Lebanon’s Hariri named new PM after Aoun’s election
BEIRUT — Lebanon's president asked Saad al-Hariri to form a new government on Thursday after he won the support of a majority of MPs and the endorsement of the influential parliament speaker. Hariri's nomination is part of a political deal that resulted in the election of Michel Aoun, a close ally Hezbollah, as head of state on...
EU grants 348 million euros in aid for Syrian refugees in Turkey
September 9th, 20160 ANKARA — The European Union on Thursday announced it was contracting 348 million euros to the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) for humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in Turkey, part of the bloc's migration cooperation with Ankara. The money comes as part of a 3 billion euro support for some 3 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey,...
British Labor leader Corbyn appear to compare Israel to ISIS
July 1st, 20160 LONDON — Jeremy Corbyn was engulfed in a fresh row over Israel when he appeared to compare the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to Islamic extremists at the launch of an independent review into antisemitism in the Labor party. In prepared remarks, Corbyn said: "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or...
U.N.: Violence, settlements, Gaza undermine hope for Mideast peace
July 1st, 20160 UNITED NATIONS — Violence and incitement, settlement expansion and a lack of control of Gaza by the Palestinian Authority are undermining hope for Middle East peace, a senior U.N. official said on Thursday, citing a report by the Middle East peace "Quartet." U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov briefed the U.N. Security Council...
Syrian refugee returns €150,000 he found in a cupboard
June 28th, 20160 Police in Minden, Germany, say a Syrian man who arrived last year as a refugee is their “hero of the day” after he found €150,000 ($166,000) and handed it to authorities.The 25-year-old discovered the money in a cupboard he had been given by a charitable organisation.Minden police said on Tuesday that the man had found...
Turkey “sorry” for shooting down Russian jet
June 27th, 20161 "I say: I'm sorry." -ErdoganMOSCOW — Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has apologized to Russian leader Vladimir Putin over last year's shooting down of a Russian air force jet by Turkey's military, the Kremlin said on Monday, opening the way for Russia to lift economic sanctions.The Russian jet was shot down, with the loss of the...
Yemeni Government: Nothing has been agreed in talks
June 24th, 20160 KUWAIT CITY — The Yemeni government said Thursday Houthi rebels must withdraw from all territory they have seized since 2014 and hand back control of state institutions ahead of any political settlement. It added that nothing has been agreed upon in two months of negotiations. The statement from the government delegation to...
Police fatally shoot man who took hostages in German cinema
June 23rd, 20160 A German policeman after a masked man opened fire in the town of Viernheim, June 23VIERNHEIM, Germany — A masked man took hostages at a cinema in western Germany on Thursday before police stormed the complex and shot him dead, police said.No other people were injured, a police spokesman said.The attacker, who carried a rifle or "long...
Muslim woman attacked at a supermarket in London, Canada
June 22nd, 20160 Photo of the suspect provided by London Police ServiceLONDON, CANADA — A Muslim woman shopping with her infant son was attacked in a London, Ontario, supermarket Monday, CBC reported.The woman was at the Superking Supermarket at approximately 5 p.m. when another woman approached her and began yelling at her for no apparent reason,...
Israel elected to head of U.N. legal committee
June 15th, 20160 Danny DanonUNITED NATIONS — Israel on Monday won an election to chair the United Nations' legal committee, the first time that it will head one of the world body's six permanent committees since joining the U.N. in 1949.While it is a largely symbolic and procedural role, chairing the committee will give Israel a chance to have a...
ISIS terrorist kills two in France
June 14th, 20160 Larossi AbballaPARIS - A suspected Islamist attacker stabbed a French police commander to death outside his home and later killed his companion, a policewoman, in an attack claimed by ISIS and denounced by the government as "an abject act of terrorism."The assailant, a 25-year-old Frenchman, was jailed in 2013 for helping Islamist...
African envoys say Egyptian called sub-Saharan Africa “dogs and slaves”
May 31st, 20160 Yvonne KhamatiNAIROBI — Egypt has become embroiled in a dispute with African diplomats after they accused an Egyptian official of referring to "dogs and slaves" in remarks about sub-Saharan Africa at a United Nations conference in Nairobi.The diplomats sent a formal complaint to Kenya's foreign ministry after the alleged remark at the...
