulnerable to the deadly pandemic. Under a hermetic Israeli blockade since 2006, the densely populated Gaza Strip lacks basic...
Syria receives 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine
April 23rd, 20210 DAMASCUS — Thanks to a global initiative, Syria received the first 200,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, U.N. officials announced on Thursday. The doses were delivered through the global COVAX initiative, which has also delivered the badly needed vaccine to Yemen. Another 54,000 vaccines were delivered to the northwest...
Ramadan nights see Israeli police and Palestinians face off in Jerusalem
April 22nd, 20210 JERUSALEM — Nightly clashes and other violent incidents between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem during Ramadan have laid bare simmering tensions in the holy city. Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police amid a dispute over evening gatherings at Damascus Gate after iftar, the breaking of the daytime fast during the......
Syria to hold presidential election, slammed by opposition, on May 26
April 18th, 20210 DAMASCUS — Syria will hold a presidential election on May 26 that is virtually certain to return President Bashar al-Assad for a third term — an event that Washington and the opposition say is a farce designed to cement his autocratic rule. Assad's family and his Baath party have ruled Syria for five decades with the help of the...
Lebanon energy minister blames fuel shortage on Syria smuggling
April 16th, 20210 BEIRUT - Lebanon's caretaker energy minister on Thursday blamed the country's fuel crisis on profiteers who smuggle gasoline into neighboring Syria. At a Cabinet meeting to discuss the issue, Raymond Ghajar said the gap in gasoline prices between the two countries meant smugglers could make huge profits. "The price of 20 liters of......
Israel rejects ICC investigation: What are the possible future scenarios?
April 14th, 20210 The Israeli government’s position regarding an impending investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of alleged war crimes committed in occupied Palestine has been finally declared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It will be made clear that Israel is a country with rule of law that knows how to...
Egypt impounds ship that got stuck in Suez Canal, wants $900 million in compensation
April 14th, 20210 EGYPT — An Egyptian court has ordered the Japanese owner of the massive "Ever Given" cargo ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal last month to pay $900 million in compensation for the impact on economic transit it caused. The ship is now impounded and its cargo seized by Egyptian authorities. The authorities say the...
Ship owned by Israeli firm attacked off UAE coast, media reports
April 13th, 20210 DUBAI — A commercial vessel owned by an Israeli firm was attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in Gulf waters, pro-Iran media and an Israeli television channel said on Tuesday. Israel’s top-rated Channel 12 quoted unnamed Israeli officials as blaming arch-foe Iran for the assault, which it described as a missile...
Israel pledges to work with U.S. on Iran
April 11th, 20210 JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister pledged on Sunday to cooperate with the U.S. on Iran, voicing hope that Israeli security would be safeguarded under any renewed Iranian nuclear deal that Washington reaches. “Israel views the United States as a full partner across all operational theatres, not the least Iran,” Benny Gantz......
U.S. restores assistance for Palestinians, to provide $235 million in aid
April 8th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C./WEST BANK — On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced it would provide $235 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinians, restarting funding for the United Nations agency supporting refugees and restoring other assistance cut off by former President Trump. The package, including humanitarian, economic and...
From his solitary confinement, Marwan Barghouti holds the key to Fatah’s Future
April 8th, 20210 If imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti becomes the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the status quo will change substantially. For Israel, as well as for the current PA president, Mahmoud Abbas, such a scenario is more dangerous than another strong Hamas showing in the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary......
Royal rift, economic hardship shake Jordan’s stability
April 8th, 20210 AMMAN — Unprecedented public criticism of Jordan’s monarchy by a senior royal who has been placed under house arrest has shaken the country’s image as an island of stability in the Middle East. On April 3, Jordan’s military told King Abdullah’s half brother, Prince Hamza bin Hussein, 41, to halt actions targeting...
Netanyahu’s favours were ‘currency’, prosecutor says as corruption trial starts
April 5th, 20210 JERUSALEM - An Israeli prosecutor told a court on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had helped a business couple to clinch deals worth hundred of millions of shekels in exchange for favourable coverage of him on a news website they controlled. Speaking at the opening of Netanyahu’s corruption trial, state prosecutor Liat......
