Arab leaders reaffirm support for two-state solution
March 29th, 20170 AMMAN, Jordan - Arab leaders reaffirmed on Wednesday their commitment to a two-state solution to the decades-long Arab-Israeli conflict amid increased unease over the stance of the United States under the new administration of President Trump. Trump rattled Arab and European leaders in February by indicating he was open to a one-state...
Iran steps up support for Houthis in Yemen’s war
March 24th, 20170 ANKARA — Iran is sending advanced weapons and military advisers to Yemen's rebel Houthi movement, stepping up support for its ally in a civil war whose outcome could sway the balance of power in the Middle East, regional and Western sources say. Iran's enemy Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition fighting the Houthis in the...
UN: ‘Worst is yet to come’ with 400,000 trapped in west Mosul
March 24th, 20170 MOSUL — About 400,000 Iraqi civilians are trapped in the ISIS-held Old City of western Mosul, short of food and basic needs, as the battle between the militants and government forces rages around them, the United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday. Many fear fleeing because of ISIS snipers and landmines. But 157,000 have...
Israeli ban targeting boycott supporters raises alarm abroad
March 24th, 20170 JERUSALEM — A law barring foreigners from entering Israel if they back boycotts against the country is causing alarm among liberal American Jews and others who perceive an attempt to suppress critical political opinion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government has long campaigned against the Palestinian-led Boycott,...
Lebanon’s proposed tax hikes, stagnant wages estrange expatriates
March 24th, 20170 DEARBORN — Amid proposed tax hikes in Lebanon that have citizens in a fury and the parliament paralyzed over clashes about finding an antidote to commonplace inadequate public services, local Lebanese Americans are increasingly becoming disenchanted with reconnecting to their homeland. This reluctance prevails despite an ongoing...
U.S.-Israeli teen arrested in Israel over bomb threats to Jewish centers
March 23rd, 20170 JERUSALEM -- An Israeli teen who also holds U.S. citizenship was arrested in Israel on Thursday on suspicion of making dozens of hoax bomb threats against Jewish community centers in the United States and several other countries. At a court hearing near Tel Aviv, the suspect's defense attorney said the young man has a growth in his...
ISIS claims responsibility for UK parliament attack by British man
March 23rd, 20170 LONDON ― The attacker who killed three people near parliament in London before being shot dead was named on Thursday as British-born Khalid Masood, who was once investigated by MI5 intelligence officers over concerns about violent extremism. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency,...
Police treating London attack as a “terrorist incident”
March 22nd, 20170 LONDON- An assailant stabbed a policeman and was shot by police just outside Britain's parliament building in London on Wednesday in what police described as a "terrorist incident". Amid confusing scenes, it appeared the incident may have unfolded in several locations, including on the nearby Westminster bridge where eyewitnesses said...
Assailant shot, at least a dozen injured in incident at UK parliament
March 22nd, 20170 LONDON- An assailant was shot outside the British parliament by armed police, the leader of the House of Commons said on Wednesday after loud bangs were heard and a Reuters photographer saw at least a dozen injured people on a nearby bridge. A parliamentary official earlier said two people had been shot outside parliament and the...
US bans electronics on flights from eight Middle Eastern and North African countries
March 21st, 20170 Washington, D.C.-Large electronics such as laptops, tablets, e-readers, and portable video players are among the devices that will be banned from flights from eight-majority Muslim countries. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security declared any electronic device larger than a mobile phone would be banned from airlines from these...
Lebanon’s Gumblatt affirms son as political heir
March 19th, 20170 BEIRUT - Lebanon's main Druze leader, Walid Gumblatt, on Sunday publicly confirmed his son Taymour as his political heir, extending the tradition of dynastic politics that plays a big part in the country's sectarian government. Gumblatt, the leading politician of the minority Druze community, took off his Palestinian koufieh...
Trump vows to appeal against travel ban ruling to Supreme Court
March 16th, 20170 HONOLULU- A defiant President Trump has pledged to appeal against a federal judge's order placing an immediate halt on his revised travel ban, describing the ruling as judicial overreach that made the United States look weak. In granting the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit by the state of Hawaii, U.S. District...
