All Stories Archive

The border separating the Spanish territory of Melilla and Morocco witnessed a state of chaos on Friday, resulting in the deaths of five migrants after more than 2,000 migrants attempted to storm the border, reported Associated Press. According to AP, five Africans were killed, and dozens of migrants were...

The Iranian authorities have issued a statement branding the accusations of planned attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Turkiye as "ridiculous and baseless accusations". Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Saeed Khatibzadeh, announced in a statement, "these baseless accusations are ridiculous" and are part of a "pre-designed scenario to destroy relations between...

Tunisia's Interior Ministry said, on Friday, it had information about serious threats to the life of the President and that it had foiled what it called a separate attack near a synagogue, adding to concerns over a mounting political crisis, Reuters reports. The Ministry said both internal and external...

Wrestling: An identity-shaping ritual among Sudan's Nuba...

The US has confirmed that it would not support the rehabilitation of the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar Al-Assad, in any way. US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ambassador Barbara Leaf conveyed that the US will not support efforts to normalise or rehabilitate Syrian President...

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has warned that coastal communities in the Mediterranean are at risk of a tsunami by 2030. The organisation confirmed that it would train all at-risk coastal communities to deal with the matter. UNESCO considers the global tsunami warning system insufficient in...

The Pentagon, on Friday, said it had transferred an Afghan detainee who was held at Guantanamo Bay for 15 years, a move that comes after a court ruled the United States had no legal justification to hold him, Reuters reports. Opened under Republican President, George W. Bush, the Guantanamo...

China has urged the US to respond to Iran on resuming compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the historic nuclear deal with Tehran which is stalled, Anadolu News Agency reports. Insisting on diplomatic efforts to end the deadlock, China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi said: "The US...

Suriname said it cancelled its decision to open its embassy in Jerusalem, Israeli media reported on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reports. According to Israel's Channel 12, Suriname's President, Chan Santokhi, referred the decision to the lack of funds to build an embassy. The South American country has no embassy...

Israel reiterated its rejection of the accusations that blamed it for the killing of Palestinian journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, Anadolu News Agency reports. In a statement, the Israeli army accused the UN probe of being biased, citing Palestinians' rejection to hand the bullet that killed Abu Akleh to Israel....

Jordan's King Abdullah II has announced he would support the formation of a Middle East military alliance similar to the US-led NATO, Reuters reports. King Abdullah already sees Jordan as a "partner" of NATO as his country has been working very closely for regional peace, the report added. "I'd like to see more...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the Libyan National Unity Government expressed "surprise" at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson's statement regarding the national unity government and the roadmap for the political dialogue forum signed in Geneva. In a statement issued yesterday the ministry said the Egyptian...

Iran, on Friday, dismissed as "ridiculous" allegations by Israel's Foreign Minister while on a visit to Ankara that the Islamic Republic was planning anti-Israeli attacks in Turkiye, AFP reports. According to the report, Iran published a statement rejecting the latest allegations. "The baseless allegations … are ridiculous and part...

The Tunisian Ennahda Movement condemned, on Thursday, 23 June 2022, what it described as "repeated attempts to involve Ennahda leaders in judicial cases addressed by the judiciary, where the investigations of these cases were closed after malicious accusations based on false allegations." Ennahda considered this as "a desperate and...

The Israeli occupation authority cancelled its agreement to release Palestinian detainee, Khalil Awawdeh from administrative detention, following his 111 days of hunger strike. According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), Khalil's administrative detention has been increased for another four months and three days, despite reaching a verbal deal with...

Most Palestinian, regional and international bodies have marked the 15th anniversary of the stifling Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip – assuming that the blockade started in the middle of June 2007 -, when the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, started ruling the coastal enclave. However, the Israeli...

On Thursday, the Tunisian General Labour Union, UGTT, expressed its rejection of the reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to grant the country a new loan, at a time of the absence of a "government emanating from institutions and elections" that have the "legitimacy" to involve in...

