Tehran says fresh US sanctions on its petrochemical industry show Washington’s offer of talks is not genuine. Iran has condemned new sanctions imposed by the United States targeting its petrochemical industry, saying they prove US President Donald Trump is not serious about pursuing negotiations. Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said on Saturday […]

GENEVA (REUTERS) – Additional sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States show that Washington’s offer of talks is not genuine, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Saturday (June 8). The United States placed sanctions on Iran’s largest petrochemical holding group on Friday for indirectly supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a […]

Security forces kill fighters in restive northern Sinai Peninsula, two days after deadly attack kills several policemen. Security forces in Egypt have killed eight suspected fighters who were involved in a deadly attack this week on a police checkpoint in the restive Sinai Peninsula, the country’s interior ministry said. Eight policemen were also killed on […]

BAGHDAD (AFP) – Resurgent militants, ethnic land disputes or regular field burning? Iraq’s northern farmlands are on fire, but the area’s complex patchwork of grievances has made it hard to identify the culprits. Farmers in the country’s breadbasket had been hoping for bumper wheat and barley harvests in May and June, following heavy winter rains. […]

Anonymous online group ‘Against the Current’ exposed PA government salary hikes despite desperate financial shortfalls. The cash-strapped Palestinian government has pledged to suspend a secret increase in ministerial salaries, the United Nations envoy on the Israel-Palestinian conflict said Thursday, after reports of the raise sparked anger. Documents leaked online appeared to show that in 2017, […]

The first openly gay man to become a minister in Israel has been appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Amir Ohana, of Mr Netanyahu’s Likud party, was named as acting justice minister following the sacking of the previous office holder. Mr Ohana, 43, is a Netanyahu loyalist, who backs moves to protect the prime minister […]

The opposition-held province of Idlib in north-western Syria could become the scene of the final, and perhaps bloodiest, showdown between the government and armed groups seeking its overthrow. The UN says the result could be a humanitarian catastrophe. What’s so important about Idlib? The province, along with adjoining parts of northern Hama and western Aleppo, […]

Ruling military council says it will hold elections within nine months as crackdown on protesters draws condemnation. The head of Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) has said he is scrapping all agreements with the main opposition coalition and will move ahead with elections to be held within nine months. The announcement by Lieutenant General Abdel […]

The latest from Sudan as protesters seek civilian rule even as military council retains power since al-Bashir’s removal. Weeks after the removal of Omar al-Bashir as the president of Sudan, the fight for democracy continues as the Transitional Military Council (TMC) refuses to give in to the protesters’ demand to hand over power to a civilian-led government immediately. The TMC, led by Lieutenant […]

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the 29-year-old commander of the almost negligible air force of the United Arab Emirates, had come to Washington shopping for weapons. In 1991, in the months after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the young prince wanted to buy so much military hardware to protect his own […]