Iraqi troops seize main bridge, advance on mosque in battle for Mosul
March 15th, 20170 MOSUL- Iraqi government forces battling ISIS for Mosul took control of a main bridge over the Tigris river on Wednesday and advanced towards the mosque where the group's leader declared a caliphate in 2014, federal police said. The seizure of the Iron Bridge, linking eastern Mosul with the militant-held Old City on the west side,...
Tunnels under ancient Mosul mosque show ISIS’s focus on loot
March 14th, 20170 Extensive excavations by ISIS militants under Mosul's ancient Mosque of Jonah show they took care to preserve artifacts for loot, a local archaeologist said, in sharp contrast to their public desecration of antiquities. The militants seized the mosque when they stormed through northern Iraq three years ago, bulldozing and dynamiting...
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to be released
March 13th, 20170 CAIRO ― Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown as president of Egypt in an uprising in 2011, will be released from detention in a military hospital, the public prosecutor ruled on Monday, his lawyers and judicial sources said. "He will go to his home in Heliopolis," Mubarak's lawyer Farid El Deeb said, adding the ageing former president......
Italian police break mafia ring exporting fake olive oil to U.S.
March 12th, 20171 ROME - Italian police said they have busted a crime ring exporting fake extra virgin olive oil to the United States, highlighting the mafia's infiltration of Italy's famed agriculture and food business. Twelve people with links to the 'Ndrangheta, the organized crime group based in the southern Calabria region, were arrested on a...
74 killed in Damascus bombing targeting Shi’ites
March 12th, 20170 DAMASCUS- According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll of a double bomb attack targeting Shi'ite pilgrims in Damascus has climbed to 74. Yesterday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said that the bombs killed at least 40 Iraqis and wounded 120 who were visiting the Sayeda Zeinab shrine. There was no immediate claim......
Media blackouts muddle objectivity
March 6th, 20171 DEARBORN— In political science, the “CNN effect” refers to the effect of round-the-clock 24 hour coverage on wars and humanitarian crises. The term credits such coverage as being instrumental in mobilizing and manufacturing opinion and influencing foreign policy. Yet, security consultant and analyst Joshua Geis joins numerous...
Gaza’s water shortage worsening
January 29th, 20170
Libyan authorities suspect rival military backers in car bomb blast
January 29th, 20170 TRIPOLI ― A counter-terrorism unit in the Libyan capital Tripoli said it suspected a car bomb that went off on Saturday near the Italian embassy was planted by backers of a rival force in the divided country's east. The blast occurred in central Tripoli about 400 yards from the recently reopened embassy. The bodies of two men were...
Unpaid government workers deepen economic pain in Yemen’s war
January 29th, 20172 SANAA ― Already suffering grievously under nearly two years of civil war, many thousands of Yemeni state workers now face destitution as their salaries have gone largely unpaid for months. The immediate reason is a decision by the internationally-recognized government to shift Yemen's central bank out of Sanaa, the capital city......
Astana peace talks make way for Syrian truce
January 29th, 20170 ASTANA ― Syria's warring sides met for their first talks in nine months on Monday, with their Russian and Turkish backers pushing to cement a ceasefire that could pave the way for political talks. The meeting in the Kazakh capital comes at a time when Turkey, which backs the rebels, and Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar...
Israel completes testing of missile interceptor
January 29th, 20170 TEL AViV ― Israel has completed successful tests of an advanced version of its 'David's Sling' intermediate missile interceptor system that it is developing jointly with the United States, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. The system is designed to shoot down rockets with ranges of 63 to 125 mile) such as those in the arsenal......
Trump says he will ‘absolutely’ order safe zones for Syria
January 29th, 20170 WASHINGTON - Saying Europe had made a tremendous mistake by admitting millions of refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern trouble spots, Trump told ABC News in an interview: "I don't want that to happen here." "I'll absolutely do safe zones in Syria for the people," he added, without giving details. According to a document...
Obama transferred $221 million to Palestinian Authority in his final hours in office
January 26th, 20170 WASHINGTON — In his last hours in office, the Obama administration transferred $221 million to the Palestinian Authority that despite opposition from GOP members of Congress, officials say. A State Department official and several congressional aides told the Associated Press that the outgoing administration and former Secretary of......