Two right-wing settlers have been indicted on charges of deliberately vandalising a Palestinian coffee shop out of "racist" and "nationalist" motives last month, in the central West Bank town of Huwara. The two criminals, a 29-year-old settler from the settlement of Elon Moreh and a 22-year-old Israeli from Jerusalem,...

The Lebanese government has revealed a plan to deport Syrian refugees from Lebanon, in cooperation with the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad. The Lebanese Minister of Displaced Affairs, Issam Sharaf El-Din, said he had met with the representative of the UN Refugees Agency, Ayaki Ito, who requested a deadline...

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory has called on Israel to stop demolitions, military activities and other increasingly coercive measures in Masafer Yatta and allow Palestinian residents to remain in their homes in safety and dignity. "Pressure on the...

Hamas has called for urgent action to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque from the Israeli excavations that are endangering its foundations. In a statement issued yesterday, Hamas said the "continued excavations carried out by the Zionist occupation authorities in the areas of the Al-Buraq Wall and the Umayyad palaces are a...

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay has warned that if Greece does not stop arming the Aegean islands, the islands' sovereignty issue will be raised for discussion within the framework of international law and agreements. This came during a joint press conference held yesterday with Ersin Tatar, president of Northern...

In Colombia, where  some 13,000 Palestinians reside, the leftist candidate Gustavo Petro has won the presidential election after he defeated his far-right rival Rodolfo Hernandez. The 62-year-old's victory represents a major revival for Colombia's progressive left in Latin America as it joined left-wing parties in Chile, Peru, Mexico and...

Naturally, one of the consequences of the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia is to stimulate the latter's search for ways to bypass the restrictions. Since the actions taken by Western countries to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea and its first intervention in the Donbass region...

Nine Syrian Arab Army soldiers were killed in an attack that was carried out by Daesh militants in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) announced yesterday. SOHR reported: "The death toll of regime forces killed in and around Jabal Al-Bashari by ISIS fighters in 72...

Israel will launch a "Pilot Programme" with the aim of attracting Moroccan workers in the construction, nursing and programming sectors, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced yesterday. "We're lacking about 40,000 workers, in ten different professions," Shaked told reporters after her meeting with Morocco's Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation...

A female university student was shot dead yesterday by a gunman in the Jordanian capital of Amman. Local media reported that the gunman fired "five bullets at the student, Iman Rashid, inside the university campus before one of them hit her head." The victim was transported to a hospital...

Israel is creating a regional air defence alliance against Iran with the support of the United States, in a move which could further enable Tel Aviv to forge ties with Arab governments in the region. In a briefing to Israeli lawmakers this week, Israeli Defence Minister, Benny Gantz, announced...

A group of 24 US senators on Thursday urged President Joe Biden to ensure direct US involvement in the investigation of the killing of an Al Jazeera journalist who was covering an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank last month, Reuters reports. The group, of Democrats plus two...

At least 10 Yemeni soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in south Yemen, believed to have been carried out by Al-Qaeda militants, officials and state news agency, Saba, said on Wednesday, Reuters reports. A convoy belonging to Saudi-backed forces was attacked by armed men overnight, using roadside bombs...

Iran has dismissed the powerful Chief of the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence unit, Hossein Taeb, Iranian State TV said on Thursday, after a series of high-profile incidents Tehran has blamed on its arch-foe, Israel, Reuters reports. Iranian state media did not give a reason but State TV said Taeb would...

Lebanon's Najib Mikati was named Prime Minister on Thursday, urging fractious politicians to set aside differences to secure an IMF deal which he said was the only chance to save the country from financial collapse, Reuters reports. Facing a politically difficult path to agreeing on a new cabinet, the billionaire tycoon...

Qatar's ruler will visit Egypt on Friday, his first trip to the country since Egypt and Qatar agreed last year to end a long-running regional feud, diplomatic sources said, Reuters reports. Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, who last visited Egypt in 2015, will hold a formal meeting with...

Out of hundreds of UN Resolutions on Palestine, Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has recently said he only wants one resolution implemented, digging a deeper hole for himself in terms of leadership. "We want the international community to implement only one of them, which was adopted during 74 years....

