Rouhani dismisses Trump call for talks on eve of new sanctions
August 6th, 20180 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed a U.S. call for talks on Tuesday, the eve of the imposition of new sanctions that follows Washington’s decision to pull out of an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program. The United States is due to impose new sanctions against Iran on Tuesday intended to cripple its economy, implementing...
Seventy U.S. lawmakers urge for immediate humanitarian aid for Gaza
August 4th, 20180 GAZA — Seventy members of the U.S. Congress are urging the Trump administration to immediately reinstate U.S. aid in order to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israel has seized a boat and detained almost two dozen people as they were trying to reach Gaza by sea with a cargo of medical...
Russia to deploy military police on Golan Heights frontier
August 4th, 20180 MOSCOW — Russia will deploy its military police on the Golan Heights frontier between Syria and Israel, its defense ministry said on Thursday, after weeks of mounting volatility in the area. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s sweeping away of rebels in southwestern Syria has worried Israel, which believes it could allow his...
SANA: Syrian air defenses destroy hostile target near Damascus
August 2nd, 20180 BEIRUT - Syrian state media said late on Thursday that air defenses had destroyed a “hostile target” west of the capital Damascus. “Our air defenses confronted a hostile target and destroyed it west of Damascus,” the state news agency SANA said, quoting a military source. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have...
Saudi Arabia arrests two women’s rights activists
August 1st, 20180 Saudi Arabia has arrested two more women’s rights activists, the latest to be swept up in a government crackdown on activists, clerics and journalists, an international rights group said on Wednesday. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said authorities arrested Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sadah in the past two days. More than a dozen...
Head of Revolutionary Guards says Iranian president will never meet Trump
July 31st, 20180 TEHRAN - The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday dismissed President Trump’s tentative offer of talks with Tehran, saying the Islamic Republic was not North Korea. Trump said on Monday he would be willing to meet Iran’s leader without preconditions to discuss how to improve ties after he pulled the United States out...
Trump says he is willing to talk to Iran’s leader without preconditions
July 30th, 20181 WASHINGTON - President Trump said on Monday he would be willing to meet Iran’s leader without preconditions to discuss how to improve ties after he pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying, “If they want to meet, we’ll meet. “I’d meet with anybody. I believe in meetings,” especially in cases...
Ahed Tamimi freed from Israeli prison pledge to continue resistance
July 30th, 20180 WEST BANK - Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian teenager released by Israel on Sunday after completing a prison term for kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier said she wanted to become a lawyer so she could continue her struggle against the occupation of her country. Tamimi, 17, became a hero to Palestinians after the incident last December...
Syrian Druze bury dead as anger over ISIS attacks grows
July 29th, 20180 On Thursday, the Syrian city of Sweida buried dozens of its Druze inhabitants who were killed the day before in coordinated massacres carried out by ISIS terrorists. Residents and witnesses said they overran villages and staged multiple suicide attacks inside the city. They said the attacks that killed more than 200 people— the...
Soleimani warns Trump: ‘If you begin the war, we will end it’
July 29th, 20181 Major-General Qassem Soleimani, a powerful commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, said on Thursday, July 26, that Donald Trump should address any threats against Tehran directly to him, and mocked the U.S. president as using the language of “night clubs and gambling halls.” The comments by Soleimani, who heads the Quds...
World class medical facility to open in south Lebanon
July 28th, 20180 DEARBORN – One of the most prestigious and one-of-a-kind healthcare institutions in the Middle East is in the process of being built in the south of Lebanon. The nearly 19,400 square foot “mega project,” located in Choukine, a town located about 37 miles from Beirut and just two miles from Nabatieye, is being erected by The...
Syria set to recover Golan frontier as surrender deal with rebels reached
July 22nd, 20180 BEIRUT/AMMAN — President Bashar al-Assad is set to recover control of the Syrian frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in a major victory over rebels who have agreed to surrender terms, sources on both sides said on Thursday. Backed by Russian air power and unopposed by Assad’s foreign adversaries, government forces...
The Trump-Putin summit uncovers the depth of divisions in America
July 22nd, 20180 For nearly 80 years the U.S. and Russia (or the former Soviet Union) have held summits. In each case, it has been a forum for domestic political debate. The president’s supporters always say the summit took solid steps towards peace and understanding, even while the president remained forceful and unyielding. Meanwhile, the...
