by Jean-Luc Renaudie and Mike Smith Agence France Presse JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli police recommended Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted for alleged corruption, shaking the country’s politics and raising questions over whether his long tenure in office could be nearing an end. Netanyahu, prime minister for a total of nearly 12 years, addressed the nation as news of the recommendations broke, proclaiming his innocence and making clear he had no intention […]
Tag: Middle East
Macron sticks by plan for compulsory national service
PARIS, France (AFP) – Two decades after it scrapped its compulsory military service France will introduce a mandatory “national service” for all young people, the government said Tuesday, confirming a campaign pledge by President Emmanuel Macron. Macron took the country by surprise a year ago when he announced that, if elected, he would make all young people spend a month getting “a direct experience of military life with its know-how and demands.” He billed it as a […]
France hikes defense spending to hit NATO target
by Daphné Benoit Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – France on Wednesday announced plans to boost defense spending by more than 40 percent, bringing it into line with NATO targets after complaints from US President Donald Trump that Europe is not pulling its weight. European NATO members have come under pressure from Trump to relieve the burden on the US, which currently accounts for about 70 percent of combined NATO defense spending. The French government unveiled a bill […]
DOLE magsasagawa ng isang job fair para sa mga OFW na nasa Middle East
MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) – Magsasagawa ng isang job fair ang Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) para sa mga overseas Filipino worker na naghahanap-buhay sa Middle East. Ayon kay Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello, ito ay upang mahikayat ang mga OFW sa gitnang silangan na umuwi na ng Pilipinas at dito na lamang magtrabaho. Isasagawa ang malakihang job fair sa Qatar na tatagal ng isang lingo. Tinatayang nasa 18 libong trabaho ang inihanda ng DOLE […]
Syria raids kill nearly 30, as war of words escalates over chlorine use
by Abdulmonam Eassa Agence France-Presse ARBIN, Syria – Regime bombardment killed nearly 30 people in a rebel enclave near Damascus on Monday, as Syria’s seven-year conflict left civilians paying a heavy price. Residents across several Syrian battlefronts have reported escalating bombardment and have accused Syrian troops of deploying toxic chemicals against rebel-held zones. The United States on Monday said there was “obvious evidence” of multiple chlorine gas attacks in recent weeks, including in the opposition-held enclave of Eastern […]
Duterte threatens Mideast work ban; tells those countries to do something to stop OFW abuse
President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday threatened to ban Filipinas from working in the Middle East as he said Overseas Filipino Workers were being raped in Kuwait. Over two million Filipinos, many of them maids, are employed in the region, helping to prop up the Philippine economy with billions of dollars in salary remittances to their families each year. Last week, Duterte barred Filipinos from seeking work in Kuwait over reports of widespread abuse, exploitation and […]
World powers step up pressure on Syria, Russia over chemical attacks
by Joseph Schmid Agence France-Presse PARIS, France – Two dozen countries agreed Tuesday to push for sanctions against perpetrators of chemical attacks in Syria, with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson saying Russia “ultimately bears responsibility” for such strikes. Twenty-four nations approved a new “partnership against impunity” for the use of chemical weapons, just a day after reports they were used in an attack that sickened 21 people in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, which Tillerson said was suspected to […]
Turkey steps up assault on Kurdish militia in Syria
by Diyar Mustefa and Bulent Kilic in Hassa Agence France-Presse AFRIN, Syria – Turkey on Monday intensified its offensive against Kurdish militia targets in Syria as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be no stepping back in a campaign that has stoked concern among Ankara’s allies and neighbours. The Turkish military on Saturday launched operation “Olive Branch,” its second major intervention in Syria’s devastating seven-year civil war. The operation, with Turkish war planes and artillery backing a […]
Pence in Jerusalem pledges embassy move by end of 2019, faces protest
by Mike Smith Agence France-Presse JERUSALEM, Undefined – US Vice President Mike Pence pledged to move the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem by the end of 2019 on Monday in a speech to Israel’s parliament that saw Arab lawmakers expelled after they shouted in protest. As Pence spoke, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas arrived to meet European Union foreign ministers in Brussels, urging them to “swiftly” recognize the state of Palestine. Pence’s speech, filled with biblical references and praise […]
UAE accuses Qatar of ‘intercepting’ 2 passenger planes
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) – The United Arab Emirates accused neighbouring Qatar of “intercepting” two Emirati passenger planes en route to Bahrain on Monday in the latest incident between the Gulf rivals. Qatar denied the allegations as “totally baseless” and hit back that they came “one day after a C-130 UAE military aircraft breached Qatari airspace”. Tensions have escalated in the Gulf since Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut all ties with Qatar […]
Medical evacuations begin from besieged Syria rebel bastion
DOUMA, Syria (AFP) – Aid workers have begun evacuating emergency medical cases from Syria’s besieged rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, the Red Cross said on Wednesday, after months of waiting during which the United Nations said at least 16 people died. Families waited in the darkness in the rebel-held town of Douma for their loved ones to board ambulances bound for hospitals in the capital Damascus. Under a deal with the government, five workmen detained by the […]
After US veto, UN assembly to vote on Jerusalem resolution
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) –The UN General Assembly will hold an emergency session Thursday to vote on a draft resolution rejecting President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after the United States vetoed the measure at the Security Council. Turkey and Yemen requested the urgent meeting of the 193-nation assembly on behalf of the Arab group of countries and the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The two countries circulated a draft resolution on […]





