White House: U.S. working to designate Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group
April 30th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump is working to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organization, the White House said on Tuesday, which would bring sanctions against Egypt’s oldest Islamist movement. “The president has consulted with his national security team and leaders in the region who share his concern...
Reuters: Iran’s Zarif believes Trump does not want war, but could be lured into conflict
April 29th, 20190 NEW YORK — Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif does not believe President Trump wants war with Iran, but he told Reuters on Wednesday that Trump could be lured into a conflict. “I don’t think he wants war,” Zarif said in an interview at the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York. “But that doesn’t...
Sanctions on Iranian oil bring U.S. drivers pain at the pump
April 26th, 20190 American middle class consumers are enjoying the strongest wage growth in a decade, but higher gasoline prices are eating a good chunk of that increase for many, and it looks like pump prices are headed higher. Gasoline pump prices have already jumped about 25 percent this year, the fastest rate in three years. Trump administration...
Notre Dame of Gaza: Our mosques and churches are also burning
April 26th, 20190 As the 300-foot spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris tragically came tumbling down on live television, my thoughts ventured to Nuseirat Refugee Camp, my childhood home in the Gaza Strip. Then, also on television, I watched as a small bulldozer hopelessly clawed through the rubble of my neighborhood mosque. I grew up around that...
Egyptian voters approve extension of Sisi’s presidency until 2030
April 25th, 20190 CAIRO — Nearly 90 percent of referendum voters approved constitutional amendments that could keep the president in power until 2030. Egyptian voters have overwhelmingly backed constitutional changes allowing President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to remain in power until 2030, the election commission has said. "These are effective from...
Saudi Arabia beheads 37 mostly Shia’, including aspiring Michigan college student
April 24th, 20194 Saudi Arabia beheaded 37 of its citizens on Tuesday, in the largest mass execution the country has carried out since 2016. One man was pinned to a pole in public after being beheaded, his body shown as a warning to others. The country said that Shi'a religious leader Shiekh Mohammed al-Attiyah was among those executed on...
Netanyahu: Israel to name new town on Golan after Trump
April 23rd, 20190 OCCUPIED GOLAN HEIGHTS - Israel said on Tuesday it would name a new community on the occupied Golan Heights after President Trump as an expression of gratitude for his recognition of its claim of sovereignty over the strategic plateau. Israel captured the Golan from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed it, against international law. The...
War versus peace: Israel has decided and so should we
April 19th, 20190 So, what have we learned from the Israeli legislative elections on April 9? A whole lot. To start with, don’t let such references as the “tight race” between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his main rival, Benny Gantz, fool you. Yes, Israelis are divided on some issues that are particular to...
Explaining the Israeli election: Who won, who lost?
April 19th, 20190 TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won the backing of a majority of parliament members on Tuesday to form a new government, following the April 9 election. Netanyahu is heading towards a record fifth term in office confident of being able to put together a bloc of religious-rightist parties. It would be a slim...
U.S. official: Washington will not remove Sudan from terror list while military rules
April 18th, 20190 WASHINGTON - The United States will not remove Sudan from the state sponsor of terrorism list until the country’s leadership and policies change and the military no longer holds power, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. “We will be willing to look at removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism if there is...Egypt to hold referendum on extending Sisi’s rule on April 20-22
April 18th, 20190 CAIRO - Egypt’s election commission said on Wednesday that a referendum potentially allowing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in office until 2030 will take place on April 20-22. The ballot, featuring several constitutional amendments, was given final approval in parliament on Tuesday. The changes, if approved, would extend...
Runaway Saudi sisters fear death, plead for world’s help
April 18th, 20190 TBILISI - Two Saudi sisters took to Twitter on Wednesday to plead for international protection and a safe haven, saying their lives would be at risk if they went back to Saudi Arabia. The women, in their 20s, said they had arrived in the former Soviet republic of Georgia and needed help from the international community to find a new...
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement co-founder denied entry by U.S. government
April 12th, 20190 Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli financial interests, has been denied entry to the United States after airline staff informed him he wouldn't be flying. Barghouti was at Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday when he was told by U.S....
