Tag Archives: civil war

Talks in Vienna on the Iran nuclear deal should take into consideration Tehran’s ballistic missile program, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers said on Wednesday. GCC countries should also be included in the dialogue, a meeting of the ministerial council in Riyadh heard. The foreign ministers condemned Tehran for smuggling …

US President Joe Biden did not secure a commitment from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday to renew a UN cross-border aid operation into Syria, a senior administration official said ahead of an expected showdown over the issue at the United Nations Security Council next month. Washington and several …

US President Joe Biden appeared to confuse Syria with Libya while speaking at a G7 press conference where he was discussing ways of working with Russia. The US president was discussing how he might work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to provide aid to countries torn apart by civil war.  …

The United States on Monday said it “strongly condemned” a Houthi drone attack that damaged a school in Saudi Arabia. The explosives-laden drone was launched across the border from Yemen and crashed into a school in Asir region, Saudi Civil Defense said on Sunday. “Such attacks threaten civilians, including school children,” the …

Two seven-year-old boys have single-handedly managed to up the world of philanthropy and the act of giving, as they aim to raise “a quadrillion pounds for every single country” they are supporting. Best friends Ayaan Moosa and Mikaeel Ishaaq, from Ilford in east London, set up their homemade lemonade stand …

In a speech seen as an act of defiance against the Lebanese state and the US, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday insisted that Lebanon should be “negotiating with Iran to buy gasoline and diesel with the Lebanese currency if Lebanon’s shortages persist.” Seemingly unconcerned about the possibility that this …

The head of the international chemical weapons watchdog told the UN Security Council that its experts have investigated 77 allegations against Syria, and concluded that in 17 cases chemical weapons were likely or definitely used. Fernando Arias called it “a disturbing reality” that eight years after Syria joined the Chemical …

The UN Security Council will meet this week to discuss a long-abandoned fuel tanker off Yemen amid growing fears of a catastrophic oil spill, diplomats said Wednesday. Thursday’s meeting, requested by Britain, comes after the Houthi militia said an agreement to allow a UN mission to inspect the tanker had …

At least eight people were killed and scores injured on Tuesday when U.S. backed Kurdish-led forces fired live rounds to disperse Arab tribal protests against their rule in the Syrian city of Manbij, according to security and medical sources and residents. The protests took a violent turn when hundreds of …

Dozens of medical workers in opposition-held northwest Syria on Monday protested a decision to grant Bashar Assad’s regime a seat on the executive board of the World Health Organization.  They said Assad is responsible for bombing hospitals and clinics across the war-ravaged country. The decision to give Syria a seat …

Lebanon’s army carried out large-scale military exercises on Monday to test its readiness to deal with a nationwide crisis. The “Lebanon Wide” exercise included units from the army, the Internal Security Forces, General Security, State Security, the General Directorate of Customs, the General Directorate of Civil Defense, the Lebanese Red …

Pope Francis said Sunday he would invite Lebanon’s Christian leaders to the Vatican on July 1 to reflect and pray for “peace and stability” in the stricken Middle Eastern nation. Lebanon is in the throes of a double economic and political crisis. It is experiencing its worst financial downturn since …

Qatar has no plans to normalise ties with Syria, the Gulf state’s foreign minister said, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office last week in an election derided by the opposition and the West as a farce. Qatar was among several regional states including Saudi Arabia …

The Taliban on Wednesday urged Afghanistan’s neighbors not to make what would be an “historic mistake” by hosting US military bases. The militant group warned that such a move would provide America with the ability to launch attacks on Kabul after its troops had withdrawn from the war-torn country by …

A Yemeni model who was abducted and imprisoned by the Houthis said the militia sought to recruit her as a spy in exchange for her freedom, according to people who visited her in jail on Monday. Entesar Al-Hammadi and two colleagues were abducted by Houthis in Sanaa on Feb. 20. …

Polling stations opened on Wednesday across Syria in a presidential election that is set to usher Bashar al-Assad into a fourth term in office. The government says the election shows Syria is functioning normally despite a decade-old war, but the opposition and Western nations view it as merely rubber-stamping Assad’s …

The Houthis on Sunday threatened to mount more drone and missile strikes on “unexpected” locations in the Arab coalition countries in response to the latest US sanctions on the militia’s leaders. Mohammed Ali Al-Houthis, the president of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said his movement would escalate attacks on “aggressor …

A leader of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement on Sunday dismissed U.S. sanctions on military officials and threatened possible expanded attacks on “aggressor countries” after Washington urged the group to engage seriously in peace efforts. The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Houthi military officials leading an offensive to …

The United States is imposing sanctions on two Houthi military officials leading the Iran-aligned movement’s offensive to seize Yemen’s gas-rich Marib region, US Special Envoy on Yemen said on Thursday. Tim Lenderking, who has been pushing for a ceasefire between the Houthis and the Arab coalition, also told a virtual media …

An ancient Libyan statue, believed to be looted from the country during its civil war, has been returned from Britain.  The 2,200-year-old figure was seized at London’s Heathrow Airport in 2013 under suspicion that it was illicitly imported. Experts from the British Museum were called in to assist efforts to identify …

