News

The governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK have called on Israel to drop its plans to illegally build hundreds of new houses in an area of the occupied West Bank which would isolate a Palestinian neighborhood. “We urge the government of Israel to reverse its decision to …

Egypt and Turkey on Thursday held talks on the conflict in Libya, where they back competing factions, on Syria and the security situation in the eastern Mediterranean, in a push to rebuild their fractured relations. The discussions, held over two days and led by deputy foreign ministers, were the first …

Qatar Finance Minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi was arrested over embezzlement allegations and stripped of his duties, officials said on Thursday. In a statement carried by state news agency QNA, the public prosecutor said Emadi was being questioned over allegations of embezzlement, abuse of power and crimes related to the public sector. …

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday the process of removing all contractors from Afghanistan working with the United States was under way as part of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of forces from the country. The remarks are the clearest indication yet that Biden’s April order to withdraw all …

Israeli authorities on Thursday charged a Spanish woman under the country’s anti-terrorism laws, accusing her of funneling large sums of donations from European governments to a banned Palestinian militant group. Juana Ruiz Sánchez was charged in a West Bank military court. Her indictment was the culmination of a more than …

Iranian state TV has aired a propaganda video showing a missile blowing up the US Capitol building. The country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly broadcast the video on Sunday just before Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was due to give a televised speech. The 11-second clip featured armed …

Uzbekistan, a country situated in Central Asia with a population of nearly 31 million people, became the top at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games for men’s boxing after earning seven medals including 4 gold medals, followed by the most famous boxing team, the Cuban boxing team who gained 6 medals. …

Lebanese pop star Nawal Al-Zoghbi has resigned from the Syndicate of Professional Artists after the body told members they could not criticize politicians. Al-Zoghbi posted a two-page resignation letter on her Twitter account on Wednesday slamming the country’s ruling elite.  She said there was a “negative influence” from all Lebanese …

Discrimination in the US against Americans of Arab heritage is “getting worse” not better, experts say, as the country prepares to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Samer Khalaf, president of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and Abed Ayoub, the organization’s legal counsel, said that while …

Twenty-two Palestinians were wounded in overnight clashes with Israeli police in annexed east Jerusalem, the Red Crescent said Thursday, as tensions flare over a controversial land rights case. Police confirmed 11 arrests in the latest unrest to rock the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood near Jerusalem’s walled Old City, where land disputes …

France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday he would carry a strongly worded message to Lebanese politicians when he visits Beirut on Thursday and warned of punitive measures against those who are hindering the political progress. The trip comes after Paris said it had started putting in place measures to restrict …

Iraq has hosted more than one round of talks between regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia, Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Wednesday. Salih made his remarks during an interview broadcast live online with the Beirut Institute think tank. He gave no more details. Diplomats hope the opening of direct …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday that the withdrawal of foreign troops from Libya would be an “important signal” as both leaders vowed to support the new interim government there, a German government spokesman said. Libya’s new Government of National Unity (GNU) was sworn …

Syria’s state news agency reported early on Thursday that an “Israeli aggression” was carried out with a helicopter over an area in Syria’s Quneitra governate in the south, without resulting in any damage. The Israeli military declined to comment on the incident. Syrian air defences downed several Israeli missiles during …

Israel’s president on Wednesday chose Yair Lapid, a centrist politician and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest rival, to try to form a new government, but his path to success was still uncertain. Israel’s longest serving leader, Netanyahu, 71, has been fighting to hold onto office through four inconclusive elections since …

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Tuesday there should be no preconditions for talks with Israel over their Mediterranean border dispute, key to Lebanon’s hopes to find gas reserves amid its worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. Negotiations between the old foes were launched in October to try …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz discussed bilateral ties in a call on Tuesday, the Turkish presidency said, the second conversation between the two leaders in less than a month. Turkey is seeking to improve ties with the Gulf Arab state after they were thrown …

A deadline for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government has expired. He had been trying for the past 28 days to build a coalition after the fourth inconclusive general election in two years, but the deadline ended at midnight on Wednesday (22:00 GMT). President Reuven Rivlin could …

Militants using bombs attacked two oil wells at an oilfield close to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, killing at least one policeman and setting off fires, the oil ministry said. Industry sources said the attack had not affected production. A statement from the oil ministry did not …

Syrian air defenses downed several Israeli missiles during pre-dawn raids on the Mediterranean port city of Latakia, the Syrian army said on Wednesday, a rare attack on the ancestral home region of the Syrian leader and close to a Russian air base. A Syrian army statement said aerial strikes soon …

Hoofs pounded the ground and kicked up dust clouds as one by one a small group of young mounted archers pulled back their bows and let their arrows fly at a passing target. Most of them missed. They will get better, said Mohammad Abu Musaed, who is training the first …

An Egyptian court on Tuesday ruled that the container ship which blocked the Suez Canal in March could continue to be held in the waterway, rejecting an appeal by its Japanese owner against its detention, a judicial source said. The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, got …

At least three rockets hit the Iraqi military air base of Balad, north of Baghdad, where some US contractors are billeted, Iraqi security officials said on Monday. Three other rockets fell near the base in the attack on Sunday, the sources said. No casualties or damage have been reported. No …