An American high school student has had her artwork portraying a hijab-clad woman put on display at the US Capitol building, in a choice made by Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Sally Almaklani, a freshman at Renaissance High School for Musical Theatre & the Arts in the Bronx borough of...

Syrians in Turkiye are ready to demand voluntary return in safe conditions, Syrian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports. According to the report, a statement signed by more than 200 officials from NGOs was read by the Chair of the Syrian Unions Network, Salih Akide....

An Iranian court decided to demand Washington over $4 billion in compensation to the families of nuclear scientists who were assassinated in recent years, AFP reports. Iran has accused the United States, Israel, or both, of a series of killings targeting key figures, including the November 2020 assassination of...

Turkiye and Israel have begun efforts to raise the diplomatic representation at relevant countries to the level of ambassadors, the Turkish Foreign Minister announced on Thursday, Anadolu News Agency reports. Stressing the significance of bilateral political and regional consultations, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during a news conference with his Israeli counterpart,...

Over the last 20 years, Guantanamo has represented many different things to the world. It is not only the site of one of the most infamous prisons in the 'War on Terror' but joins the ranks of Alcatraz and Robben Island as one of the most notorious in history....

The US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, Barbara Leaf, announced yesterday that the Biden administration is working towards improving relations between Israel and the Arab States with which it has relations. According to The Times of Israel, she also said more Arab nations will be exploring...

As part of plans by the Biden administration to change how the US census and federal surveys classify racial and ethnic data, the White House is considering adding a Middle East or North African (MENA) category. It follows last week's letter sent by Democratic Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Carolyn Maloney to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)...

World Bank Vice President for Middle East and North Africa, Ferid Belhaj, has reiterated the financial body's readiness to continue supporting Tunisia's economic reform and development efforts. This came in a statement issued yesterday following a meeting with Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning Samir Saied. Belhaj stressed on the...

In a "frightening" assault on free speech, US citizens in the state of Arkansas will be required to pledge not to boycott Israel in any contract with the government. Overturning an earlier ruling that any such contract violates the First Amendment, teachers, doctors and civil servants that refuse to sign the pledge will be required to reduce their fees by 20 per cent. The ruling by the...

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, by the Hebrew name, Haredim, are known for keeping their distance from technological devices such as smart phones, internet and television. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, speaking to Anadolu Agency in Jerusalem, said they avoid using technological devices as part of their belief system. Shiele Katz, an Ultra-Orthodox Jew in...

Libya's Presidential Council, on Thursday, launched a strategy for national reconciliation amid a deep political crisis in the country, Anadolu News Agency reports. "Libya needs national efforts to draw it away from foreign interference," Mohamed Al-Menfi, Head of the Council, said in a speech during a ceremony held in...

Jordanian King Abdullah II left Amman on Thursday for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for talks with UAE President, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the Royal Court said in a statement, Anadolu News Agency reports. The statement, however, did not provide details about the duration of the visit or...

Three judges in Tunisia have staged a hunger strike in protest against President Kais Saied's decision to sack 57 judges, including them, Anadolu News Agency reported. This came in a statement read out on Wednesday by Hammadi Rahmani, one of the three striking judges, in the capital, Tunis. The...

Hezbollah Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, met with Hamas Political Chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Beirut, according to the Lebanese group on Thursday, Anadolu News Agency reports. A Hezbollah statement said discussions between the two sides dwelt on political developments and threats in the region. According to the statements, the talks covered...

Israel is in the midst of a political stalemate. Bennett's centre-right government has resigned and new elections will be held in late October/early November. It does not really matter who wins; certainly in terms of the Palestinian citizens of Israel are the colonised Palestinians of the Occupied Territory. They,...

The Tel Aviv District Court yesterday issued a reduced sentence against an Israeli Jewish man who confessed to having participated in a violent attack against a Palestinian citizen of Israel and attempted to kill him in an ethnically motivated hate crime last year. Jacob Cohen, 31, confessed to participating...