All Stories Archive

The problem with most Western media's political analyses is that they generally tend to be short-sighted and focused mostly on variables that are of direct interest to Western governments. These types of analyses are now being applied to understanding official Arab attitudes towards Russia, China, global politics and conflicts....

The passage of a law by the Libyan Parliament to create a Constitutional Court has triggered controversy in war-torn Libya, Anadolu News Agency reports. On Tuesday, the East Libya-based House of Representatives passed a law with a majority of votes to establish a Constitutional Court. The move, however, drew fire...

The Kuwaiti government has imposed new conditions on Egyptian workers wishing to travel to the Gulf State following the suspension of the online process designed to regulate the recruitment of workers. The link was suspended by Kuwait's Interior Minister on Monday. It was signed with Egypt in 2019. According...

President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Chinese state media said, on a visit Beijing hailed as its biggest diplomatic initiative in the Arab world, as Riyadh expands global alliances beyond long-standing ties with the West, Reuters reports. The meeting between the global economic powerhouse and Gulf energy giant comes as Saudi ties with...

The Lebanese parliament's Finance and Budget Committee has heard a report from the Minister of Finance in the caretaker government, Youssef Al-Khalil, about recent decisions with regard to the exchange rate and salaries in the public and private sectors. The chair of the committee, Representative Ibrahim Kanaan, said that...

READ: 37 UN aid trucks enter Syria's Idlib via Turkiye...

The international humanitarian medical NGO, Médecins Sans Frontières, aka Doctors Without Borders, announced yesterday that it had rescued 90 migrants at sea off the coast of Libya. The migrants' rubber boat was "overcrowded and unstable", tweeted MSF. Among those rescued were two pregnant women and over 30 children. "The...

Five Tunisian political parties called for commemorating International Human Rights Day by taking part in demonstrations for "defending democracy, rejecting the electoral farce and preserving public and individual rights and freedoms." The parties said in a statement that the march will begin on Saturday in the capital, Tunis, at...

Some 28 migrants fled from a plane that made an emergency landing in Barcelona on Wednesday, when a pregnant woman faked going into labour during a Morocco to Turkiye flight, before police rounded up half of them, the Spanish government said, Reuters reports. After landing at El Prat Airport,...

Israel's NewMed Energy signed a deal with Morocco's energy and mining ministry and Adarco Energy for offshore natural gas exploration and production. "For a long time now, we have recognised a huge potential in Morocco for collaborations in both the natural gas and renewable energy sectors," NewMed CEO, Yossi...

The Ministry of Internal Trade in Syria announced on Monday that the price of diesel and petrol sold through BS Oil Services will increase by nearly 100 per cent. The increase will exacerbate the difficulties facing Syrian citizens in regime-held areas. The ministry said that industrial and commercial diesel...

The United Nations yesterday sent 37 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to the Syrian province of Idlib via Turkiye, Anadolu Agency reported. Anadolu's correspondent reported that the aid convoy entered through the Cilvegozu border crossing in Hatay State in southern Turkiye, opposite the Syrian Bab Al-Hawa. The aid is...

Germany has arrested 25 suspected far-right members of a group planning to overthrow the government, using arms to storm the lower house of Parliament. Some 3,000 officers raided 130 sites across the country and arrested 22 members of the Reich Citizens on suspicion of membership in a terror organisation....

Israel's blacklisted spyware company the NSO Group is looking to make a comeback with the return to power of Benjamin Netanyahu. The Prime Minister-designate is close to putting together a far-right coalition government which is expected to be the most extreme in the occupation state's history. The controversial company...

Iran's President, Ebrahim Raisi, said Wednesday that protesters will be heard by the government amid protests over the death of a young woman in police custody, Anadolu News Agency reports. Speaking at a function at Tehran University to mark the annual Students Day, Raisi said his government deems dialogue...

READ: EU freezes cooperation with Israel Police...

The US Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, said on Wednesday that the Houthis' "maximalist demands" had hindered UN efforts to renew a six-month truce in the country that ended in October. Lenderking made his comment during a hearing on Yemen's civil war before the House of Representatives' Foreign...

