Flash flood in Jordan kills several people, mostly children
October 26th, 20180 Thirty-four people were rescued in a major operation involving police helicopters and hundreds of Jordanian army troops following a flash flood, police chief Brigadier General Farid al Sharaa told state run television. Some of the people rescued were in a serious condition. Many of those killed were children under 14. A number of...
Saudi Arabia reverses previous stories, now says Khashoggi killing ‘premeditated’
October 26th, 20180 Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate this month was premeditated, reversing previous official statements that the killing was unintended. The death of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince...
Bill Ford cancels plan for Saudi investor event following Khashouggi’s disappearance
October 19th, 20180 NEW YORK — JP Morgan & Chase Company Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and Ford Motor Company Chairman Bill Ford canceled plans to attend a Saudi investor conference, the companies said on Sunday, the latest such high-profile announcements after the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The cancellations could add...
How Khashoggi’s disappearance could affect Middle East politics
October 16th, 20180 The disappearance and possible murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has cast a long shadow over Saudi Arabia’s global image. If the Saudi government did in fact kill or kidnap him, the crime would have significant implications for Middle East politics. Turkish authorities believe he has been killed and his body, possibly...
That single line of blood: Nassir al-Mosabeh and Mohammed al-Durrah
October 16th, 20180 As the frail body of 12-year-old Nassir Al-Mosabeh fell to the ground on Friday, September 28, history was repeating itself in a most tragic way. Little Nassir was not just another number, a “martyr” to be exalted by equally poor refugees in Gaza, or vilified by Israel and its tireless hasbara machine. He was much more than...
Looking for Oum Kulthum: An Iranian take on the Arab experience
October 16th, 20180 Shirin Neshat’s “Looking for Oum Kulthum” tells of an Iranian artist’s effort at making a film on the life and career of the late Egyptian legendary singer. Though the project was made with pure intentions, it has been met with distaste and skepticism from the Arab world. A main criticism of the film is Neshat’s role as...
Trump won’t halt Saudi arms sales over journalist disappearance
October 16th, 20180 President Trump said on Thursday that he saw no reason to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, possibly setting up a clash with the U.S. Congress. Trump also said the U.S. may be closer to finding out what happened to Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi policies who...
Turkish daily: Turkey obtains recordings of Saudi journalist’s purported killing
October 13th, 20180 ISTANBUL - Turkey’s investigation into the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch purportedly indicating he was tortured and killed, a Turkish newspaper reported on Saturday. The report in the pro-government Sabah daily, which could not immediately be verified,...
Israeli court upholds entry ban on U.S. student over her BDS activities
October 13th, 20180 An Israeli court on Friday upheld the barring of an American student from the country over her activities in support of an international boycott campaign by pro-Palestinian groups. Lara Alqasem, 22, flew to Israel last week on a student visa but was refused entry. While in airport detention, she filed an appeal with Tel Aviv District...
Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife goes on trial for fraud
October 8th, 20180 TEL AVIV - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, appeared in court on Sunday for the first hearing in the fraud trial against her, in which she is alleged to have misused state funds in ordering catered meals. According to the indictment, Sara Netanyahu, along with a government employee, fraudulently obtained from...
Israel, U.S. express concerns over Russian-supplied S-300 air shield in Syria
October 7th, 20180 On Wednesday, an Israeli official played down the Russian upgrading of Syria’s air defenses, saying the newly supplied S-300 missile system could be defeated by Israel’s stealth fighters and possibly destroyed on the ground. Moscow said on Tuesday that it had delivered the S-300, a decision it took after accusing Israel of...
Reuters: Turkish authorities believe Saudi journalist Khashoggi was killed in consulate
October 6th, 20180 ANKARA - Turkish authorities believe that prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared four days ago after entering Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, was killed inside the consulate, two Turkish sources said on Saturday. “The initial assessment of the Turkish police is that Mr. Khashoggi has been killed at the...
Trump: I told Saudi king he wouldn’t last without U.S. support
October 6th, 20180 President Trump said on Tuesday that he warned Saudi Arabia’s King Salman he would not last in power “for two weeks” without the backing of the U.S. military. “We protect Saudi Arabia,” Trump said to cheers at a rally in Southaven, Mississippi. "Would you say they’re rich. And I love the King, King Salman. But I said...
