An explosion on Saturday in a Syrian ammunition depot in a military zone west of the capital was caused by wildfires, state television reported. It said the depot was in the Dummar residential area, Reuters reported. But residents said the explosion, which could be heard across Damascus, appeared to have...

A Turkish observation post in Syria’s Idlib region was attacked with mortar fire and shelling from an area controlled by Syrian government forces, causing damage but no casualties, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Sunday, Reuters reports. The ministry said its forces immediately retaliated with heavy weapons and it made representations...

Dozens of Palestinian detainees in the Israeli Ashkelon prison staged an open-ended hunger strike on Sunday to demand an improvement in their conditions, according to a Palestinian NGO, Anadolu Agency reported. In a statement, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) said the hunger strike comes in protest of the prison administration’s...

An Israeli court on Sunday convicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, of fraudulently using public funds to pay for expensive restaurant meals, according to local media, Anadolu Agency reports. Sarah Netanyahu was ordered to pay 55,000 shekels ($15,277), Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported. The conviction came on the basis of...

Pope Francis called for restraint and a lowering of tensions in the Middle East on Sunday following attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman that have raised fears of a broader confrontation in the region, Reuters reported. Francis, during a visit to a city in central Italy...

One of two oil tankers crippled in attacks in the Gulf of Oman last week that Washington and Riyadh have blamed on Iran is now anchored off the coast of the United Arab Emirates with crew on board, the ship’s operator said on Sunday, Reuters reports. Damage assessment on Japan’s Kokuka...

Algeria’s former finance minister Karim Djoudi appeared before the Supreme Court on Sunday to face questions about corruption accusations, state television reported, Reuters reports. He has not been charged but joins a series of senior figures associated with former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to face investigations since protests broke out this year...

Yemen’s Houthi movement launched fresh drone attacks targeting Jizan and Abha airports in southern Saudi Arabia, the group’s Al-Masirah TV said on Saturday, adding the installations were out of service, Reuters reports. The Saudi-led coalition said in a statement that it had intercepted and downed a Houthi drone targeting the...

Recent oil tanker attacks in the Gulf could be “leverage” for Iran against sanctions imposed by the US administration on the country’s oil exports, a political expert said, Anadolu Agency reported. Iran’s oil exports have been drastically affected by the sanctions through which the White House seeks to bring Tehran’s...

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has blamed Iran for recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf and called on the international community to take a “decisive stance” against Tehran, Anadolu Agency reports. In an interview with the Saudi-funded newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday, bin Salman unleashed criticism against Iran...

Bashar al-Assad regime forces attacked a Turkish observation point in Syria and it was retaliated with heavy weapons, Turkish Defence Ministry said on Sunday, Anadolu Agency reports. In a statement, the ministry said regime forces launched an artillery attack from Idlib region’s Tall Bazan area to Murak area, where a...

Saudi Arabia retained the title of the world’s top crude oil exporter last year, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency on British energy giant BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2019 report, Anadolu Agency reports. The kingdom’s crude oil exports rose by 2.8% to reach 7.38 mbpd in 2018 from...

French President Emmanuel Macron urged Turkey to stop “illegal activities” in Cyprus’s exclusive economic zone and said the European Union would not back down on the issue, reported by Reuters.  European Union members have pressured Turkey to drop its plans for offshore drilling for natural gas in an area...

Six Belgian children of Daesh members were brought back to Belgium on Friday from camps in Syria as reported on Reuters. The children, ranging in age from six to 18, were all left parent-less in Syria, making their repatriation less complicated than that of dozens of other Belgian children...

Sudan’s chief prosecutor said that ousted President Omar Al-Bashir would be sent for trial soon on corruption charges related to his three decades in power, as reported by Reuters. Alwaleed Sayed Ahmed Mahmoud told a news conference the trial referral would be made after a one-week period for objections...

Turkey’s compound men team bagged silver medal in the 2019 World Archery Championships on today, reported by Anadolu Agency. Turkish men were beaten by South Korea in the final of the top-tier archery tournament held in the Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch by 235-233 to become runner-up in this category. Separately Turkey’s compound women...

Iran and China on yesterday criticised unilateral policies of the US during a regional security summit in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, Anadolu Agency reports. Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said: “Pressures that the US administration is putting on Iran, China and other countries...

Iran will continue scaling back its compliance with its nuclear deal commitments in the absence of “positive signals” from other signatories to the pact, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told a meeting of Russia, China and other Asia leaders in Tajikistan. Iran stopped complying in May with some commitments in...

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said today that he hopes oil producers will be able to balance the oil market before next year, as reported by Reuters. “We hope that we will balance the market before next year. We are working on it,” Falih told reporters on the sidelines...

Turkey rejects ‘fait accompli’ in Jerusalem, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today, as reported on Anadolu Agency. “We reject efforts to create new fait accompli in Jerusalem,” Erdogan told at the 5th Summit of Heads of State of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in...

While Father’s Day brings joy to millions of children worldwide, the occasion comes with grief to thousands of Palestinian children, who lost their fathers during the Palestinian Intifada against the decades-long Israeli occupation, as reported by Anadolu Agency.  In a statement on Saturday, Naim Abu Riash, head of Izdihar...

The leader of Britain’s opposition has said there is no “credible evidence” that Iran was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers on Friday, urging the government to refrain from escalating tensions in the region, as reported by Anadolu Agency.  Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn said late Friday that...

Qatar will host the inaugural World Beach Games later this year after Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) awarded the Gulf state the rights 2 weeks after San Diego withdrew because of lack of funding and sponsorship, as reported on Reuters. The Qatar government has offered the financial guarantees...

