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...
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,......