Saudi crown prince praises Trump after he insulted his kingdom
October 5th, 20180 Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman praised his relationship with Donald Trump after the U.S. president told supporters he had warned the king he would not last in power “for two weeks” without U.S. military backing. “I love working with him. You know, you have to accept that any friend will say good things and bad...
U.S. seeks to negotiate a treaty with Iran
September 23rd, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States is seeking to negotiate a treaty with Iran to include Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its regional behavior, the U.S. special envoy for Iran said on Wednesday ahead of U.N. meetings in New York next week. Iran has rejected U.S. attempts to hold high-level talks since President Trump tore......
Car plows into crowd outside London Muslim center in possible hate crime
September 21st, 20180 LONDON — On September 19, two people were hospitalized after a car reportedly hit pedestrians near a Muslim community center in northwest London in an incident police said was being investigated as a possible hate crime. There were reports people in the car had made Islamophobic comments before leaving the scene in the borough of...
Nasrallah: Hezbollah has precision rockets despite Israeli efforts in Syria
September 21st, 20180 BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Thursday, Sept. 20, that his group had obtained precision rockets despite Israeli strikes in recent years aimed at cutting the supply route through Syria. “No matter what you do to cut the route, the matter is over and the resistance possesses precision and non-precision rockets......
Nasrallah: Hezbollah will stay in Syria for now
September 19th, 20180 BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, a key Damascus ally, said on Wednesday that his group will keep its military presence in Syria until further notice, commending the Idlib Russian-Turkish agreement as a step toward reaching a political solution in the country. “We will stay there (in Syria) even after the...
Amid rising tension with Russia, U.S. Marines conduct major exercises with rebels in Syria
September 17th, 20180 AMMAN — A Syrian rebel commander said on Thursday rare military exercises with U.S. Marines in southern Syria sent a strong message to Russia and Iran that the Americans and the rebels intend to stay and confront any threats to their presence. Colonel Muhanad al Talaa, commander of the Pentagon-backed Maghawir al Thawra group, told...
UNICEF: War a ‘living hell’ for Yemeni children
September 16th, 20180 SANAA — In the malnutrition ward of a hospital in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, doctors weigh toddlers with protruding rib cages and skeletal limbs. Twenty children, most under the age of 2, being treated at the ward in Sab’een Hospital are among hundreds of thousands of children suffering from severe malnutrition in the impoverished...
U.S. envoy expects criticism to anticipated ‘peace plan’ from both Palestinians and Israelis
September 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration is prepared for Israeli criticism of elements of its coming Middle East peace plan, the U.S. envoy to the region said, even as Washington faces growing Palestinian accusations that it will be heavily tilted in favor of Israel. Jason Greenblatt, a chief architect of the long-awaited peace......
Oslo Accords 25 years later, peace hopes a fading memory
September 14th, 20180 The Oslo Accords 25 years later. As Palestinians prepare to lower the flag over their shuttered mission in Washington, no one can predict when they'll return to the city where just a quarter of a century ago a diplomatic triumph was celebrated on a sunlit White House lawn. Hosted by then-President Clinton, Palestinian and Israeli...
Protesters torch political party offices in Basra’s continued violence
September 9th, 20180 BASRA, Iraq — On Thursday, hundreds of people took to the streets of Iraq’s southern oil city Basra for a fourth day of violent protests, where residents, angry over the neglect of their city’s collapsing infrastructure, set fire to political offices. Ten demonstrators have been killed in clashes with security forces and dozens......
Syrian prime minister: Idlib will soon be under state control
September 9th, 20180 BEIRUT — On Thursday, Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said in Damascus that opposition-controlled Idlib province will soon be restored to Syrian state sovereignty, vowing to win any coming war. “Idlib will soon be restored to the nation,” Khamis said in a speech during the opening ceremony of the 60th edition of the annual...
Parliament speaker Berri: Lebanon in ‘intensive care’ and economy ‘very dangerous’
September 5th, 20180 BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday the country was in “intensive care” and the economic situation was “very dangerous”, according to a lawmaker who regularly speaks for him. Four months after parliamentary elections, Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri has not yet managed to form a......