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that the EU has froze cooperation with Israeli police over fears of the incoming government's policies. Last September, the two parties signed a draft agreement to improve the transfer of intelligence between Israel and EU member states in order to prevent crime and terrorism, but it requires the approval of the European Parliament....

The Lions' Den Palestinian resistance group said today that its fighters thwarted the mission of Israeli Special Forces in Nablus at 6am this morning, Safa has reported. According to the group, some of the Israeli personnel were wounded seriously. None of the Palestinian fighters were injured in the firefight....

A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's involvement in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. US District Judge John Bates ruled yesterday in line with the Biden administration's stance that Bin Salman has diplomatic immunity from being...

Washington announced its opposition to Al Jazeera's decision to refer the case of the murder of Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The US State department announced its opposition to the investigations affecting Israel, with US State department spokesman, Ned Price, saying: "We maintain...

An Israeli court has extended the administrative detention of French-Palestinian human rights defender and lawyer Salah Hamouri, pending a further hearing about his proposed deportation to France. He is being held with neither charge nor trial. According to Addameer Human Rights Association, the decision to deport Jerusalem-born Hamouri from...

The new head of Saudi Arabis's counter terrorism court is Judge Awadh Al-Ahmari. He is alleged to have helped cover up the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and is implicated in the detention, torture and extraction of forced confessions of peaceful human rights activists, a report by Democracy for...

Former Cameroon and Barcelona football star Samuel Eto'o issued an apology yesterday after he was filmed kneeing an Algerian YouTuber in the face, after being approached by the social media personality following Brazil's 4-1 win over South Korea during the World Cup knockout stages in Doha, Qatar, the night...

Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman called on Tuesday for the press credentials and operational licence of Al Jazeera Network to be cancelled so that it cannot work in the occupation state. The far-right politician made his call in response to the network filing a submission at the International Criminal...

The Ministry of Finance in Libya's Government of National Unity has revealed that staff salaries accounted for about 41.9 billion dinars, or 47 per cent of the budget spending, during the first eleven months of 2022. The ministry added in its "Disclosure and Transparency" report issued on Monday evening,...

Al Saqi Books in London is closing after 44 years after a rise in the price of Arabic language books and the economic effects of Brexit have made it impossible for the bookstore to remain open. Bidding farewell to an iconic London bookshop: Al Saqi Books stood for freedom...

Five people have been sentenced to death in Iran for the killing of a member of the Basij paramilitary force during nationwide protests, the judiciary announced on Tuesday. Spokesman Massoud Setayeshi told a press conference that another eleven people, including three children, were handed lengthy jail terms for the...

The Depositors Union of Lebanon and Accountability Now have submitted a legal petition to the Council of the European Union, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the US Treasury requesting sanctions be imposed against ten Lebanese politicians, civil servants and banking executives who have failed in their public...

Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu was still one partner short of a coalition to secure a parliamentary majority on Wednesday after an ultra-Orthodox Jewish party signed up, with the deadline for forming a government looming, Reuters has reported. The deal with United Torah Judaism (UTJ), announced late on Tuesday,...

The Egyptian pound yesterday recorded a new record low against the US dollar after the government's efforts failed to stabilise the exchange rate against foreign currencies and gold and attract any foreign investments. The pound has lost more than 57 per cent of its value in local banks, reaching...

Morocco hosted on Monday a conference on education and coexistence with the participation of Israel and Arab countries despite popular protests. Organised by the N7 Initiative, which seeks to broaden and deepen normalisation between Israel and its Arab neighbours, the three-day conference was attended by representatives from Sudan, Jordan,...

The Federation of the Israeli Chambers of Commerce (FICC) and the Turkish Exporters Association (TIM) held meetings between 100 Israeli businessmen and 400 Turkish exporters in Istanbul, Arutz Sheva reported yesterday. According to the Israeli news website, the businessmen met to identify further import channels to Israel with Israeli...

