Middle East

Muslim, Gulf leaders condemn Nice attack

CAIRO, Egypt (AFP)–Leading Muslim clerics joined Gulf Arab leaders on Friday in condemning a truck attack that killed at least 84 revellers in the Mediterranean resort of Nice on France’s national holiday. Egypt’s top Muslim cleric Shawki Allam condemned the assailant as an “extremist” who “follows in the footsteps of the devil.” “Islam never called for the spilling of blood,” Allam said in a statement. “People who commit such ugly crimes are corrupt of the earth, […]

Yemen govt threatens to boycott peace talks

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – Yemen’s government threatened Thursday to boycott UN-brokered peace talks, on the eve of their expected resumption in Kuwait, unless Iran-backed rebels commit to the terms of a United Nations resolution. The UN said however that it still had not been informed of any boycott from any side while affirming that the talks were scheduled to resume on Friday after a two-week break. More than two months of negotiations between President Abedrabbo […]

Israel okays millions to West Bank settlements after attacks

  JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) – Israel’s government on Sunday approved nearly $13 million in financing for the West Bank settlements of Kiryat Arba and within Hebron, officials said, following a wave of Palestinian attacks in the area. The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing cabinet will see some 50 million shekels ($12.8 million, 11.6 million euros) allocated to “strengthen” the communities. “Government offices, I must note, have all been recruited to assist the residents who […]

Wounded from military helicopter crash arrive at hospital

The dead and wounded from a Turkish military helicopter crash were transported to local hospitals late on Tuesday (July 5). Seven people were killed and eight injured when the helicopter, carrying Turkish military personnel, their wives and children, crashed in the Black Sea region of northeast Turkey, the Turkish armed forces said. The helicopter crashed at around 5:15 pm (1415 GMT) near Tohumluk village in the Alucra district of Giresun province, the military said. Vehicles […]

Multiple suicide blasts hit Saudi Arabia; four killed

  by Ian Timberlake RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) —  At least four people died in suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia on Monday following attacks elsewhere in the region before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the three attacks one of which, at the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, left four members of the security forces dead and others wounded. Since late 2014 Saudi Arabia has […]

Israelis bury their dead amid rising tensions, Israeli minister accuses Facebook of hindering security

Israelis in Jerusalem attended a funeral procession for an Israeli killed in a car crash on Friday (July 1) caused by Palestinian gunfire near the Jewish settlement of Ottniel in the West Bank and injured three members of his family. Since October, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting U.S. citizens in a wave of street attacks, mostly stabbings. Israeli forces have shot dead at least 201 Palestinians, 137 of whom Israel has said […]

Israel wins UN committee chair

United Nations, United States—Israel on Monday was elected to chair a United Nations committee for the first time in the world body’s 71-year history, triggering strong protests from Arab countries and the Palestinians. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon won the chair of the legal affairs committee of the General Assembly by picking up 109 votes from the 193 member-states. Danon’s candidacy was put to a vote by secret ballot at the request of Arab countries. All […]

IS claims Orlando shooting in radio bulletin

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) –The Islamic State group on Monday claimed responsibility for the Orlando shooting that killed 50 people, saying in a radio bulletin that it was carried out by “one of the soldiers of the caliphate”. “Allah allowed Omar Mateen, one of the soldiers of the caliphate in America, to carry out an attack entering a crusader gathering in a night club… in Orlando in Florida, killing and wounding more than 100 of them,” a bulletin […]

U.S. Navy “getting job done” in air campaign against IS, says admiral

U.S. Navy fighter jets flying from an aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea bombed 16 new Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria on Monday (June 6). Now in their fourth day, the strikes from the Mediterranean have opened a new front in the U.S. air campaign against the militant group. “We’re getting the job done,” Rear Admiral Bret Batchelder, commander of the USS Harry S. Truman strike group, told reporters on the ship […]

U.N. chief faced funding cut-off, fatwa risk over Saudis: sources

Muslim allies of Saudi Arabia piled pressure on U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon over the blacklisting of a Saudi-led coalition for killing children in Yemen, with Riyadh threatening to cut Palestinian aid and funds to other U.N. programs, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. (June 7) The United Nations announced on Monday it had removed the coalition from a child rights blacklist – released last week – pending a joint review by the world body and the […]

Saudi reform plan aims for revenue surge, salary clamp-down

Saudi Arabia plans to more than triple the government’s non-oil revenues and clamp down on public-sector salaries over the next five years, Saudi ministers said on Tuesday (June 7) as they described reforms designed to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil and build a sustainable future. The National Transformation Plan (NTP) aims to boost non-oil revenue to 530 billion riyals ($141 billion) by 2020, creating some 450,000 non-government jobs, according to comments by ministers and […]

Iran: Saudi the real ‘terrorism sponsor’

Iranian flags. (File photo)   Tehran, Iran (AFP)—Tehran on Sunday dismissed its renewed blacklisting by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism, charging that it was United States allies including Riyadh that were the real culprits. The Iranian foreign ministry noted its role in neighboring Iraq supporting the government against the Islamic State jihadist group independently of a US-led coalition, as well as its backing for the Syrian regime against jihadists and other rebels, some […]