Egypt has signed a contract with France to buy 30 Rafale fighter jets, its defense ministry said in a statement early on Tuesday, in a deal that investigative website Disclose said on Monday was worth 3.75 billion euro ($4.5 billion). Egypt’s defense ministry said the deal would be financed through …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced a midnight deadline on Tuesday to put together a new coalition government — or be looking at the possibility of leading his Likud party into the opposition for the first time in 12 years. Netanyahu has struggled to secure a parliamentary majority since March …

A Christian pastor named Robin Bullock has told his congregation that it’s a sin to refer to Joe Biden as “president.” A video of Bullock’s sermon, reposted by Right Wing Watch, shows the pastor telling his congregants that they should pray for Biden. “You can pray for a man named Joe Biden. …

The cost of the first toll highway in Uzbekistan, the Tashkent-Andijan with a length of 340 km, will exceed $ 2 billion. The feasibility study of the project was developed by the World Bank consultants and has already been agreed with the ministries and departments of the republic. Work is …

Researchers and collaborators from the Salk Institute collaborators show how the spike protein damages cells, confirming COVID-19 as a primarily vascular disease.Scientists have known for a while that SARS-CoV-2’s distinctive “spike” proteins help the virus infect its host by latching on to healthy cells. Now, a major new study shows …

Saudi Arabia’s king appointed Faisal al-Ibrahim as minister of economy and planning, state news agency SPA said on Monday. King Salman in March last year had tasked Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan with overseeing that ministry, relieving Mohammed al-Tuwaijri from his post and appointing him as adviser to the royal …

Pakistan is ready to share its “vast and valuable experience” with the Philippines in its war against terror to strengthen ties between the two nations, particularly in security and cultural diplomacy, Pakistani Ambassador to the Philippines Imtiaz Kazi said in an exclusive interview with Arab News. “Pakistan can rightly claim …

Running in the morning made me understand one thing: we start at different points with different paces and finish in different time. Most importantly we have different arrangements physically and emotionally that push us to reach our limits.By Emile FakhouryYou should not compare your position or performance to other runners …

Saudi Cultural Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan on Sunday held a virtual meeting with the chargé d’affairs of the US Embassy in the Kingdom, Martina Strong. During the meeting, they discussed aspects of cooperation in cultural fields between Saudi Arabia and the US, and the latest development in …

The Fashion Commission has finalized its strategy to develop the sector, including educational and training programs to prepare graduates for the labor market, providing outlets for the distribution of locally designed products, and building networks between designers and investors. The strategy’s aim is to enhance the national identity of the …

Israel’s government watchdog said on Monday it would open an investigation into the death of 45 people who were crushed in a stampede at a Jewish religious festival last week. State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said his office, which audits the government, would look into the circumstances surrounding the event. Source: …

The United States on Sunday denied a report by Iran’s state television that the arch-foes had reached a prisoner swap deal in exchange for the release of $7 billion frozen Iranian oil funds under US sanctions in other countries. Iranian state television said on Sunday that Tehran would free four …

Iraq plans to invest $3 billion in the Basra Gas Company over the next five years, the Iraqi News Agency reported on Monday. Source: Reuters

A Palestinian woman was killed and two Israelis were seriously wounded in two separate shooting incidents in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. An Israeli soldier shot a Palestinian woman who tried to carry out a stabbing attack, the military said. Palestinian officials said the …

A chemical factory near the central city of Qom caught fire Sunday, Iranian media reported, a blaze that injured at least two firefighters. Videos showed heavy black smoke rising from Movaledan chemical factory in the vicinity of Qom, one of Iran’s prominent religious cities. The cause of the blaze was …

Jordan detected three cases of the Indian COVID-19 variant in people who had not travelled, the health minister told state-owned Al Mamlaka TV. “Two cases were recorded in Amman and one in Zarqa in people who did not travel, which confirms that the emergence of mutated cases does not necessarily …

Iranian state television said on Sunday that Tehran would free four Americans accused of spying in exchange for four Iranians held in the United States and the release of $7 billion in frozen Iranian funds. The White House and U.S. State Department had no immediate comment. State TV, quoting an …

The “new Cold War” between the US and Russia in northeast Africa intensifies. Washington and Moscow struggle to increase their military presence in Sudan.By Nikola MikovicSudan reportedly decided to suspend an agreement granting Moscow permission to construct a naval base just north of Port Sudan, the country’s main commercial hub …

A close aide of killed Daesh group leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi has been caught in Istanbul, police said Sunday. The Afghan national, only identified by the codename Basim, was detained in the Atasehir district on the city’s Asian side on Wednesday, according to an Istanbul police statement. News reports of …

English soccer’s boycott of social media is spreading after FIFA and UEFA said they will join the players, clubs and organizations in a four-day protest against online abuse. The boycott will also be joined by English cricket and rugby clubs, and the British Lawn Tennis Association, highlighting concerns that Twitter …

An electronics engineer from Gaza, Loay Elbasyouni, had worked with the NASA team that made history this month by launching an experimental helicopter from the surface of Mars. But he says an expedition to his hometown in the Gaza Strip, where posters celebrate his achievement, feels even farther away because …