Former senior officials in the Israeli Civil Administration say they expect that Religious Zionist Party leader, Bezalel Smotrich, to annex the occupied West Bank, Haaretz reported yesterday. The former Civil Administration officials, Haaretz said, expressed their concern on the coalition deal struck between Likud and Religious Zionism. According to...

The head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, said on Tuesday that Palestinians will foil Israeli efforts to Judaise occupied Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, Arab48.com has reported. Sheikh Salah pointed out that the Israeli occupation authorities are seeking to Judaise the land, historical sites and holy...

An Iranian tanker carrying about 2 million barrels of ultra light-oil arrived this week in Venezuelan waters, non-government organisation, United Against Nuclear Iran, said on Tuesday, Reuters reports. Venezuela and Iran have recently expanded cooperation mainly through a swap that provides Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, with light oil...

Leader of Israel's far-right Otzma Yehudit Party, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has asked Israel Police Chief, Kobi Shabtai, to delay appointing officers to senior positions until he takes up his post, Arab48 reported yesterday. Ben-Gvir, who is slated to become responsible for the police in Israel's incoming coalition government, is expected...

Israel's exports of polished diamond have shown positive growth over the past 11 months, a statement issued by Israeli Economic Ministry revealed yesterday. According to the statement, the net rough diamond imports reached about $1.68 billion, recording an eight per cent decline compared to the same period last year....

The Somali army has liberated the strategic town of Adanyabal in the Middle Shabelle region from the Al-Shabaab terrorists, the nation's President confirmed on Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports. Addressing the public via the state television, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who previously announced a "total war" against the terrorists, said...

Morocco qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals after beating Spain 3-0 on penalties on Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports. Neither team was able to break the deadlock for the first 45 minutes at Doha's Education City Stadium. Despite several efforts from both sides in the second half,...

The Black Sea grain initiative has been 'critical' to addressing hunger in Yemen, a senior US official said Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports. US Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for humanitarian assistance, Sarah Charles, emphasised to lawmakers that Yemen historically relied heavily on wheat imports from Ukraine...

Bulgaria has been accused of shooting a refugee, after a new video emerged showing a young Syrian man being fired at on the border with Turkiye, Sky News reports. Footage taken on 3 October near the Bulgarian-Turkish border fence shows 19-year-old Abdullah El Rustum fall to the ground after...

Iran has arrested 12 people accused of being linked to overseas agents and planning "subversive action", as anti-government protests continue to take place across the country. In a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), it claimed that 12 individuals were part of a network to threaten Iran's...

READ: Israel issues 10 stop work orders to Palestinian families in West Bank...

Israel's Justice Minister has urged the country's President not to grant an extension for newly-elected Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu's mandate to form a new government, amid continued opposition to his government's far-right elements. In a tweet this morning, Gideon Sa'ar – the Israeli Justice Minister, former member of the...

Tunisia's former President Hammadi Jbali is facing a Tunisian court to explain a potential link between himself and Youssef Nada and Ghaleb Hemmet, two men who obtained Tunisian passports in the 1970s which were renewed at the end of 2012 months after the decision of the European Court of...

Many supporters were up in arms at the idea of the World Cup taking place in a conservative country like Qatar, where the sale of alcohol is highly restricted, but for some female fans it has led to a safer experience at the tournament, Reuters reports. "I was expecting...

A letter provided by Russian insurer, Ingosstrakh, enabled the first oil tanker to sail through Turkish waters in recent days after tougher regulations were imposed by Turkish authorities, a document showed, Reuters reports. This has led already at least 20 oil tankers backed up in the Turkish Straits as they do...

Germany's Ambassador to Qatar has urged his country to reconsider its recent criticism of Doha, warning that recent comments had caused "serious harm", Spiegel reports. According to the report, Ambassador Claudius Fischbach called on Berlin to change its strategy and improve diplomatic relations with Doha. "Germany has experienced a...

The Head of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, congratulated UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the occasion of the Arab Gulf country's 51st National Day. "We extend our best congratulations and sincerest feelings and wishes on the occasion of the fifty-first...