Jordan’s king warns Trump over moving U.S. embassy to Jerusalem
December 5th, 20170 AMMAN — Jordan’s King Abdullah told President Trump on Tuesday that any move by the United States to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel would have “dangerous repercussions” for regional stability, a Jordanian palace statement said. Trump said he intended to go ahead with a decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to...
Yemeni former president Saleh killed after switching sides in civil war, Houthis maintain upper hand in Sanaa
December 4th, 20170 SANAA - Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed in a roadside attack on Monday after switching sides in Yemen’s civil war, abandoning his Iran-aligned Houthi allies in favor of a Saudi-led coalition, foes and supporters said. Analysts said Saleh’s death would be a huge moral boost for the Houthis and serious blow to the...
Yemen war: Former president Ali Abdullah Saleh ‘killed’
December 4th, 20170 SANAA - Reports from Yemen say ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been killed in clashes with the rival Houthi movement. Houthi-controlled al-Masirah TV cited the interior ministry as announcing the "end of the crisis of the treason militia and the killing of its leader". There was no independent confirmation, but pictures...
Tens of thousands of Israelis protest against Netanyahu, corruption
December 3rd, 20170 TEL AVIV - About 20,000 Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday against government corruption and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is under criminal investigation over allegations of abuse of office. The demonstration was by far the largest of weekly anti-corruption protests sparked by corruption allegations against...
Kushner: Trump still considering whether to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
December 3rd, 20170 WASHINGTON – President Trump has not yet made a decision on whether to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, his adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner said on Sunday, a move that would break with decades of U.S. policy and could fuel violence in the Middle East. “He’s still looking at a lot of different facts, and...
Senior Saudi Prince Miteb freed in $1 billion settlement agreement
December 2nd, 20170 RIYADH — Saudi Arabia freed influential Prince Miteb bin Abdullah on Tuesday after agreeing to pay more than $1 billion to settle corruption allegations against him, a Saudi official said. Miteb was detained more than three weeks ago in a sweeping anti-corruption purge of the kingdom's elite. The former National Guard chief was...
Regardless of what happens in Geneva, Assad will be the winner
December 2nd, 20170 GENEVA — The Syrian government delegation arrived in Geneva on Wednesday to participate in another round of U.N.-sponsored peace talks to bring an end to the Syrian Civil War, now in its seventh year. All the previous rounds of U.N.-backed peace talks have failed to reach a peace deal, and have often been seriously hindered by the...
Egypt’s Sisi orders military chief to secure Sinai in three months
December 2nd, 20171 CAIRO — On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered his military command to use all force necessary to secure the Sinai peninsula within the next three months, following a militant attack on a mosque that killed more than 300 people. No group has claimed responsibility for Friday's attack in which authorities say...
Khamenei calls for Iranian Navy expansion
December 2nd, 20170 TEHRAN — This week, Iran's Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei called on the country's military leaders to expand the country's naval capabilities, the Iranian media reported. In a meeting with senior Navy commanders in Tehran, Khamenei said the Navy should boost its assets and capabilities both in terms of military gear and combat...
Tom Friedman’s paean to a Saudi tyrant ignites NYT comments-storm
December 2nd, 20170 By Mike Whitney "I've never thought much of Friedman's work, but this is the work of a complete toady." Jim, New York Times comments section "What a nauseating exercise in a…-kissing!" Karim Pakravan, NYT comments section NEW YORK — Why did Tom Friedman write such a gushing tribute to the Saudi tyrant, Mohammed bin Salman?...
Rouhani: Saudis call Iran an enemy to conceal their defeat in region
November 28th, 20170 BEIRUT - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia presents Iran as an enemy because it wants to cover up its defeats in the region.“Saudi Arabia was unsuccessful in Qatar, was unsuccessful in Iraq, in Syria and recently in Lebanon. In all of these areas they were unsuccessful,” Rouhani said in the interview...
Hariri: Hezbollah must remain neutral to ensure Lebanon moves forward
November 28th, 20170 PARIS — Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Monday that the political and militant group Hezbollah must stop interfering in regional conflicts and accept a neutral policy to bring an end to Lebanon’s political crisis. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which forms part of the Lebanese government, is fighting alongside Syrian...