The United States has allowed Iraq to import Iranian gas for its power grid for another three months by extending a waiver to US sanctions for Baghdad, two government sources said today, as reported on Reuters. One of the sources, who asked not to be named, said the extension...

Saudi General Amusement Committee has opened an investigation into the alleged Halal disco whose videos went viral on the internet, Al-Shorouq newspaper reported on Friday. The Committee said that this event known as Protect X was held in Jedda without a license and it was held in violation of...

Fatah’s Revolutionary Council headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Friday its absolute rejection of the US sponsored deal of the century. In a statement issued after three days of meetings, the Council said: “Donald Trump’s administration is no longer qualified to play a positive role...

Belgian State Council decided on Friday to suspend the licenses of arms exports to Saudi Arabia fearing their use against civilians in Yemen, media sources reported. In recent months Belgium’s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders has been a vocal advocate against arms sales to the kingdom because of its human...

American medical team succeeded in removing a bullet from head of 7-month-old Palestinian infant who was shot by Israeli fire while in the lap of her mother, Al-Wattan Voice reported on Friday. In a statement, the Palestinian ministry of health in Ramallah said that the American medical team ended...

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz met on Friday with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process Jason Greenblatt to discuss challenges ahead of the first deal of the century conference to be held in Manama this month, Israeli Channel 13 reported. Officially, the Israeli government has sought...

Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan has contacted several European countries, asking them to stop supporting and funding BDS organisations, Israeli newspaper Hayom reported on Friday. Erdan also contacted the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, requesting that he ensures the EU halts funding to Palestinian organisations that support BDS...

A new World Heath Organization report on Gaza this month made for shocking reading. But as usual when it comes to our hopelessly Israel-sympathetic media, there was barely a whisper about it in the “mainstream” papers. It states that in the course of the year following the start of...

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Russian president on Friday called the necessity to ensure the complete elimination of terrorism in Idlib “an immediate task”. In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-militarised zone after a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia’s...

US President Donald Trump discussed with Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe Friday recent attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, Anadolu Agency reports. The telephone call follows the conclusion of Abe’s recent visit to Iran in which he sought to diffuse simmering tensions between Washington and Tehran that hit...

The United Nations’ highest court for inter-state disputes on Friday rejected a United Arab Emirates request for immediate measures against Qatar in a dispute over alleged discrimination between the Arab neighbours, Reuters reports. In a 15-1 vote, World Court judges rejected the UAE’s request for immediate action to stop Qatar blocking...

Palestinians converged along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone on Friday to take part in the 58th week of running demonstrations against Israel’s decades-long occupation, Anadolu Agency reports. In a statement, Gaza’s National Authority for Return and Breaking the Siege (NARBS), which organises the weekly rallies, called on Palestinians to rise up...

This year, London will once again host the world’s biggest exhibition on Palestine, bringing together culture, history, entertainment and exhibitions. Organised by the British NGO Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), Palestine Expo aims to bring awareness to the Palestinian cause during the two-day event which is being held in the...

US President Donald Trump blamed Iran on Friday for attacks on two oil tankers at the entrance to the Gulf despite Tehran’s denials, stoking fears of a confrontation in the vital oil shipping route, Reuters reports. Iran has dismissed earlier US charges that it was behind Thursday’s attacks that crippled two...

More than 24,000 irregular migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea since the beginning of 2019, the UN migration agency said Friday, Anadolu Agency has reported. Of that figure, 555 died at sea, according to a report published by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). During the same period last year,...

Four civilians were killed in an aerial bombardment carried out by the Syrian regime and Iranian groups allied with it on the de-escalation zone in northern Syria, the Anadolu Agency reported. According to local sources cited by Anadolu, the bombing targeted the city of Khan Sheikhoun, the villages of Amriya and Muqa...

The Transitional Military Council in Sudan has for the first time admitted it ordered the dispersal of a sit-in in capital Khartoum which left over 100 people dead last week. The TMC “decided to disperse the sit-in”, said spokesman Shams Al-Din Kabashi yesterday. He added  that the TMC will not conduct an...

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What was an offhand proposal by the former head of the Saudi intelligence service, Turki Al-Faisal, to the late Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, with the aim of easing the economic burden on Egypt, is now an Egyptian sovereign law after the a parliamentary committee approved it. This warns...

Israel not only uses its highly-trained military and security forces against what it calls Palestinian or Islamist “terrorists”, but also against organisations and movements that everyone agrees are civilian and peaceful entities made up of people from various nationalities and backgrounds. Confirmation of this was revealed this week by...

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has stated that Turkey will retaliate if the US imposes sanctions on it over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defence system. In an interview with the Turkish channel NTV today, Cavusoglu made a series of remarks reflecting the direction of Turkey’s foreign policy...

Just one week after rights groups condemned British authorities for failing to publicly condemn the death sentence of a minor, UK Minister for the Armed Forces Mark Lancaster and Egyptian Minister of Defence General Mohamed Zaki met to discuss enhancing UK-Egypt defence cooperation. Ahmed Saddouma was arrested in the...

Former Algerian presidential candidate Ali Ghediri is being held on charges of forgery, his office has said. “The former presidential candidate, Ali Ghediri, was put in temporary custody after being brought before the investigating judge at the Casablanca court in Algiers,”...

The Conservative Party’s Boris Johnson has received the highest number of votes in the first ballot to select who will lead the party and succeed Theresa May as the next prime minister of the UK. Whilst Mark Harper, Andrea Leadsom and Esther McVey have been knocked out of the...

Illegal Israeli settlers have setup an illegal outpost on Palestinian land near the Gold Souk in the occupied Old City of Hebron, the West Bank, the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee has said. Committee head, Imad Hamdan, said that the settlers intend to build two housing units on the land after...