Pardoning Assange would be the first step back toward rule of law
April 12th, 20190 On April 11, the ongoing saga of journalist and transparency activist Julian Assange took a dangerous turn. Ecuador's president, Lenin Moreno, revoked his asylum in that country's London embassy. British police immediately arrested him — supposedly pursuant to his "crime" of jumping bail on an invalid arrest warrant in an investigation...
Trump congratulates Netanyahu: “U.S. with you and Israel all the way!”
April 12th, 20190 WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to congratulate him on his re-election, and Netanyahu said he thanked his ally for “tremendous support for Israel.” Netanyahu tweeted that Trump had called him from Air Force One. The president was on a flight to Texas. Netanyahu......
For Palestinians, it doesn’t matter who wins the Israeli elections
April 12th, 20190 Israeli elections have just concluded and the results indicate that Benjamin Netanyahu is set to win a fifth term as Israeli prime minister. The race between Netanyahu and his strongest challenger, Benjamin Gantz, who is a former chief of staff of the Israeli military forces, was very tight. But even if Gantz and his associated political...
Reuters: Egypt withdraws from U.S.-led anti-Iran security initiative
April 12th, 20190 RIYADH/WASHINGTON, DC — Egypt has pulled out of the U.S. effort to forge an “Arab NATO” with key Arab allies, according to four sources familiar with the decision, in a blow to the Trump administration’s strategy to contain Iranian power. Egypt conveyed its decision to the United States and other participants in the proposed......
State Dept. warns Americans of kidnapping risk: Lebanon among other Arab states on the list
April 11th, 20190 WASHINGTON, DC - Due to the increased risk of American citizen abductions, the U.S. State Department has updated its travel advisories for 35 countries, with a new indicator to highlight the risk of kidnapping and hostage taking. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen and Libya are the Arab states on the list. The...
Sudan’s Bashir ousted by military; how did Sudan get here?
April 11th, 20190 KHARTOUM — After leading an autocratic government for 30 years, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the armed forces on Thursday, but protesters took to the streets demanding a civilian government. The ouster of Bashir came after months of demonstrations against his rule. In an address on...
Julian Assenge forcibly removed from Ecuadorian embassy, arrested in London
April 11th, 20190 LONDON, UK —Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London on Thursday, bringing his seven-year stay to a dramatic and unexpected end. Video showed Assange with a full white beard being escorted out by police into a nearby van. Assange was arrested for skipping bail in the UK in 2012, at...
U.S. senators seek details on nuclear power cooperation with Saudi Arabia
April 5th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, U.S. senators from both parties asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry for details about recent approvals for companies to share nuclear energy information with Saudi Arabia, with the lawmakers expressing concern about possible development of atomic weapons. Saudi Arabia has engaged in “many deeply......
U.S. House rebukes Trump on Saudi Arabia, backs measure to end Yemen involvement
April 5th, 20190 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution on Thursday that would end all U.S. involvement with the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the war in Yemen, rebuffing President Trump’s policy of continued support for the kingdom. As the resolution had already passed the Senate, the vote in the Democratic-led...
Algeria’s Bouteflika – from revolutionary to ailing recluse
April 5th, 20190 ALGIERS — Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who resigned on Tuesday after resisting weeks of protests, established himself by ending a ruinous civil war but came undone over corruption and economic stagnation. The 82-year-old, a veteran of Algeria’s war for independence, has rarely been seen in public since a stroke in......
U.N.: Arab states face water emergency, urgent action needed
April 5th, 20190 CAIRO — Arab states are facing a water supply emergency they need to coordinate an urgent response to, with per capita resources expected to fall by 50 percent by 2050, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday. The Middle East and North Africa have suffered more than any other region from water scarcity and...
Israeli elections: Bibi channels Trump
April 3rd, 20190 TEL AVIV — As Israel's April 9 elections approaches with a possible indictment on corruption charges, Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu's advisers are channeling President Trump's use of social media to sway the opinions of millions of his social media followers. His young campaign advisers are sending out a steady supply of......
