Egypt’s churches distinguish between their national and political roles, the country’s Coptic pope, Tawadros II, said yesterday.”Politicians have their own speciality, which I didn’t study,” Tawadros told ME Sat....

An Israeli newspaper close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday accused Switzerland of spending $2 million on legal activities which it says harm Israel. Israel Hayom claimed that the...

Fleeing war-torn Syria to Lebanon, Palestinian refugee Adnan thought he would find safety and a better life, but he is not out of danger. On the night of his...

Thirteen independent trade unions in Algeria have refused to support the efforts of newly-appointed Prime Minister Noureddine Badawi to form a government he hopes will help pacify protesters who...

Some 28 civilians were killed in the eastern Syrian province in Deir Ez-Zor yesterday due to the ongoing US-led bombing campaign on the last Daesh stronghold, and an explosion...

Switzerland will not help bring home adult citizens who joined up with Daesh fighters in Syria and Iraq, the government said on Friday, insisting national security was paramount, Reuters...

Algerians have been protesting against Bouteflika’s decision to run for a fifth term

A family in Yemen has married off their three-year-old daughter in exchange for food and shelter, international charity Oxfam warned yesterday. “Conflict, rising food prices and plummeting incomes in...

A former Swiss soldier who commanded a Christian militia fighting Daesh in Syria was found guilty on Friday of violating Swiss neutrality, reported Reuters. Hanna Johannes Cosar’s case was...

Switzerland would prefer to have citizens who fought for Daesh tried on the spot rather than be brought home to face criminal charges, its justice minister said on Tuesday,...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he would eject a foreign force set up to help safeguard Palestinians in a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank,...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed Tuesday Daesh’s “caliphate” has been defeated, just one day after the terror group claimed its second attack on US military personnel in as...

Food aid meant for starving Yemenis is being stolen and sold in some areas controlled by the Houthi movement, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday. The Houthis...

Morocco arrested a Swiss national on Saturday in connection with the killing of two Scandinavian women, the counter-terrorism agency said. Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland,...

Operations at Yemen’s lifeline port of Hodeidah have nearly halved in two weeks, with shipping companies deterred by insecurity in the flashpoint Houthi-held city, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP)...

As the Trump White House entertains Riyadh’s dubious explanation for the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct....

The World Economic Forum (WEF) expressed on Monday its opposition to the “misuse” of the “Davos” brand by Saudi Arabia for its recent Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference. “The...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that he certified to Congress that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were working to reduce civilian casualties in...

UN: More than 30,000 displaced in Syria’s Idlib in latest offensive More than 30,000 people have so far fled their homes in northwest Syria since the regime and its...

Peace talks between Yemen’s warring parties will start by trying to build trust between the two sides, who are both keen to agree on prisoner releases, and substance will come...

Switzerland looks set to loosen arms export rules to allow sales to countries embroiled in civil wars despite a newspaper report that Swiss-made hand grenades probably made their way...

More than a million Syrian children are at risk in the event of a government military assault on the rebel-held province of Idlib, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)...

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura has invited the United States and six other countries for talks to end the Syria conflict in Geneva next month, a UN spokeswoman...

The return of Syrian refugees should not be linked to the resolution of the conflict in their country, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said yesterday. Aoun reiterated that his country...

Iran’s utmost authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Islamic Republic had nothing to be concerned about, a report on his official website said on Wednesday, as the...

Swedish activist Benjamin Ladraa has been visiting Palestinian refugees in camps around Lebanon as part of his #WalkToPalestine campaign

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will visit neutral European neighbours Switzerland and Austria next month, the Swiss and Austrian governments said, on a trip overshadowed by the looming imposition of...

Swiss lender Banque de Commerce et de Placements (BCP) has suspended new transactions with Iran and is winding down Iran-related activities, the latest company to halt business after the United States said...

A senior Palestinian official on Wednesday called on the Swiss government to issue a formal apology for remarks made by Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in which he criticized...

The Islamic Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, has condemned a comment by Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis about the Palestinians’ right to return. The movement said that it was “shocked”...

Donors to an Israeli medical excellence programme refused to continue funding it because one of the doctors selected this year to receive the money is Arab, the Times of...

Switzerland has returned $33 million in frozen assets to Egypt. Some $700 million were frozen as a precaution following the overthrow of long-term dictator Hosni Mubarak in popular protests...