The current leader of the Daesh terrorist group was an "eager" informant of the US military in Iraq, new records released this week have shown. Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi replaced Abu Bakr aAl-Baghdadi, who was killed during a US operation in Syria's Idlib province in 2019. US officials opened a rare window into the terrorist chief's...

Greece and Qatar have begun talks about enhancing cultural ties with each other, which will include a "Greece-Qatar Culture Year". The details were given after the official two-day visit by Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni to Doha at the invitation of her Qatari counterpart, Salah Bin Ghanem Al-Ali. According...

There has been a lot of anxiety due to the closure of the Suez Canal caused by the giant container ship MV Ever Given running aground and blocking the waterway, leaving up to 400 other vessels in a queue to pass through. The cost to global trade has been...

Israel yesterday approved the construction of hundreds of illegal settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, a first since US President Joe Biden took office in January, Haaertz reports. According to report, the proposed 540 housing units are to be built in the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Beit Safafa and Sharafat,...

A member of the Supreme Political Council in Yemen, the executive body of the Houthi-led government based in Sanaa, has warned Turkey against any intervention in the country. Should it do so, said Abdul Wahab Al-Mahbashi, it will fare no better than Saudi Arabia, which has been leading a...

The Arab region expects Turkey to play a mediation role, particularly in Syria and Libya, the former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said yesterday. According to Anadolu, Siniora, who held the prime minister's office between 2005 and 2009, was speaking in an online panel discussion on the "Changing Situation of the Middle East and the Prospects of Cooperation and Peace," organised by the Ankara-based Middle East Research Center (ORSAM) on Tuesday Siniora touched on the rising problems in the world, saying that "international resolutions are ignored and cooperation among countries is still more uncertain than ever." Instability in the region encouraged some "regional and global powers to use the Arab countries as a battlefield," rather than engaging in cooperation, giving "regional powers, Iran and Israel in particular, a growing role in furthering the destabilisation of the region by direct aggression or instigating internal conflicts," Siniora said. He urged regional powers to work together and utilise their resources for their own good as "more and more pressure will be exercised by the superpowers and they are...

Egypt's foreign minister has said that Cairo is keen on the security and stability of Lebanon and the formation of a new government to resolve the state of political deadlock. Speaking at a press conference in Beirut Sameh Shoukry said that Egypt would spare no effort to continue supporting Lebanon as its stability is vital...

Dabirul Islam Choudhury OBE has just celebrated his 101st birthday at his London home with his son. It would have been a huge celebration surrounded by many of his family members, friends and well-wishers but with the UK in lockdown, Dabirul is considered vulnerable and therefore not allowed to...

Facebook has removed hundreds of fake accounts linked to an exiled Iranian opposition group, the Associated Press reported. The social media platform said in a statement on Tuesday that it removed more than 300 accounts that were part of a network tied to Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition body previously designated...

The Coordinating Body of the Iraqi Resistance Factions yesterday warned that it would direct large and accurate strikes against US forces in Iraq if no clear date is set for their final withdrawal from the country, Anadolu reported. "Today, the resistance finds itself obliged (…) to direct large and precise blows...

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has issued yet another warning about the perilous living conditions of Palestinians in Lebanon's refugee camps. Covid-19 is seen to have exacerbated the refugees' plight, but having this immediate and more pressing concern is, for diplomatic reasons, a premise...

The former president of Rabbis for Human Rights was violently assaulted by far-right Israeli settlers yesterday. Video footage of the brutal attack near the Maale Ahuvia illegal settlement outpost, shows prominent Rabbi Arik Ascherman being beaten with a wooden club while surrounded by settlers. According to the Jerusalem Post,...

Lebanese figures have called on French President Emmanuel Macron to freeze the assets of Lebanese economists and politicians in French banks in order to put pressure on them to form a government, news agencies reported on Tuesday. In a letter, the Lebanese figures referred to the economists and politicians...

The Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate (YJS) has documented 24 violations of media freedoms and journalists' rights during the first quarter of 2021. The body said in a statement issued on Tuesday that it had documented seven cases of arrest, detention and prosecution, seven cases of trial and summons, six cases...

The official Anti-Corruption and Funds Recovery Committee in Sudan has revealed that it has recovered assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars from former president Omar Al-Bashir. The committee has also mentioned the criticism it has faced for allegedly implementing "selective justice" measures. The Sudanese people have been following...

