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...
IAEA report: Iran is complying with nuclear deal restrictions
September 2nd, 20180 VIENNA — Iran has remained within the main restrictions on its nuclear activities imposed by a 2015 deal with major powers, a confidential report by the U.N. atomic watchdog indicated on Thursday. In its second quarterly report since President Trump announced in May that the United States would quit the accord and reimpose...
Russian navy to hold drills off Syria as Idlib offensive looms
September 1st, 20180 MOSCOW — Russia will begin a major naval exercise in the Mediterranean on Saturday, the Ministry of Defense announced, a move the Kremlin said was justified by a failure to deal with militants in Syria’s Idlib province. Idlib and areas surrounding it are the last major enclave held by rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar......
U.N.: Some Saudi-led coalition air strikes in Yemen may amount to war crimes
August 28th, 20180 Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen have caused heavy civilian casualties and some may amount to war crimes, U.N. human rights experts said on Tuesday. The experts’ panel also said that fighters of the Houthi group had fired missiles into Saudi Arabia and shelled the Yemeni city of Taiz. It accused them of...
Russia warns U.S. against ‘reckless steps’ in Syria
August 26th, 20180 MOSCOW - A senior Russian official warned the U.S. on Saturday against making any “reckless” moves in Syria, the RIA news agency reported. Reacting to comments by National Security Adviser John Bolton about Washington’s possible strong reaction in the event of a chemical or biological attack in the Syrian region of Idlib, Deputy......
Yemen: Houthis fire two missiles at Saudi Arabia
August 26th, 20180 Yemen’s Houthi group fired two Zelzal-1 missiles in the direction of Saudi Arabian provinces alongside the joint border, the Houthis’ Masirah TV said in a tweet on Sunday. The two missiles targeted “gatherings of Saudi soldiers,” one in Jizan and the other in Najran, it said. The Saudi armed forces did not confirm the...
British and French airlines halting flights to Iran next month
August 26th, 20180 British Airways and Air France said on Thursday they would halt flights to Iran from September for business reasons, months after President Trump announced he would re-impose sanctions on Tehran. British Airways said it was suspending its London to Tehran service “as the operation is currently not commercially viable.” BA,...
Pilgrims pray and give praise as haj winds down in Mecca
August 25th, 20180 MINA, Saudi Arabia — More than two million haj pilgrims headed back to Mecca for final prayers on Thursday as organizers said the world’s largest annual gathering of Muslims had gone smoothly in the face of political tensions and huge logistical challenges. Senior Saudi officials said the rituals - which have been marred in the...
Muslims at haj converge on Jamarat for ritual stoning of the devil
August 22nd, 20180 JAMARAT, Saudi Arabia - More than 2 million Muslim pilgrims hurled pebbles at a giant wall in a symbolic stoning of the devil on Tuesday, the riskiest stage of the annual haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia where hundreds died in a crush three years ago. Clad in white robes signifying a state of purity, men and women from 165 countries......
Iran threatens to hit U.S., Israeli targets if attacked
August 22nd, 20180 Iran warned on Wednesday that it would hit U.S. and Israeli targets if it were attacked by the United States after President Trump’s security adviser said Washington would exert maximum pressure on Tehran going beyond economic sanctions. A U.S.-Iranian war of words has escalated since Trump withdrew Washington from the world...After ISIS killed her sons, Iraqi grandmother fends for 22 children
MOSUL, Iraq — Iraqi grandmother Sana Ibrahim al-Taee has a full-time job feeding and clothing her 22 grandchildren after ISIS killed their fathers - her sons - a struggle in a cramped flat with little help from the state. Al-Taee and her husband, who has Alzheimer’s, share their four-room apartment in eastern Mosul with the......
Yemen’s ancient architecture threatened by war
August 18th, 20180 SANAA — Yemen’s three-year war has taken a heavy toll on Sanaa’s historic Old City, a dense warren of mosques, bath houses and 6,000 mud brick houses, which date from before the 11th century. Part of the Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been razed by bombing. Now only rubble and straggly palm trees remain, where...
Sayyed Nasrallah says Hezbollah stronger than ever
August 17th, 20180 BEIRUT — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Party, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Tuesday his group was stronger than ever and would “very soon” celebrate victory in Syria, where it has been fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad government. Nasrallah was speaking on live television to mark the anniversary of a 2006 war......
