Head of Tunisian parliament and leader of the Ennahda movement Rached Ghannouchi renewed his pledge to respect the internal law of the movement and not to amend it in order to run again for presidency. Ghannouchi affirmed on Thursday in a press statement that he: "Is not the guardian of...

With the start of the fourth early elections in Israel, the political scene is witnessing unprecedented rifts and disputes. This could result in the surfacing of an unexpected electoral turnout due to the divisions within the Israeli right and left wings, and the internal differences between party members affiliated...

Acting Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (ASRSG) Stephanie Williams confirmed that no progress had been made regarding the mechanism for selecting members of the new executive authority to govern the country since the launch of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in Tunisia last November. Williams disclosed that...

On Friday, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) hinted at the possibility of waging war against Ethiopia, calling on the Ethiopian authorities to stop what it described as "provocations and attacks". This came in a statement by the SPA, leader of the protest movement, in conjunction with the continuing armed...

Speaker of Tunisian Parliament Rached Ghannouchi has announced that the Palestinian cause is sacred in Tunisia and a state of consensus prevails in the country regarding the indisputable rejection of normalisation with the Israeli occupation. The statements made by the leader of the Ennahda movement came in an interview...

The petition for South Africa's ANC-led government to lift punitive visa restrictions on Palestinians wanting to travel to the country is an embarrassing but necessary exercise. Many people, including veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle familiar with Palestine's freedom struggle, and aware of deep historic ties between the two liberation...

Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait announced that his country needs more than 20 billion Egyptian pounds to provide the coronavirus vaccine to 100 million citizens. "We have a contract with the Global Vaccine Alliance to get 20 million doses. We have also submitted a request to obtain the Oxford...

At a press conference on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow hopes that the US will keep its promise and close Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Bay, where 19 years ago the US opened a military detention centre notorious for its human rights abuses, was once promised...

Cairo has made its conflict against Ankara a foreign policy priority, rendering all regions a potential battleground, even the African Sahel region, which has generally been excluded from the focus of the Egyptian state. The Intelligence Online website added that after Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt is now...

Iranian forces and militias in Syrian have been redeployed to areas that have recently come under Israeli airstrikes, Kuwaiti Al-Mujtama magazine reported on Friday. The magazine disclosed that the redeployment took place in the cities of Deir Ez-Zor, Bokamal, and Al-Mayadeen, noting that the militias evacuated their bases outside...

Israeli occupation authorities have taken the measurements of the Dome of the Rock while Israeli settlers are calling for its demolition, Director of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Omar Al-Kiswani announced on Friday. Al-Kiswani described what is being done inside Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock as "a dangerous measure". Speaking...

Jordanian Health Minister Nathir Obeidat has revealed that the actual number of COVID-19 cases in the country is eight times higher than the officially recorded number, The New Khalij reported on Friday. The minister reiterated that the situation has improved, pointing to the rate of positive results compared to...

Following increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases, Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)'s Commission for Prisoners Affairs, accused Israel of "intentional medical negligence" against Palestinian prisoners, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday. "The situation inside Israeli jails is worrying," he expressed, noting that the number of COVID-19 cases among prisoners...

Saudi Arabia has stopped contact with Israel as punishment over leaking the news of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two months ago, London-based Saudi online newspaper Elaph reported on Thursday. According to Elaph, an unnamed senior Israeli official said that Israeli...

Yemen's Minister of Religious Endowments and Guidance Mohammed Eida Shabiba has slammed Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths as he was not pleased with the US designation of Houthi militia as a terror group, Yemen Shabab reported on Friday. Speaking at the UN Security Council, Griffiths expressed his extreme concern about the impact of...

The United Nations Security Council approved on Friday the appointment of veteran diplomat Jan Kubis as the UN Libya envoy, diplomats said, nearly a year after the last mediator stepped down. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had proposed that Kubis succeed Ghassan Salame, who quit the role in March last...

A January shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to the Gulf state of Bahrain will not arrive on time, the ministry of health said on Saturday, but second doses of the jab already scheduled will not be affected, reports Reuters. The small island state of Bahrain has the third-highest rate...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Saturday fired long-range ballistic missiles into the Indian Ocean on the second day of a military exercise, state media reported, reports Reuters. The drill, which comes in the waning days of high tensions with US President Donald Trump's administration, was conducted in the country's central...

There will be a collective sigh of relief from Palestinians when disgraced President Donald Trump finally leaves the White House for good on Wednesday, because no single nation has suffered more as a result of US foreign policy under this man. However, is it possible that some of Trump's...

The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) announced on Wednesday that a delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluded a one-day visit to Khartoum, as part of new efforts made by Abu Dhabi aimed at reactivating the stalled Renaissance Dam negotiations between Sudan, Ethiopia, and...

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has warned against the return of dictatorship in the country while criticising the dispersal of democratic forces and the rise of voices calling for the return of individual rule. Marzouki posted an article he wrote on his Facebook page, entitled On the tenth anniversary...

Turkey has renewed calls to the US to discuss solutions to the Russian S-400 defence system crisis while urging Washington to withdraw the sanctions imposed on Ankara in this regard. On Wednesday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar asserted: "We are frankly convinced of the necessity of dialogue because without...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the administration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in order to have a positive impact on the situation in Yemen. The organisation stated in a report published on its...

Winter is definitely the season for comfort food and I am always trying to think of really hearty and delicious meals that are quick and easy to make, but also very flavourful. One of my favourite dishes is a Libyan dish called Imbakbaka. This rich and tomatoey stew filled...

The United States on Friday sanctioned companies in Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates for doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and on three Iranian entities over conventional arms proliferation, Reuters reported. They are the latest in a series of measures aimed at stepping up pressure...

