READ: PA’s social security law to come into force despite public outcry...

Nine months after being voted into the 128-seat Lebanese parliament as one of six female lawmakers, Paula Yacoubian is urging fellow legislators to help change discriminatory laws that are an “injustice” against women. Yacoubian, 42, won her seat as a civil society candidate in May’s election and prides herself...

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued a decree yesterday prohibiting senior state officials from travelling abroad without obtaining his permission. The decision is to include the sovereign ministries and supervisory, judicial and security agencies and states that: “Permission for travel abroad on an official trip should be approved by the...

The scope of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s attempt to silence critics was exposed yesterday in a report by the New Yorker. Details of a global campaign – run by the Saudi government – revealed that thousands of Saudis have faced threats and intimidation for criticising the Crown...

Some Israelis insulted Jesus Christ recently in a museum in Haifa, making him into an offensive cartoon and insulting the anniversary of his blessed birth. It was as if they were reminiscing about chasing him across the mountains and valleys of Palestine. Today, they are insulting Al-Aqsa Mosque and...

The Arab League said yesterday that it has not been asked to mediate between Libya and Lebanon following Tripoli’s recent announcement that it is boycotting the Arab Economic Summit due to be held in Beirut later this month. “The Arab League’s secretary general was not asked to mediate between...

The Egyptian government has imposed additional fees on public services including cinema tickets, train fares, casinos and telephone transmissions. The decree, signed by Egyptian Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali, stipulates that the proceeds of the additional fees will go towards the Fund for Supporting Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations,...

Israel may need to invade Iran to stop its entrenchment in Syria, an assessment by the Institute for National Security (INSS) in Tel Aviv has concluded. The independent think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University looked at a range of scenarios in a report in which it concluded that...

Health ministry officials in the Gaza Strip have warned that the serious fuel shortage for hospitals and health centres threatens the lives of hundreds of patients in the besieged enclave. Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said that the amount of fuel in stock will only be enough to keep the...

An Afghan diplomat has revealed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have made it clear to Washington that they will not participate in the US-Taliban peace talks if they are held in Qatar. The Taliban, he added, insist on holding the meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha, where the...

A Sudanese official has exposed the extent of the country’s financial difficulties, with revelations that several of the country’s foreign diplomats have not been paid for over seven months. The anonymous source said that some ambassadors in Asian and European states had not received their salaries for over half...

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Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation yesterday banned the chairman of Zamalek football club from making media appearances for two months. Mortada Mansour was banned from appearing on all media outlets for two months, with the only exception being in relation to his activity as an Egyptian MP. In a...

The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has been unable to break the Israeli-led siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, despite its positive and unprecedented attention and response to many matters that were difficult to address in the past. After years of hit-and-run attacks, Israeli offensives, conferences, international meetings and...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on the Iraqi government to disarm 67 Shia militias and freeze their activities in preparation to them being disbanded. In response to the US request, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has asked Washington to give him some time to act....

The outgoing Israeli Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot, said yesterday that he feels “sad” he could not bring Israeli soldiers captured in Gaza back home during his term. While handing over his responsibilities to the new Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, Eisenkot said that “during my service, I saw it as...

Iran’s Foreign Minister has said that, despite having a good relationship with Qatar, the government in Tehran rejects Doha’s policy towards Syria. “It is important for Iran to expand its relations with its neighbours,” explained Mohammad Javad Zarif in an interview with Al-Vefagh, “but that does not mean that...

The Palestine Prisoners’ Centre for Studies said on Tuesday that 23 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel suffer from cancer but do not receive adequate treatment or healthcare from the prison authorities, Safa news agency has reported. The Israeli Prison Service only provides painkillers for such patients, it is alleged....

Israel yesterday handed demolition orders to ten families in Al-Bustan, in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan south of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Fakhri Abu-Dyab, a member of the Committee to Defend Silwan Land, said that “the employees of the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem distributed the demolition orders, that included my own...

The United States government is being urged to rescind a 1978 opinion on the illegality of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), reported The Jerusalem Post. According to the report, the Zionist Organisation of America (ZOA) has “embarked on a renewed campaign this week to pressure the...

Lawyers working on Palestinian Jerusalemites’ attempts to acquire Israeli citizenship believe that the government is deliberating blocking such applications, reported Haaretz. According to the paper, “while the number of applications for citizenship has grown, from 69 in 2003 to more than 1,000 in 2018, very few receive a positive...

The Palestinian High Court of Justice removed the Palestinian Authority Attorney General on Tuesday following a complaint that he was nominated for the post illegally because he did not receive the required number of votes. PA President Mahmoud Abbas went ahead regardless and appointed Ahmed Barrak despite this failure...

Israeli forces have killed Palestinian children during protests in the occupied Gaza Strip in “conduct amounting to war crimes”, according to a report submitted to a United Nations inquiry by Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) and the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. The 57-page report...

A spokesman for the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that his country has agreed to a UN request to host a meeting between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels to discuss a prisoner exchange. The spokesman stated: “We in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan stand with all our capabilities,...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed yesterday that the former Israeli Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot, met the commanders of several Arab armies during his term. Netanyahu made the revelation during a ceremony to celebrate Eisenkot’s retirement and the inauguration of his successor, Aviv Kochavi. Addressing Eisenkot, Netanyahu said:...

The new Chief of Staff of the Israel army vowed on Tuesday that he will dedicate himself to strengthen its attack capabilities, local media have reported. “I commit to dedicating all my energy, with a critical and demanding approach, to strengthening our defensive wall, to training for present and...

