ISIS militants seized areas around Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on Wednesday in an apparent attempt at a diversion from offensives on the terrorist group’s last Iraqi footholds but were swiftly defeated, security sources said. The infiltrators briefly occupied three areas near the city, which is the cap
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issued on Tuesday a historic royal decree granting driving licenses for women in the kingdom as of next June, said the Saudi-owned network Al-Arabiya . The royal decree also ordered the establishment of a high-level committee of involving the ministries of internal affairs
Belgian prosecutors announced on Tuesday that terror suspect Salah Abdeslam wants to appear in person at his trial for a shootout with police in Brussels last year that led to his capture after four months on the run. According to AFP, Abdeslam, the only surviving alleged member of the terror group
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired the Cabinet’s session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah on Tuesday at which he said that the Kingdom will remain a ‘strong fortress’ in which growth and development continue. King Salman expressed his pride in the Kingdom celebrating its 87th National Day wit
Egypt will be receiving its $2 billion IMF loan payment after the year-end review, the International Monetary Fund said, but inflation — running at just under 32 percent in August — remains the key risk for stability. According to Reuters the Fund said in a Tuesday statement that Egypt h
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will travel to Gaza on Monday as part of a fresh push to end a decade-long split between the Fatah and Hamas movements, his government announced. “Hamdallah has decided after consulting with president Mahmoud Abbas that the government will hold its wee
An Egyptian once widely believed as “the world’s heaviest woman” has died in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates at the age of 37. A statement from Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi said that Eman Abdul Atti died at 4:35 a.m. on Monday. The hospital said: “Our prayers and hear
A car bomber attacked a Danish convoy belonging to the NATO-led military mission in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday. International forces were all safe, however, the attack let a number of civilians wounded, according to security officials. Security officials say five civilians had been wounded
British foreign minister Boris Johnson will stand against any step made to abide by European Union rules issued after Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported. Johnson, who campaigned in favor of leaving the EU in last year’s referendum, is one of Britain’s high
North Korea’s foreign minister assailed US President Donald Trump at the United Nations on Saturday, deriding him as a “mentally deranged” leader whose threats had increased the chances of military confrontation. FM Ri Yong-ho told the UN General Assembly that Trump’s vow ear
US bombers flew off the east coast of North Korea Saturday in a show of force designed to project American military might in the face of Pyongyang’s weapons programs, escalating already sky-high tensions. “This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the Preside
Turkey’s parliament voted on Saturday to extend by a year a mandate authorising the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq and Syria, two days before a planned independence referendum in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region. Turkey said earlier it would take security, political and economic steps in respons
Russian government hackers targeted 21 American states during the 2016 presidential elections in an attempt to sway the vote in favor of Donald Trump. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed it had informed election officials in the targeted states. It did not disclose the identity of the stat
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her main challenger Martin Schulz embarked on Saturday on the final round of their electoral campaign ahead of Sunday’s elections. Both are united in their appeal to Germans to shun anti-migrant populists. Merkel, of the Christian Democratic Union, is visiting dis
Mexican rescuers were working through the early hours Saturday in a desperate search for survivors amidst twisted rubble of collapsed buildings three days after a deadly earthquake. Across Mexico City, with exhausted emergency workers still reporting signs of life, the head of the national disaster
China announced late on Friday that it will start banning the export of some petroleum products to North Korea starting October 1. The announcement comes in compliance with a recent United Nations Security Council resolution. The ban also includes textile imports from the isolated neighboring countr
Denmark jailed on Saturday a man for 25 days for his links to the ISIS terrorist group. He was held under Denmark’s anti-terror laws for allegedly shipping drones, components for unmanned aerial vehicles and infrared cameras that were bound for the terror group in Syria and Iraq. Police say th
Thousands of villagers on the Indonesian resort island of Bali huddled Saturday in temporary shelters, sports centers and with relatives, fearing Mount Agung will erupt for the first time in more than half a century after officials raised the highest possible alert for a volcano. Villager Made Suda
South Korea announced on Saturday that an earthquake in North Korea earlier in the day was natural. The 3.0 quake was detected around where the isolated country recently conducted a nuclear test, said South Korea’s weather agency. The quake was detected in an area around Kilju, in northeastern North
Canada imposed on Friday sanctions on 40 Venezuelan senior officials, including President Nicolas Maduro, to punish what it called “anti-democratic behavior.” The Canadian move came after similar steps by the United States, which has referred to Maduro as a “dictator.” The me
