Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi today convened an emergency security meeting to discuss a recent spike in militant attacks in the Sinai Peninsula. On Saturday, at least 15 Egyptian policemen were killed in a militant attack in North Sinai. Daesh later claimed responsibility for the violence. According to a...

The Palestinian issue is experiencing paralysis due a number of international, regional, local and personal reasons, all of which have pushed it into a negative status quo. It is no longer moved or activated by major events, such as the Jerusalem Intifada, and no longer has any historical figures,...

Israeli officials have praised the Palestinian Authority’s security cooperation, noting that it is improving, but added that they are still afraid that PA President Mahmoud Abbas may be removed from his top position, Israeli media reported. Arabi21 said yesterday that Israeli army radio reported senior officials saying that the...

A mayor of a French city has been taken to court because of a poster he placed on the municipality window showing support for Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, reported. Barghouti was arrested by the Israeli occupation authorities in 2002 and has received five death sentences. In 2009,...

Leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz yesterday published an opinion piece written by Zvi Bar’el equating Egypt with Israel as both are suffering the symptoms of the same problem regarding accusations of being violators of human rights. Bar’el noted the criticism Egypt came under after it decided to close El-Nadeem Centre...

The Muslim Brotherhood is celebrating 88 years since its establishment in 1928 across 52 Arab, European, Asian, African and American countries, the Anadolu Agency reported. Despite its widespread presence, the group faces a severe crisis in its country of birth, Egypt, after the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi on...

An Egyptian economic expert said yesterday that Egypt does not need to receive a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), especially after it agreed to receive a loan of $8bn from the World Bank. Abdul Nabi Abdul Mutteleb’s comment came after credit agency Fitch Rating said that Egypt...

The UN Special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura asked the Syrian regime delegation to the Geneva talks to submit a concrete working paper on its vision for political transition. De Mistura met with the Syrian regime delegation yesterday afternoon after he received a “good and concrete paper about...

There are currently more than 60 million refugees around the world, with one person being forced to move away from their home every three minutes, a professor at New York University has revealed. Associate professor of applied psychology, Selcuk Sirin, told the Anadolu Agency that the number of refugees...

Ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh yesterday downplayed reports that Russia refused to receive him, either for political asylum or treatment. “President Saleh will remain in his homeland and will not leave it for periodic medical examination or for any reason whatsoever,” an official in Saleh’s office wrote on...

Deputy Chief of Dubai Police Dahi Khalfan yesterday called for integration with the Jews in a single state called Israel under Jewish control, Arabi21 reported. Commenting on the secret removal of 17 Jews from Yemen to Israel, Khalfan tweeted: “We must deal with Jews as if they are not...

Hamas removed all signs that show an affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood in a surprising move that the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper linked to the latest meeting between the movement and Egyptian intelligence, Al-Mesryoon reported yesterday. According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, informed sources said that Hamas’s internal committees removed signs...

An Egyptian judicial body forced 15 judges in to retired for “practicing in politics”, a judicial source said yesterday. In March 2014, 70 judges were referred to a disciplinary board; some were accused of issuing a statement that supported ousted President Mohamed Morsi, while others were thought to have...

Turkish Naval Forces said yesterday that they have captured 1,048 illegal immigrants while they were trying to reach the Greek islands since the start of their cooperation with the Turkish Coast Guards on 11 March. Officials in the Turkish Navy told the Anadolu Agency that the situation of refugees...

The UN Special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura asked the Syrian regime delegation to the Geneva talks to submit a concrete working paper on its vision for political transition. De Mistura met with the Syrian regime delegation yesterday afternoon after he received a “good and concrete paper about...

Saudi security agencies have arrested nine Iranians over the past two weeks on security charges, bringing the total number of Iranian detainees held on national security grounds to 13. The Saudi interior ministry’s website announced in its updated list of detainees in investigation department that nine Iranians were arrested...

Israeli occupation forces razed 650 dunams (0.65 square kilometres) of land in Jericho, the area had palm trees planted on it. In a press release issued yesterday, Jericho Endowments’ Director Al-Mukalaf Mo’ayed El-Hilu said that it's not the first time that the Israeli occupation forces attack the area or...

US presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton has made her extreme pro-Israel credentials clearer than ever as she seeks campaign donations and votes from lobbyists in America. According to a report in Israel's Haaretz newspaper, she has said that America and Israel "must be closer than ever and stronger than ever…...

Egyptian and Saudi representatives yesterday signed deals regarding Saudi financial support for economic and development projects in the Sinai Peninsula and supplying Egypt with its fuel needs for five years, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported. The Saudi funds will be used for development projects in agriculture and to build 26 residential...

The Israeli Civil Administration is planning to confiscate 1,200 dunams (1.2 square kilometres) of land from Palestinian villages in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus, a local monitor said today. Is this the Third Intifada? Rising tensions in the Occupied Territories have led to dozens of deaths...

A senior Iraqi security official has revealed that militia commanders in Iraq have recently held intensive meetings in the presence of the leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Iraqi government officials in order to discuss the Russian withdrawal from Syria and its impact on the Iranian influence in...

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday accused the United States of “not fulfilling” the pledges it made in last year’s nuclear deal, AlKhaleejOnline reported. Marking the new Iranian year at a televised speech in the city of Mashhad, Khamenei said that the Americans “lifted the sanctions on paper,...

British newspaper, The Independent, said the terrorism which strikes Europe today comes mostly as a result of the West’s policies committed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. In its Saturday edition, the newspaper pointed out that the media returned to focus on the threats that could be launched by Daesh...

Once it was among the most attractive places for a family day out and picnics in the south of the Gaza Strip but today, the Jungle Zoo has become almost empty, with no visitors. This has forced the owner to put the remaining animals in the market. Just five...

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced yesterday that it would pay around $6 million to reconstruct and repair Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip, Arab48.com reported. Some $1.78 million has been allocated for rebuilding houses which were destroyed by...

Abrupt and unprecedented developments have characterised a long week in Moroccan-Sahara diplomacy. Signs of disagreement arose when UN chief Ban Ki-moon refused to reschedule his visit to North Africa. The impetus behind the Moroccan request for this was to avoid misleading April’s annual UN Mission for the Referendum in...

Palestinian prisoners held in solitary confinement in Israeli jails are experiencing “very harsh” conditions, Arab48.com reported Committee of Prisoners' Affairs lawyer Hiba Masalha saying yesterday. Masalha visited a number of Palestinian prisoners held in solitary confinement in the Israeli prison of Majoddo. They told her that the Israeli prison...

The Syrian opposition said yesterday that it would not accept the postponement of the next round of peace talks, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported. Spokesman of the High Negotiations Committee, which represents the Syrian opposition in Geneva, Salim Al-Muslit said: “We will never accept the postponement of the talks for the...

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said that some leaders of the political blocs in Iraq oppose ministerial changes, fearing they will lose their privileges. “We will proceed with reforms… Some object to the cabinet reshuffle because they will lose their privileges,” a statement issued by Al-Abadi’s office quoted him...

As many as 23 Houthis were killed in raids carried by the Saudi-led coalition on Taiz yesterday. Six members of the pro-Yemen President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi forces were also killed in the attack. Houthi artillery shelling against residential neighbourhoods in the city have resulted in the death of...

It would be fair to say that there was a collective sigh of relief across Europe when terror suspect Salah Abdeslam was shot and arrested in a police raid in the Molenbeek area of Brussels on Friday after a four-month international search. The end of Europe’s biggest manhunt came...

Nidaa Tounes has achieved a balance in the political scene, the head of the Tunisian Presidential Cabinet and senior member of the party, Reda Belhaj, said, calling on its members to unite. “Without Nidaa Tounes, we will lose all the gains that have been made in the country. Therefore...

The Court of Administrative Justice has postponed a lawsuit filed by Hamdy Al-Fakharany to revoke the Egyptian citizenship of Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi until 27 March, Al-Qaradawi told Al Jazeera. The lawsuit accuses Al-Qaradawi of committing hostile acts against the Egyptian army, spreading incitement and sedition and exposing the country...