Israel adopts divisive Jewish nation-state law, entrenches apartheid
July 21st, 20180 Israel passed a law on Thursday declaring that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country, something members of the Arab minority called racist and verging on apartheid. The “nation-state” law, backed by the right-wing government, passed by a vote of 62-55 and two abstentions in the 120-member...
Local Iraqis support protests for reform in homeland, but fear ‘chaos’
July 21st, 20183 DEARBORN – After a successful ousting of ISIS insurgents and a democratically-held election, Iraq’s situation seemed to be on an uptick. But in the midst of a transition in government, ongoing political corruption, a worsening economy, few jobs and scarce electricity have sparked massive protests across the oil-rich county’s south,......
Palestinians in Jerusalem demolish own homes rather than see Israelis move in
July 19th, 20180 JERUSALEM — Two Palestinian families on Thursday demolished the homes they had lived in for nearly two decades, saying they would rather destroy them than face the prospect of Israeli settlers moving in. Within two hours, two mechanical diggers smashed through the ceilings, walls and floors of the two buildings in Beit Hanina, a...
Lebanon to consider legalizing cannabis growing
July 18th, 20180 BEIRUT — Lebanon’s parliament is considering legalizing the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday, in an attempt to boost the struggling economy. “The Lebanese Parliament is preparing to study and adopt the legislation necessary to legislate the cultivation of cannabis and......
Iran files suit in international court against U.S. over sanctions
July 17th, 20180 AMSTERDAM — Iran has filed a lawsuit against the United States alleging that Washington’s decision in May to impose sanctions after pulling out of a nuclear deal violates a 1955 treaty between the two countries, the International Court of Justice said on Tuesday. A State Department official said the application was without merit...
Iraqi police disperse protesters outside Zubair oilfield as unrest grows
July 17th, 20180 BASRA, Iraq — Iraqi police wielded batons and rubber hoses to disperse about 250 protesters gathered at the main entrance to the Zubair oilfield near Basra on Tuesday as unrest across southern cities over poor basic services gathered pace. Since demonstrations began nine days ago, protesters have attacked government buildings,...
Russia hands over World Cup hosting duties to Qatar
July 15th, 20180 MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday handed over the mantle of World Cup host to the emir of Qatar, whose country will stage the 2022 edition of the tournament. The ceremony marked a handover from the world’s largest country by landmass to one of the smallest. Qatar has a population of 2.3 million people and an area...
Syrian government seizes control in birthplace of rebellion
July 14th, 20180 AMMAN/BEIRUT — The Syrian government raised the national flag on Thursday over areas of Deraa city that have been in rebel hands for years, a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad in the birthplace of the revolt against his rule. Syrian state television said the army hoisted the flag near the post office, the only government......
Angry Iraqi protesters at oilfields demanding jobs and basic services
July 13th, 20180 BASRA, Iraq — Iraqi police fired into the air to disperse protesters demanding jobs and better public services at one of three demonstrations outside major oilfields in the southern oil hub of Basra on Thursday, police sources said. Two protesters were wounded, police and hospital sources said, without elaborating, after the...
Israeli police question Netanyahu again over alleged corruption
July 10th, 20180 TEL AVIV - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces three investigations over alleged corruption, was questioned again by police over a case involving Israel’s largest telecoms firm on Tuesday. The authorities claim Netanyahu awarded regulatory favors to Bezeq Telecom Israel in return for favorable coverage of him and......
Survey: Most people think world is more dangerous than two years ago
July 10th, 20180 LONDON - Most people think the world is more dangerous today than it was two years ago as concerns rise over politically motivated violence and weapons of mass destruction, according to a survey released on Tuesday. Six out of ten respondents to the survey, commissioned by the Global Challenges Foundation, said the dangers had...
Syria: Air defenses hit Israeli plane, thwart missile strike
July 8th, 20181 BEIRUT - Syrian military air defenses struck an Israeli warplane and shot down Israeli missiles targeting the T4 air base in Homs province in response to an act of “aggression” on Sunday night, Syrian state media said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said Israel does not comment on foreign reports. Israel has grown deeply......