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said yesterday that as many as 15 displaced Syrian children, most of them infants, have died from extreme cold and lack of medical care. The children – 13 of them less than one year old – have died in Al-Rukban refugee...

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi is facing a lawsuit which accuses him of exceeding his powers by granting an amnesty to a high-profile prisoner in contravention of the country’s national and international legal codes. The lawsuit was filed on Monday by civil society groups. The organisations call upon the...

What was Sondos thinking as she huddled with her three children in their tent and set it on fire? Did the tears of her children not move her? Didn’t the screams of her one-month-old baby make her change her mind? It is true that they had not had food...

Israel’s Minister of Energy has announced that his country will start to export gas to Egypt “within a few months,” Al-Khaleej Online has reported. Yuval Steinitz said that Israel’s gas exports to its neighbour are expected to reach seven billion cubic metres annually over a period of ten years....

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has ordered that $50 million be allocated to support Syrian refugees and displaced people, local media reported Tuesday, Anadolu reports. According to the Qatar News Agency, the donation will be used for Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan as well as displaced...

Protests in Sudan spread to residential areas of the capital Tuesday as the country’s economic and political crisis showed no signs of abating, Anadolu reports. Demonstrators took to the streets of Al Kalakla, Jabra and Al-Thawra, eyewitnesses, told Anadolu Agency. The move was called for by independent professional unions to...

Sudan’s fact-finding committee for investigating the recent protests yesterday took the oath of office before the country’s President Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan News Agency (SUNA) has reported. The Sudanese justice minister, Mohamed Ahmed Salem, told reports at a press conference that the committee consisted of a number of state ministers...

The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Wednesday to approve the deployment of up to 75 observers to Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah for six months to monitor a ceasefire and redeployment of forces by the warring parties, diplomats said, Reuters reports. After a week of UN-sponsored...

Iran’s bid to launch a satellite has failed, Telecoms Minister Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said on Tuesday, after it ignored US warnings to avoid such activity, Reuters reports. Washington warned Tehran this month against undertaking three planned rocket launches that it said would violate a UN Security Council resolution because they...

Tunisian Tourism Minister Rene Trabelsi has described the issue of diplomatic normalization with Israel as a “sensitive matter”. Trabelsi, a Jewish Tunisian businessman who was recently given the government’s tourism portfolio, made the remarks during an interview with Israel’s i24 television channel, parts of which were aired Tuesday on...

A proposed safe zone in northern Syria along Turkish border will be under Ankara’s control, the country’s presidential aide said on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reports. Speaking to the reporters following a Cabinet meeting in Ankara, Ibrahim Kalin said, “Fight against terrorism and terror groups targeting Turkey will continue in every...

The UN food agency delivered emergency food and vouchers for over 9.5 million people in Yemen in December, just shy of its 10 million monthly target in the famine-threatened country, a spokesman said on Tuesday, Reuters reports. Yemen’s nearly four-year war and economic collapse have left 15.9 million people,...

A Saudi royal advisor fired over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi continues to wield influence in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s inner circle, according to Western, Arab and Saudi sources with links to the royal court, Reuters reports. Saud al-Qahtani was dismissed as a top aide to the...

Iran can enrich uranium up to 20 percent within four days, its atomic energy chief said on Tuesday, a comment apparently aimed at showing Tehran could quickly expand its enrichment programme if its nuclear deal with world powers collapses, Reuters reports. Iran’s 2015 accord with world powers caps the...

Eastern forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar have launched a military operation in southern Libya to secure oil and gas facilities and fight extremists, a spokesman said on Tuesday, a move that may alarm the authorities in Tripoli in the west, Reuters reports. Haftar, whose powerbase is the eastern...

Amid threats to the safety of Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed, who was granted asylum in Canada, the Toronto agency that is helping her has hired a security guard to ensure “she is never alone” as she starts a normal life, its executive director said on Tuesday. Mohammed, 18, made...

A UK activist has been denied entry to Israel for the second time, despite complying with the country’s travel restrictions. Twenty-eight-year-old Gary Spedding was yesterday prevented from entering Israel, before being detained at the country’s Ben Gurion airport for five hours, Haaretz reported. He is facing deportation back to...

An extreme right-wing member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, has been elected to lead a faction of the Jewish Home party. Bezalel Smotrich MK is renowned for his pro-settlement views. Smotrich, who currently serves as the Deputy Knesset Speaker, was elected yesterday to head the National Union, an...

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The idea that confronting Iran requires normalisation and an alliance with Israel is purely Israeli in origin and only serves the agenda of the occupation state, which invests all events in the region and, indeed, around the world, with its own best interests. Israel’s most recent success in this...

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas will today assume the presidency of the Group of 77 developing nations (G77) at a ceremony hosted by the UN General Assembly. According to PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the appointment, which he described as “an important historical event added to the political achievements...

Israel’s Minister of Internal Security said on Monday that plans to occupy the Gaza Strip are on the table for the Cabinet to consider, Quds Net News has reported. However, Gilad Erdan told Israeli military radio that the country prefers calm and the possibility of reaching a deal that...

The energy ministers of seven countries launched the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum on Monday in an effort to benefit from the energy-rich region, particularly natural gas resources. The forum’s members are Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, and the organisation will have its headquarters in...

The diplomatic crisis between Libya and Lebanon intensified on Monday against the backdrop of Lebanese Shia factions, including the Amal movement led by Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, allegedly disrespecting the Libyan flag and attacking Libya’s Embassy in Beirut. The Libyan Government of National Accord announced the cancellation of its...