U.S. defends role of Lebanon army as Israel threatens to attack it
January 31st, 20180 BEIRUT — The United States pledged continued support for Lebanon’s military on Wednesday, calling it a potential counterweight to Iranian-backed Hezbollah, even as Israel said the two forces were indistinguishable and fair game in any future war. Such a public difference of opinion between the allies was remarkable enough, but...
Lebanon President Aoun urges forgiveness, stability after protests
January 30th, 20180 BEIRUT ― Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for forgiveness and stability on Tuesday after a political row involving his son-in-law triggered street protests and deepened a rift with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Berri supporters set tires ablaze and blocked roads on Monday in protest against comments by Aoun’s son-in-law,...
Protests erupt in response to Bassil’s slur of Berri, Aoun urges forgiveness and stability
January 30th, 20180 BEIRUT - President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called for forgiveness and stability in Lebanon after a political row involving his son-in-law triggered street protests and deepened a rift with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Gebran Bassil called Nabih Berri “a thug” in a video that went viral on social media in Lebanon. Berri...
New Lebanese ambassador to Washington takes office
January 26th, 20181 WASHINGTON, DC — On Wednesday, former Bloomfield Hills, Mich. resident Gabriel Issa presented his Letter of Credence to President Trump in the Oval Office, accrediting him as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Lebanon to the United States of America.
Abadi: Iraq’s reconstruction may cost $100 billion
January 26th, 20180 DAVOS, Switzerland — Iraq called on Thursday for foreign investors to help it rebuild after defeating ISIS and making progress in reuniting the country, saying it would need up to $100 billion to fix crumbling infrastructure and war-torn cities. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said help was needed with dozens of projects, as Iraq...
Syrians talk peace in Vienna prior to Russian meeting
January 26th, 20180 VIENNA — U.N.-brokered peace talks with the Syrian government and the opposition began on Thursday, a few days before separate negotiations hosted by Damascus's close ally Russia that the West views with suspicion. "The meeting was good," the head of the Syrian government delegation, Bashar al-Ja'afari, told Reuters as he left the...
Arab Americans help Doctors Without Borders deal with the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh
January 26th, 20180 By Farah Harb BANGLADESH — In light of the Rohingya refugee crisis where hundreds of thousands of refugees fearing religious prosecution in Myanmar fled to Bangladesh, the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) arrived in Bangladesh at the beginning of the current crisis to aide refugees living in conditions that...
Frustrated Palestinians snub Pence, tell Trump Jerusalem is not for sale
January 26th, 20180 DAVOS, Switzerland — President Trump threatened on Thursday to withhold aid to the Palestinians if they did not pursue peace with Israel, saying they had snubbed the United States by not meeting Vice President Mike Pence during a recent visit to the region. Arab Israeli parliamentarians protest Pence speech Earlier, Palestinian...
Syrians with temporary U.S. protection brace for Trump decision
January 26th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Targeted by the Syrian government after providing humanitarian supplies to civilians fleeing air strikes, Mohammad Alala and his wife escaped in 2012, eventually obtaining student visas to enter the United States. They received a form of temporary protected status (TPS) extended to Syrians in the United States...
Amena Khan loses her L’Oreal gig after 2014 tweet calling Israel a “child killers” unearthed
January 24th, 20180 LONDON - Just days into her role, a British Muslim model has quit a major beauty brand's campaign after right-wing media outlets published her tweets from 2014, in which she criticized Israel's war in Gaza. Amena Khan, who runs the Pearl Daisy fashion blog, became L'Oreal's only hijab-wearing model to front its haircare campaign,...
Rights group accuses Saudi Arabia of repression, war crimes in Yemen
January 19th, 20180 On Thursday, Human Rights Watch accused Saudi Arabia of violating international humanitarian law in Yemen and stepping up arrests and prosecutions of activists seeking reform or voicing peaceful dissent. In its World Report 2018, which reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries, the rights group reported it had...
Jordan: Agreement reached for Israel’s embassy to resume full operations in Amman
January 19th, 20180 AMMAN — Israel's embassy in the Jordanian capital, Amman, will resume full operations immediately, the Israeli prime minister's office declared on Thursday. Jordan said Israel had formally apologized for the deaths of two of its citizens killed by an Israeli security guard last July. The incident has soured ties and led to the...
