Beirut- There have been warnings on a proposal for the “voluntary return” of Syrian refugees as “Hezbollah” deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem accused the United States and the European Union of seeking to block the return of the displaced to Syria. The Lebanese government is divided on whether to coo
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz has sent a cable of condolences to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on the victims of the terrorist attacks in Sinai, the Saudi Press Agency reported Saturday. In his cable, the Monarch expressed utmost sorrow and extended condol
The July 5 statement from American Secretary of State Tillerson about Syria was the most detailed statement of the Trump administration’s goals in Syria. The Trump administration is often hard to understand, but this July 5 statement follows a cabinet-level meeting at the White House about Syria on
Jeddah– Gulf States and Islamic organizations strongly condemned a terrorist attack on Thursday against a security patrol in Qatif, eastern Saudi Arabia, which led to the killing of one policeman and the injury of others. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz received a cable o
Jeddah– Political analysts said they expect Qatar to enter a dangerous phase in the coming days, if it continued to abort all diplomatic endeavors by several countries, mainly Kuwait, to resolve the deteriorating crisis. Experts noted that Doha’s negative response to the list of 13 demands submitted
London- Last Thursday, Dressed in battle fatigue and adopting a martial tone, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi entered the remains of the historic al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul to announce the end of ISIS. “The return of al-Nuri Mosque and al-Hadba minaret to the fold of the nation marks the end of t
London, Paris- France and Russia agreed on Thursday that fighting terrorism in Syria was their common objective, but pointedly avoided airing their differences over the sensitive issue of chemical weapons. France appears to be broadly aligning its foreign policy with the US priorities of tackling te
London- An international inquiry aims to report by October on who was to blame for a deadly sarin gas attack in Syria’s Khan Sheikhoun in April, the head of the probe has said, as he appealed for countries to back off and stop telling investigators how to do their work. While Edmond Mulet, head of [
London, Washington- At least 600 civilians have been killed in strikes in Iraq and Syria by the US-led coalition fighting ISIS since the campaign began in 2014, according to a report released by the coalition on Friday. The estimate in the monthly report, which said coalition strikes had unintention
Hamburg- The meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Germany on Friday overshadowed the G20 summit. The two leaders discussed for more than two hours the crises in Syria and Ukraine, terrorism and cyber security, Russian news agencies reported. At the
French prosecutors on Friday opened a probe into possible favoritism over an event in Las Vegas in January 2016 at which French President Emmanuel Macron, who was economy minister at the time, was the star speaker. Macron’s Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud is at the center of the formal investig
The United States and Russia have reached a ceasefire deal in southwestern Syria, one of the combat zones in a six-year-old civil war, despite continued differences on the fate of Bashar Assad. US Secretary of State Rex Tilerson said it showed the United States and Russia were able to work together
Nearly two-thirds of United Nations states agreed on Friday to a treaty to ban nuclear weapons after months of talks, which were boycotted by the United States, Britain, France and others who instead pledged commitment to a decades-old Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty on the prohibition of nucle
The UNESCO World Heritage committee placed on Friday the Palestinian city of Hebron’s Old Town on its list of heritage sites in danger, sparking Israeli condemnation. Taken after a Palestinian proposal, the resolution was fast-tracked on the basis that the site was under threat, with the Palestinian
Hamara Hujale tries to keep an eye on two squirming children and a pot of simmering ugali – a white doughy dish – as she reaches for her buzzing phone. After speaking a few words, she hangs up and scribbles in a wrinkled notebook. “My driver has found another customer so won’t be back fo
Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority and the canal economic zone, Mohab Mamish announced on Friday that Qatari ships will be barred from the zone in line with decisions to prevent Qatari vessels from passing through these ports or entering them. His announcement came in light of Saudi Arabia, the Un
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was arrested while headed to an opposition protest in the capital Moscow last month, was released from jail on Friday after 25 days in detention, his press secretary said. “Today at 9:00 am (0600 GMT) Alexei Navalny was taken from the cell block to
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd expected on Friday a record operating profit for April-June. The tech giant’s record figures have been propelled by a memory chip boom that will continue to pad margins for the rest of 2017, said analysts. The Apple Inc smartphone rival and global memory chip leader said s
The Qatari foreign minister has disclosed the government’s concern that the purpose of the four states’ boycott is to change the regime in Doha! The rest of the Qatari officials and official media, however, continued to express belief that the target is to change the government’s policy and acts, bo
Turkish police arrested 29 suspected ISIS terrorists in raids in 20 different locations in the city of Istanbul, announced the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Friday. Twenty-two of the detainees are foreign nationals, while the rest are Turkish. It did not disclose the details of the other nat