Palestinian prisoner Emad Al-Battran last night suspended his 47-day hunger strike after an Israeli pledge to set a time limit for his administrative detention. According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, Al-Battran received a pledge from his jailers to release him in July. As a result of his prolonged hunger...

Amnesty International's MENA advocacy director has called on US President Joe Biden to denounce human rights in Egypt and demand change. "Tens of thousands of people have been swept up and detained in Egypt, and Amnesty International has called it the world's largest open-air prison," Philippe Nassif told Today News...

Iran has made 55 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to up to 20 per cent, indicating quicker production than the ten kilogramme a month rate required by an Iranian law that created the process in January, local media reported yesterday. Iran has the capability to enrich uranium from 40 per...

Lebanese President Michel Aoun held a phone conversation with Syria's Bashar Al-Assad to discuss the demarcation of the Lebanon-Syria maritime borders, Anadolu reported yesterday. According to Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe, Aoun confirmed that "Lebanon will not accept to diminish from its sovereignty over its waters." This move, Anadolu said, came after...

The almost week-long blockage of the Suez Canal last month by a giant 250,000-ton container ship once again raised the issue of alternative routes for world shipping. The Netherlands-bound MV Ever Given ran aground while passing through the canal on 24 March; it took six days to refloat it....

Nick Kaufman, a former prosecutor at the ICC, stressed yesterday that it is impossible to offer bribes to the new international tribunal's prosecutor Karim Khan, Israel's Army Radio said. Kaufman reiterated that whoever thinks that it is possible to bribe or buy off the new ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan is wrong....

The funeral of 42-year-old Jerusalemite Osama Siddiq Mansour was held in the occupied village of Biddu village on Tuesday. Mansour was killed after Israeli occupation forces opened fire at his car in the early hours of Tuesday morning, his wife was injured in the incident. The couple were on their...

The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) ruled on Tuesday that a fugitive Hezbollah suspect, Salim Ayyash, convicted of the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri cannot appeal the verdict until he turns himself in. Last year, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Netherlands found Ayyash guilty in...

An Iranian civilian ship, the Saviz, was attacked in the Red Sea on Tuesday resulted in "minor" damage to the vessel, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said yesterday. "The explosion occurred at about 6 a.m. on Tuesday near the Djibouti coast and caused minor damage with no casualties," Khatibzadeh...

Israeli Brigadier General (Reserve) Zvika Fogel yesterday warned that the political crisis in Israel and the conflicts among Israeli politicians have had destructive consequences on next generations, the Shehab news agency reported. Shehab reported Israeli TV Channel 7 quoting Fogel saying that the Israeli community "is heading towards the abyss with full awareness and without hesitation due...

Jewish settlers siezed 15 Palestinian houses in the occupied East Jerusalem district of Silwan, the Palestinian Information Centre quoted Israel's Channel 7 reporting. According to the channel, the settlers placed Israeli flags on 15 houses in Silwan after the Ateret Cohanim organisation seized them and handed them to settler families. Ateret Cohanim is...

In a recent report, the UN Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), concluded that French warplanes had struck a crowd attending a wedding on 3 January in the remote village of Bounti, killing 22 of the guests. According to the findings based on a thorough investigation and interviews with hundreds of...

On 29 March, the French Embassy in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, was reopened after seven years of closure. The new embassy relocated from the upscale Al-Andalus neighbourhood, west of Tripoli, to a new building near the city centre, where security is relatively better. The old building was attacked by...

The Libyan National Army (LNA)'s battle won't end until the country's "prestige, borders, military bases and territorial waters are restored," General Khalifa Haftar vowed on Tuesday. "Any attempt directed against our army is rejected and unaccepted," Haftar told his soldiers in a military forum, adding that the troops were...

Amnesty International on Tuesday condemned Israel for: "Continuing to practice institutionalised discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied territories." In a report, the human rights organisation denounced the security cordon imposed on the Gaza Strip, describing it as "collective punishment". On the coronavirus vaccine, Amnesty pointed out that the: "Israeli...

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Tuesday issued a warning to the Hirak protest movement calling for reforming the country's political system, stressing that the authorities will not tolerate the incitement and dangerous deviations committed by the Hirak protesters. The warning comes after the Algerian popular movement held its weekly...

