Doha, London – At last, more than a year and a half after being kidnapped by armed militias in the province of Muthanna in southern Iraq, 26 Qataris and two Saudis were released on Friday through hard and dangerous negotiations that included bargains and money in a cautious diplomacy, accordin
Tel Aviv – US Secretary of Defense James Mattis drew on Friday a “red line” against head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad, warning that the latter would pay the price if he uses chemical weapons again. “And they would be ill-advised to try to use any again. We made that very clear with our
The US supercarrier Carl Vinson will arrive in the Sea of Japan in days, Vice President Mike Pence said in Australia Saturday amid high tensions with North Korea. “Our expectation is that they will be in the Sea of Japan in position in a matter of days, before the end of this month,” Pen
An Israeli-American teenager, in custody in the Jewish State after being arrested there in March, was hit with US charges on Friday for making dozens of hoax telephone threats to Jewish community centers. FBI Director James Comey said in a Justice Department statement that the behavior allegedly per
Amman- The joint Jordanian-Kenyan trade committee has stressed the importance of cooperation to enhance bilateral ties in different fields and to build efficient economic partnerships between the two countries. During the closing ceremony of its first session, the committee headed by Industry and Tr
Beirut- Beirut’s schedule for this week is almost full with many sports, artistic and cultural events; the Lebanese capital was selected to host the first edition of the “Arab Nation Music Awards” on April 23. This award will be introduced in a massive gala at the Casino du Liban, hosted by Razan el
Rabat- Dr. Bander Bin Mohamed Hamza Hajjar, chairman of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) has made an inspection tour to the massive project underway on the banks of the Bou Regreg River separating the Moroccan capital from its neighboring city of Salé. During the visit, Hajjar received a bri
More than 100 Afghan soldiers were killed and wounded in a coordinated Taliban attack on an army base in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, the country’s defense ministry said Saturday. “The majority of our soldiers were offering Friday prayers” at the time of the assault,
Samsung Electronics’ profits were on the rise in wake of its unveiling of the new Galaxy S8 smartphone, which went on sale over the counter. The world’s biggest smartphone maker added more than $1 billion to its market capitalization Friday as investors cheered positive reaction to its new dev
London – What kind of people do you want to have running your football club? That’s the question fans of teams as different as Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Coventry City and Leyton Orient are asking themselves. Whether faltering just out of range of ultimate success or threatened with a plunge i
The US state of Arkansas has carried out its first execution in more than a decade after the US Supreme Court rejected eleventh-hour requests to stay the move. Ledell Lee, 51, was executed through a legal injection cocktail of three drugs, including one that has sparked sharp debate. Another day of
An estimated 325 million people are infected with hepatitis B or C and few are aware of their condition, with the number of people dying from the viruses rising, the World Health Organization warned Friday. Hepatitis killed 1.34 million people in 2015, a toll roughly in-line with HIV and tuberculosi
US President Donald Trump waded into France’s presidential election on Friday, saying that he expected the deadly attack in Paris would have an impact on France’s upcoming presidential vote. “Another terrorist attack in Paris. The people of France will not take much more of this. W
A Qatari hunting party that had been kidnapped in Iraq for 16 months has been freed, announced the interior minister’s adviser Wahab al-Taee. He told AFP that all 26 members of the party have been freed and handed over to a Qatari delegation in Baghdad on Friday. “The interior ministry has rec
Russia’s Federal Security Service said on Friday that a gunman killed two people in an attack on one of its regional offices in the far east of the country. The gunman burst into the office in the Khabarovsk region, which is close to China and opened fire, killing one of its employees and a vi
The evacuation of Syrian civilians and fighters from four besieged towns, part of a Qatari-mediated swap deal between the warring sides, resumed on Friday after a two-day halt, regime media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Five buses carrying rebels and their relatives from towns in
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he does not believe the American military should have a direct role in helping stabilize war-ravaged Libya, where violence and political instability has reigned since the overthrow of the country’s dictator. “I do not see a (US) role in Libya,&#
The killing of a policeman in Champs Elysees shopping venue in central Paris claimed by ISIS rocked France’s presidential race Friday as the authorities said security forces were fully mobilized to thwart any possible attack. Emerging from an emergency meeting of security officials, Prime Mini
The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is now a “priority” for the US, attorney general Jeff Sessions has said. The US authorities have prepared charges against Assange who is currently in London, US officials familiar with the matter revealed. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian emb
Baghdad – Baghdad submitted on Thursday a formal complaint to Ankara over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s criticism of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which he described as a “terrorist group.” Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in a statement that the ministry summone