World Economic Forum survey points to rising risk of war this year
January 19th, 20180 BERLIN — The risk of political and economic confrontations between major powers, including outright military conflicts, has risen sharply, according to a survey released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) days before its annual gathering in Davos. The Global Risks Report highlighted several top risks for 2018, including environmental...
Trump’s new Syria policy raises tension, could fan flames of war
January 19th, 20180 DAMASCUS — On Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said a new U.S.-backed, 30,000-strong force inside Syria constituted a breach of international law and Syrian sovereignty, joining Syria, Turkey and Russia in a vehement rebuke of the plan. On Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition said it was working with its Syrian militia allies,...
Report: Lebanese security agency turns smartphone into selfie spycam
January 19th, 20180 FRANKFURT — Lebanon's intelligence service may have turned the smartphones of thousands of targeted individuals into cyber-spying machines in one of the first known examples of large-scale state hacking of phones rather than computers, researchers say. Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security (GDGS) has run more than 10......
Trump administration to provide $60 million in Palestinian aid, withhold $65 million
January 16th, 20180 WASHINGTON - The United States will give a U.N. agency $60 million in aid for Palestinians but will withhold a further $65 million “for future consideration,” a U.S. official said on Tuesday. In keeping back some of the aid, Washington appeared to carry out a threat made by President Trump in a Twitter post on Jan. 2 in which he...Italy and Iran sign $6 billion investment agreement
ROME — Italy and Iran signed a framework credit agreement on Thursday to fund investments worth up to 5 billion euros ($6.02 billion) in Iran, Italy's Economy Ministry said. The deal was signed between two Iranian institutions, Bank of Industry and Mine and Middle East Bank, and the investment arm of Italian state-owned holding......
Syrian army dismisses rebels claim of progress in Idlib province, continues offensives
January 12th, 20180 BEIRUT — Fighting raged in Idlib, where the Syrian government forces offensive has gathered pace in the last two weeks, according to rebels and a military media unit run by Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is fighting on the Syrian government side. Idlib province is the biggest chunk of Syria still held by rebels fighting the Syrian army,...
Israeli army kills two Palestinian youths in Gaza, West Bank
January 12th, 20180 GAZA — Two Palestinian youths were shot dead by Israeli troops during clashes on Thursday in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian medical sources and witnesses said. Israeli-Palestinian tensions have risen following President Trump's Dec. 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a move that has...Arab League to hold meeting on Jerusalem next month
CAIRO — The Arab League will meet on Feb. 1 to discuss how to counter President Trump's move last month to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Egypt's state news agency MENA said on Wednesday. Six Arab foreign ministers who met in Amman last week said Arab states would embark on a diplomatic drive to persuade the United Nations...
Israel approves hundreds of new illegal settlement homes in the West Bank
January 12th, 20180 WEST BANK — The Israeli government has given its final approval for 352 homes in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, an anti-settlement movement said on Thursday — construction that Palestinians see as jeopardizing their prospects for an independent state. The Peace Now group said a meeting on Wednesday by a planning......
Saudi women-only auto show opens in Jeddah
January 12th, 20180 JEDDAH — Women flocked to Le Mall on Thursday to check out the kingdom's first car exhibition aimed at women, a few months after Saudi Arabia granted them the right to drive. Pink, orange and yellow balloons hung in the mall's showroom as women posed for photos and selfies in front of the cars. One woman in the driver's seat fixed...
Former Egyptian top general to run for president
January 12th, 20180 CAIRO — Former armed forces chief of staff General Sami Anan is to run in Egypt's presidential election in March, the party he leads said on Thursday. An election commission said on Monday Egypt would hold the vote on March 26-28, with a run-off on April 24-26. Candidates must register between Jan 20 and 29. "The party leaders......
Qatar: UAE aircraft violated our airspace
January 12th, 20180 DOHA — Qatar has filed a complaint to the United Nations about an alleged violation of its airspace in December by an Emirati military aircraft, state news agency QNA reported on Friday. The United Arab Emirates is one of four Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, that have imposed travel, diplomatic and trade...
Macron tells Trump of need to abide by Iran nuclear deal
January 12th, 20180 PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron stressed to President Trump in a telephone call on Thursday the importance of abiding by a nuclear deal with Iran ahead of a decision by the U.S. president that could reinstate sanctions on the country. "The president ... recalled France's determination in favor of a strict application of the......