Yemeni government suspends participation in peace talks
May 19th, 20160 KUWAIT — The Yemeni government on Tuesday suspended its participation in U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait and said it would only return if its opponents, the Houthis, committed to withdraw from cities they have seized since 2014 and hand over weapons.A wide gap still separates the Iran-allied Houthis and the...
Muslim states block gay groups from U.N. AIDS meeting
May 17th, 20160 UNITED NATIONS — A group of 51 Muslim states has blocked 11 gay and transgender organizations from attending a high-level meeting at the United Nations next month on ending AIDS, sparking a protest by the United States, Canada and the European Union. Egypt wrote to the president of the 193-member General Assembly on behalf of the...
Tunisian ambassador to U.S.: Democracy in Tunisia is irreversible
May 11th, 20160 Tunisian ambassador H.E. Fayçal Gouia (L) speaks to the AANewsDEARBORN — While the "Arab Spring" has turned into a desolate winter across the Middle East and North Africa, Tunisia, the cradle of the 2011 popular revolts, seems to have completed a democratic transition that could set an example for rest of the Arab World. H.E.......
Reebok cancels shoes celebrating Israel’s independence
May 10th, 20160 The “Israel 68” special edition sneaker from Reebok Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activists welcomed Reebok's decision to withdraw plans to release running shoes celebrating Israel's 68th independence. The special edition shoes, dubbed "Israel 68", were set to be auctioned on Reebok's Facebook page during the Israeli...U.N. urges Obama, Putin to save Syria truce
GENEVA — The United Nations mediator on Thursday called on the leaders of the United States and the Russian Federation to salvage the "barely alive" two-month-old ceasefire in Syria and revitalize the damaged peace process.U.N. Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura voiced deep concern at the truce unraveling in Aleppo and at least......
Leicester’s Mahrez named player of the year in England
April 25th, 20160 Riyad Mahrez applauds fans after the game, April 24LONDON — Leicester City forward Riyad Mahrez was named English soccer's player of the year by the Professional Footballers' Association on Sunday.The 25-year-old Algerian international, the first Leicester player and first Arab to win the award, has scored 17 goals and made 11 assists...
Court rules Norway violated terrorist Breivik’s human rights
April 21st, 20160 Breivik raises his arm in a Nazi salute at the court room in Skien prison, March 15OSLO — Norway violated terrorist Anders Behring Breivik's human rights by keeping him in a "completely locked world" after being sentenced for killing 77 people in twin attacks in 2011, a court ruled on Wednesday.The ruling, which took many by surprise,...
Afghan Taliban kill at least 28 in suicide bomb in central Kabul
April 19th, 20160 An Afghan man receives treatment after a bomb attack in Kabul, April 19KABUL — A Taliban suicide bomb and gun assault on a government security building during Tuesday morning rush hour in central Kabul killed at least 28 people and wounded more than 320, in the deadliest single attack in the Afghan capital since 2011.President Ashraf...
Pope returns with 12 refugees after visit to Greek island
April 16th, 20160 Pope Francis welcomes a group of Syrian refugees after landing in Rome, April 16LESBOS, Greece — Pope Francis took three families of Syrian refugees back to Rome on Saturday after visiting the frontline of Europe's migrant crisis at a camp in Greece where migrants wept at his feet, kissed his hand and begged for help.At a sprawling......
French PM: The hijab should be banned at universities
April 13th, 20160 Manuel VallsPARIS — French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Muslim headscarves should be banned from universities and that the majority of French people believe that the values of the Republic are incompatible with those of Islam. Valls told French newspaper Liberation: "It should be done" but conceded that the French constitution...
Panama Papers probes open globally
April 5th, 20160 Authorities across the globe have opened investigations into the activities of the world's rich and powerful after a cache of leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm showed possible wrongdoing using offshore company structures.The "Panama Papers" have cast light on the financial arrangements of high profile politicians and public......
French minister compares women choosing the hijab to “negroes” accepting slavery
March 31st, 20160 PARIS — France's minister for women's rights came under fire on Thursday for saying Muslim women who wear veils were like black slaves in favor of slavery.An online petition with more than 18,000 signatures accused her of racism."Of course there are women who choose (to wear the veil). There were African negroes, American...
Mexicans burn Donald Trump to celebrate Easter
March 27th, 20160 MEXICO - Mexicans celebrating an Easter ritual late on Saturday burnt effigies of U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, whose anti-immigrant views have sparked outrage south of the American border. In Mexico City's poor La Merced neighborhood, hundreds of cheering residents yelled "death" and various insults as they......