The biggest problem facing Egyptian society at the moment is the high population growth and the weak economy, the President of Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), Abu Bakr Al-Jundi warned yesterday. Al-Jundi said during a seminar organised by the Businessmen Association in Alexandria that the...

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika yesterday ordered the government to face the ongoing security, diplomatic and humanitarian situation in the region. In a statement issued after a meeting he chaired with senior government officials, Bouteflika said: “The meeting has culminated in presidential orders concerning mainly the ​​security, diplomatic and humanitarian...

Tunisians will always be indebted to the people of Ben Gardane because they tirelessly defend their city and country, President Beji Caid Essebsi said yesterday. "You are the real Tunisians,” Essebsi said in a speech at Carthage Palace during the 60th anniversary of the independence of Tunisia celebrations. Fighting...

Supporters of Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Sunday continued to demonstrate outside the gates of Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone – for the third day in a row – to demand that the government carry out a raft of promised reforms. "We will continue our sit-ins outside the Green...

Yemen’s Shia Houthi militant group is prepared to engage in a fresh round of talks with the Yemeni government with a view to ending the country’s two-year-old conflict, Yemeni sources have said. "The Houthis have told Ould Shaikh that they have agreed to take part in...

The bodies of three Israeli citizens who lost their lives in Saturday's suicide bomb attack on Istanbul's Istiklal Street were sent to Israel on Sunday. Five Israeli citizens injured by the blast also flew on the same plane. The blast killed five people, including the suicide bomber, and injured...

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala has said the suicide bomber involved in Saturday’s blast on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street is suspected of having links with Daesh terrorist group. Addressing a press conference in Ankara Sunday, Ala said the bomber had been identified as 24-year-old Mehmet Ozturk, who was born in...

The death toll from an attack on a police checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula – responsibility for which has been claimed by a Daesh affiliate – has risen to 15, Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced Sunday. In a statement, the ministry said three police officers and 12 soldiers had been...

An estimated 15,000 people marched through central London on Saturday during a 'Refugees Welcome/Stand Up To Racism' demonstration that was implemented to coincide with the United Nations' 'Anti-Racism Day' which is to be commemorated on Monday. March 21st was first declared by the UN as 'Anti-Racism Day' – officially...

Last month the American reporter Eli Clifton revealed a secret "Anti-Israel" enemies list maintained by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL was founded 103 years ago as a civil rights organisation to defend Jews in America from then-rampant anti-Semitism. However, long ago, it all but abandoned this mission. Instead,...

Demonstrators held a protest outside UNICEF's office in London on Friday evening urging it to end its contract with British security company G4S. Activists from Inminds human rights group said G4S provides security for Israeli prisons which cage Palestinian children as young as 12 years old and torture others....

Greece is the main gateway to Europe. As such, it is the first destination for the majority of migrants, either asylum seekers, refugees, or economic migrants, in their journey towards the developed states of Europe, where peace, stability and prosperity are taken for granted. These migrant populations entering Greece...

The editorial board of the Washington Post called for the American President Barack Obama not to “reward” Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi for his violations against Egyptians, their freedom and economic and social lives. “Disappearance, torture and extrajudicial killings have become shockingly common under the Egyptian regime of Abdel...

The nature of Israeli politics tells us that elections could be called fairly quickly. Should that happen in the next couple of years it is of course feasible that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could stand and win a further term. However, if he chooses retirement, then who might...

Turkey is “problematic” for Israel as long as a leader with a “strong Islamic attitude” heads the country, Israeli Deputy Chief of Staff Golan Yair warned yesterday. Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Yair saying that Israel must prepare for more “troubles and challenges”. He added that US President Barack Obama...

Iranian preacher Mohamed Ali Karmani called Saudi Arabia “Iran’s enemy” which will never be considered a friend, and called on officials to pay more attention to Iranian pilgrims who travel to Makkah, Arabi21 reported. Karmani called on officials responsible for the Hajj to prepare a security plan for Iranian...

Six Jewish vigilantes were jailed in Paris on Friday over a 'savage gang attack' targeting attendees at a fundraising event for Gaza in 2009 in the French capital. The defendants used iron bars, baseball bats and bike chains in the onslaught, in which they deliberately targeted anybody who looked...