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared on Wednesday, regarding the issue of the Renaissance Dam, that: "All options are possible if a drop of Egypt's share of Nile water is compromised." In a statement that El-Sisi delivered during the inauguration of the integrated complex for secured and smart documents,...

US President Joe Biden's administration is set to formulate a new strategy in Libya that differs from the one implemented by former President Donald Trump. Biden hopes to revise the vague and ambiguous discourse adopted by Trump regarding the ambition of retired General Khalifa Haftar to rule the country....

King Abdullah II of Jordan said in a speech on Wednesday that a "rift" with his half-brother Prince Hamzah was over, adding that he was now in the palace with his family and under his care, Anadolu reports. The statement came as Jordanians took to social media demanding information...

Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday the central bank bore responsibility for the country's financial collapse and for stalling an audit which is a key condition for foreign aid the country badly needs, Reuters reports. In a national address, Aoun accused Lebanese banks of squandering people's savings and...

The Biden administration plans to provide at least $235 million in US aid to the Palestinians, restarting funding for the United Nations agency supporting refugees and restoring other assistance cut off by then-President Donald Trump, people familiar with the matter said, Reuters reports. The package, including humanitarian, economic and...

Iran's Ministry of Health today reported nearly 21,000 COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day figure since the first case was detected in February 2020 in the country, Reuters reported local media saying. A total of 193 more people died in the last 24 hours, state news agency IRNA quoted Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat...

The UAE's first nuclear power plant has started its commercial operations, the gulf state's officials announced yesterday. "The start of commercial operations at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant is a historic milestone for the UAE that significantly enhances the sustainability of our entire power sector," Crown Prince of Abu...

Former Tunisian President, Moncef Marzouki, yesterday called for "early elections to help solve the political and economic crises" which are currently rocking the North African state. "Early presidential and parliamentary elections may be an adventure, but the adventure may include some hope," Marzouki said on Facebook, warning that the...

Iran welcomed the "promising" statements made by US officials about the possibility of lifting the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic ahead of its return to the 2015 nuclear deal. "We find this position realistic and promising. It could be the start of correcting the bad process that had...

Greece's embassy in Libya was reopened by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a visit to the North African country yesterday, aiming for a reset of relations soured by the Tripoli government's 2019 maritime boundary agreement with Turkey, Reuters reports. According to the report, Mitsotakis' visit, to restart diplomatic relations seven years after the...

Israeli settlers attacked the Mayor of Sebastia, Mohammad Azem, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus as he tried to prevent them from beating and abducting a Palestinian child, reported Wafa news agency. Azem told Wafa that dozens of Israeli settlers arrived at the town's archeological site under the protection of Israeli...

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement is reportedly considering opening a representative office in the Russian capital Moscow, according to a report published yesterday by Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. The development follows a high-level meeting between Russian officials and a delegation from the movement last month. The delegation, received by Russian Foreign Minister...

Audio chatroom app Clubhouse is on the rise in the Arab world, providing a rare platform for open debate on taboo subjects from so-called honour killings in Egypt to sexual identity in Iraq, but with some authorities restricting the use and others wary. The app launched by a San...

Morocco will keep its nightly curfew in place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when people gather after breaking their fast at sunset, Reuters reported the government announcing today. The decision to keep the 8pm-6am curfew will hurt restaurants, shops, and markets that make most of their money in the...

Dubai will offer COVID-19 vaccines to all official representatives of countries participating in EXPO 2020, due to be held from October 2021 to March 2022, the state-run news agency WAM reported. "More than 1,000 employees of Expo 2020 Dubai and their families are expected to receive the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, approved...

The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs announced a new contribution towards the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in support of its core programmes and services including education, healthcare and relief, and social services. Following a visit to the UNRWA office...

The General President of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, announced on Tuesday that only people immunised against COVID-19 will be allowed to perform the year-round Umrah pilgrim, as well as pray in the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca and the...

Human Rights Watch warned on Tuesday that the Lebanese government's COVID-19 vaccination programme risks leaving behind marginalised communities, including refugees and migrant workers. The rights watchdog said in a statement that the Lebanese government had promised an equitable vaccination programme, but "the effort has been tainted by political interference...

A Bahraini political prisoner has died at a detention centre, which the authorities have claimed was due to "natural causes." However, the kingdom's main opposition group Al-Wefaq, which was dissolved in 2016, has claimed that he died "as a result of dangerous, inhumane conditions medical negligence." The Interior...