Ending a 14-year spell without elections, this spring and summer Palestinians are set to have three elections – parliamentary, presidential and National Council polls – under a decree signed by the Palestinian president on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports. Under the decree, parliamentary elections will be held on May 22, presidential elections...

US President Donald Trump on Friday received Morocco's highest award for his work in advancing a normalisation deal between Israel and Morocco, Reuters reported a senior administration official as saying. In a private Oval Office ceremony, Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui, who is Morocco's ambassador to the United States, gave Trump...

The New York Jets have announced they reached an agreement in principle to hire Lebanese-American Robert Saleh, setting him on the path to become the first Muslim head coach in American football history, Anadolu Agency reports. The team announced the yet-to-be-finalized agreement in a statement on Thursday. Saleh had been the...

READ: Lebanese hoarding food as 11-day, 24-hour lockdown announced...

The US has decreased its number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 2,500, accomplishing a key goal of President Donald Trump as he prepares to leave office next week, the Pentagon announced Friday, Anadolu Agency reports. The Afghanistan drawdown may run afoul of Congress, which just two weeks ago prohibited the...

Egypt on Friday called on the incoming US administration to play a role in finding a solution to the Ethiopia dam crisis, Anadolu Agency reports. Egypt's official news agency quoted Motaz Zahran, the ambassador to the US, as saying that Egypt hopes incoming President Joe Biden will engage with the three parties...

Donald Trump has ordered the US military to include Israel in its Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The move comes in the final few days of the US President's term of office. This could be critical given the deep differences...

Israel will start vaccinating all prisoners, including Palestinian detainees, from next week as part of its nationwide anti-Covid-19 programme, the Minister of Health has confirmed. "We are adhering to all of the coronavirus committee's guidelines," said Yuli Edelstein during his visit to a vaccination centre in Ramla. "I'm not...

Three Syrian businessmen have been linked to the purchase of the explosives that caused the Beirut blast last August. The link has been made in a documentary aired by Al-Jadeed on Tuesday. Open-source information on the British government's Companies House website, cited in the documentary, shows that dual Russian-Syrian...

Qatar has been removed from Britain's safe travel corridor list, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps explained to the BBC on Thursday. The Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba have also been taken off the list. "Anyone arriving from these countries after 04:00 GMT on Saturday will have...

The US has rejected pleas from the UN to reverse its decision to designate Yemen's Houthis as a terrorist group. The decision has been met with widescale condemnation and accusations of "political vandalism". Senior UN officials have warned of a massive famine in Yemen, which is already regarded as...

Iran and Turkey are to enhance border security in a coordinated effort according to the commander of Iran's border guards, Brigadier General Ahmed Ali Kuderzi. Kuderzi made the announcement following a meeting held via video conference with other senior border officials from the Iranian provinces of west Azerbaijan and...

Militants belonging to the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) are reported to have opened fire on children who attempted to flee after they were recruited forcibly by the militia earlier this week, Anadolu has reported. The YPG militants were in the process of rounding up over a dozen boys...

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality is to build water storage tanks for every building over 1,000 square metres to store rainwater so that citizens can overcome drought, local media have reported. Public buildings, shopping malls and commercial properties will have adequate drainage installed to help the system to be effective. "I...

Gulf based executives have warned of a "credibility gap" after Saudi Arabia announced that it was committing itself to step up domestic investment following the double shock of low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. Domestic investment is expected to rise by as much as $40bn annually over the...

The US has imposed new sanctions on the deputy head of Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) after classifying him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) on Wednesday. Abdul Aziz Al-Muhammadawi, also known as Abu Fadak, was appointed as deputy head last February following the assassination of his predecessor...

South Korea's Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong Kun called on Qatar during his visit on Wednesday to help his country resolve the issue of Iran's detention of the Korean oil tanker and its crew. The Yonhap News Agency quoted the ministry as saying...

Five civilians were killed and three others were wounded in a roadside bomb in eastern Algeria today, the defence ministry in Algiers has revealed. The homemade bomb exploded as a car passed by on a road in the region of Tebessa, near the Tunisian border. The ministry added that...

Egypt's transport ministry and Siemens have signed a memorandum of understanding over a high-speed electric railway set to be built in Egypt which will link the northern and eastern coasts. The railway, which will connect Ain Sokhna with the New Alamein city and pass through the Administrative Capital, will...

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that the agreements concluded at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit held in the Saudi city of Al-Ula will help create the appropriate conditions for a collective security system in the Gulf region. "We believe the outcomes of this summit will contribute...

The Iraqi authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of a government employee accused of falsifying official documents enabling thousands of foreigners to obtain citizenship, Anadolu has reported. "A team from the Diyala investigation office seized 1,360 forged documents out of 4,333, on the basis of which Iraqi citizenship was...

France has repatriated seven children of Daesh fighters from north-east Syria. This is the latest effort by a European country to return its nationals following years of reluctance to do so. The children are aged between 2 and 11. They were living in Al-Hol and Roj camps which are...

The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) expressed on Thursday its condemnation and rejection of the "aggressive" Israeli Judaisation of the occupied city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, Anadolu has reported. The scholars called for the city and mosque to be protected in the face of such a "heinous...

A source in the Federation of Industries has told Al-Manassa that Egypt's hospital oxygen crisis is due to the government's failure to pay its EGP 2 billion ($128 million) debt for medical supplies as coronavirus cases soar in the country. This is despite the fact that last year the...

For the 170 pupils in Al-Maleh village in the West Bank, the three-hour journey to school was arduous. Sometimes it took three hours after they had navigated the Israeli security checkpoints, some on foot and others on donkeys. Eventually, many of them simply stopped going. In mid-2019 Mahdi Daraghma,...