Syria has freed more than 400 civil servants, judges, lawyers and journalists detained this year in a crackdown on social media dissent, a move seen by rights activists and former detainees as intended to win over public opinion ahead of presidential elections. Those released after being held under Syria’s cyber …

Syrian authorities are working on extinguishing a fire that erupted in its main Homs refinery in the west of the nation, state media said on Sunday. The fire erupted in a distillation unit due to a leak in a pumping station, it said without elaborating. State television showed live footage …

A Yemeni model who was abducted by the Houthis is going to be subjected to a virginity test, Amnesty International said on Friday. The rights group urged the militia to immediately halt its plans. “Yemen’s Houthi de facto authorities must immediately halt all plans to subject Entesar Al-Hammadi to forced …

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 …

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 …

Iran on Thursday welcomed what it called a change of tone from Saudi Arabia and said it hoped they could work together to secure peace, amid moves to ease tensions between the regional rivals. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman made the statement days after Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince …

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has taken a more conciliatory public stance towards Iran, trying to balance long-held animosity with economic considerations and bridge differences with Washington over how to tackle Tehran’s regional behaviour. Tensions between Riyadh and Tehran have festered over the Yemen war, where an Iran-aligned group has increased …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the international community to question the Houthi militia’s military assaults on Marib and the “tremendous humanitarian consequences” it has led to. Blinken’s statement, that he made on Tuesday via Twitter, came after he met with the US Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking. …

Lebanon said on Monday it hoped Saudi Arabia would reconsider a ban on its produce imposed over what Riyadh called a rise in drug smuggling, and tasked its interior minister to coordinate with the kingdom to uncover the culprits and prevent a repeat. The government also asked Lebanon’s public prosecutor …

Yemeni government officials and local human rights activists have accused the Houthis of brainwashing and training primary school students for war. Their criticism came as videos on social media showed pupils wearing military attire and inciting each other to take up arms to fight the Houthis’ enemies. In one video, …

An Iranian tanker was attacked off the coast of war-torn Syria Saturday, sparking a fire but not causing any casualties, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. State news agency SANA quoted the oil ministry as saying the fire erupted after “what was believed to be an attack by …

Iran-backed Houthis have thrown abducted Yemeni model and actress Entesar Al-Hammadi into solitary confinement as punishment for her protest against the initial incarceration and prison conditions, the model’s lawyer said on Thursday. Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal told Arab News that a prosecutor from the rebel-controlled West Sanaa court on Wednesday questioned …

During a private audience in the Vatican with Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, Pope Francis on Thursday confirmed that he wants to visit the country as soon as possible. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told a press briefing attended by Arab News that the pope “reiterated his closeness to the Lebanese …

Suzanne Mouawad lived through Lebanon’s civil war and built a successful advertising business in the hopeful days after the fighting ended, but she says her country’s economic collapse is breaking her in a way that even missiles did not. Mouawad, 56, comes from a well-to-do background and previously led a …

A senior Sudanese commander said on Wednesday that his forces have secured the eastern border with Ethiopia, state news agency SUNA reported. Lieutenant General Issam Mohammad Hassan Karar said the army was deployed within the borders to secure agricultural areas and retrieve all Sudanese lands in accordance with the 1902 …

Saudi Arabia has been re-elected as a member of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in the Asia section, until 2023. It happened at The Hague, in the Netherlands, on Tuesday during the 25th Session of the Conference of the States Parties, which …

League of Arab States Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Monday called on the Security Council and other UN bodies to establish a strategic working partnership with the league and its member states. The aim, he said, would be to lay the foundations for “security, stability and sustainable development in the …

Abducted Yemeni model Entesar Al-Hammadi has threatened to launch a hunger strike as the Houthis refuse to release her or allow local prosecutors to question her, the model’s lawyer told Arab News on Sunday. Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal said that the Houthi-controlled Central Prison, where the model has been held since …

Syria’s parliament speaker announced Sunday that presidential elections in the war-ravaged country will be held May 26. Speaker Hammoud Sabbagh said the window for nominations will be open for 10 days starting Monday. Syrians abroad will vote May 20, he said. The election is widely expected to give President Bashar …

Lebanese animator Louaye Moulayess was born and raised in a divided nation. With Disney Animation Studios’ “Raya and the Last Dragon,” his latest major project, he had the chance to tell the story of a fictional land not unlike his own, and to lay out a path forward for how …

Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war in Ethiopia’s Tigray, the U.N. aid chief told the Security Council on Thursday, prompting the U.S. envoy to challenge the body’s silence, asking: “Do African lives not matter as much as those experiencing conflict in other countries?” The U.N. official, …

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has told Congress it is proceeding with more than $23 billion in weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates, including advanced F-35 aircraft, armed drones and other equipment, congressional aides said on Tuesday. A State Department spokesperson said the administration would move forward with the …

The global chemical weapons watchdog has “reasonable grounds to believe” that Syria’s air force dropped a chlorine bomb on a residential neighbourhood in the rebel-controlled Idlib region in February 2018, a report released on Monday said. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian government. Syria and its military ally …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday warned Ethiopia of the risk of conflict over its giant dam on the Blue Nile after talks involving the two countries and Sudan ended without progress. Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, …