Baghdad blasts kill 37, ISIS claims responsibility in southeast
November 28th, 20170 CAIRO — ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that took place on Monday targeting the Nahrawan area southeast of Baghdad, the group’s Amaq news agency said. The militant group said it had killed 35 members of paramilitaries known as Popular Mobilization Forces but the Interior Ministry had earlier said the attack targeted...
Little prospect of Syria peace progress seen in Geneva talks
November 27th, 20170 BEIRUT — A breakthrough in U.N.-backed Syria peace talks in Geneva this week seems hardly more likely than in seven failed earlier rounds as President Bashar al-Assad pushes for total military victory and his opponents stick by their demand he leave power. U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura said on Monday the Syrian government had...
Death toll in Egypt mosque attack rises to 305 killed: state news agency
November 26th, 20170 CAIRO - The death toll in a devastating terrorist attack on a mosque on Friday in Egypt’s North Sinai has risen to 305 killed, including 27 children, and 128 more people were wounded, MENA state news agency said on Saturday. The gunmen were carrying an ISIS flag and were between 25 to 30 in number, the public prosecutor’s office......
Saudi Crown Prince calls Iran leader ‘new Hitler’: NYT
November 24th, 20170 DUBAI- Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince called the Supreme Leader of Iran “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, sharply escalating the war of words between the arch-rivals. The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shi‘ite Iran back rival sides in wars and political...Egypt: Hundreds dead in a terrorist attack on mosque in north Sinai
November 24th, 20170 CAIRO - A terrorist attack killed 230 people at a mosque in Egypt’s north Sinai region on Friday, detonating a bomb and shooting at fleeing worshippers and ambulances, state media and witnesses said. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the region. No group claimed immediate responsibility, but since 2014 Egyptian security forces......
Hariri puts resignation on hold
November 22nd, 20170 BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Saad al-Hariri on Wednesday shelved his decision to resign as prime minister at the request of President Michel Aoun, easing a crisis that had deepened tensions in the Middle East. Hariri made his announcement after returning to Beirut for the first time since he quit abruptly on Nov. 4 in a broadcast from Saudi...
Hariri back in Lebanon on the eve of Independence Day
November 21st, 20170 BEIRUT - Saad al-Hariri returned to Beirut on Tuesday for the first time since he resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia and plunged his country into political crisis. Hariri’s sudden resignation on Nov. 4 thrust Lebanon to the forefront of regional tussle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose...
Putin hosts Assad for talks in Russia
November 21st, 20170 MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to talk about the need to move from military operations to the search for a political solution to Syria’s conflict, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. Russia is actively trying to build an international consensus around a peace deal for Syria, over two years...
Iran’s president declares end of Islamic State
November 21st, 20170 BEIRUT - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared the end of Islamic State on Tuesday while a senior military commander thanked the thousands of martyrs killed in operations organized by Iran to defeat the militant group in Syria and Iraq. “Today with God’s guidance and the resistance of people in the region we can say that this......
Lebanon’s Hariri to visit Egypt on Tuesday
November 20th, 20170 BEIRUT — Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanese prime minister in a televised broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, will visit Egypt on Tuesday to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Hariri’s office said on Sunday. Hariri has since Saturday been in Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron,...
Hariri to return to Lebanon for Independence Day
November 18th, 20170 PARIS - Saad al-Hariri, who resigned as Lebanon’s prime minister this month while in Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday he would clarify his position when he returns to Beirut next week for Independence Day. Hariri’s resignation on Nov. 4 threw Lebanon into political crisis and put it center-stage in the Middle East’s overarching......
Lebanese Americans in Michigan condemn Saudi intervention, stand by Hariri
November 17th, 20170 DEARBORN — They might be thousands of miles away, but news of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri's resignation – and the prospect that Saudi Arabia has something to do with it – has Lebanese expatriates on edge. Dozens of Lebanese Americans in Metro Detroit joined a protest at the Lebanese American Heritage Club in Dearborn...
‘Made in Syria’: Refugees in Germany drive exports from home
November 14th, 20170 HAMBURG ― Many Syrian refugees in Germany have resigned themselves to the reality that there will be no swift return to the land of their birth, where a civil war is nearing the start of its eighth year. They are starting to build new lives in their host country, driving up demand for “Made in Syria” goods there as they seek......
