TEL AVIV (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz were wrapping up another bitter election campaign on Saturday (Feb 29) as voters prepared to cast their ballots for the third time in 12 months. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, has been charged on several counts of corruption but is battling fiercely to […]

DUBAI (REUTERS) – Deaths in Iran from coronavirus have hit 43, the highest number outside China, and the total number of infected people has risen to 593, an Iranian health official said on Saturday (Feb 29). The country is at the epicentre of the outbreak in the region, with several countries in the Middle East […]

The German leader and the US vice president disagree over the best approach to Iran, with Merkel favouring negotiations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the nuclear deal with Iran that severely limits its ability to produce enriched uranium in the face of strong opposition from the United States. While there is an agreement with […]

JERUSALEM (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) – The Israeli government has asked citizens to reconsider plans to travel abroad, as the coronavirus spreads to more countries. “The Health Ministry is calling on the public to consider the necessity of travel abroad in general,” the ministry said on Wednesday (Feb 26). It also advised against holding or attending international […]

Tunisian court hands down convictions, including life sentences, to dozens involved in 2015 deadly attacks. A Tunisian court has sentenced seven people to life in prison over attacks at a museum and on a beach in 2015 that killed 60 people, many of them foreign tourists. Dozens of defendants faced two separate trials over the […]

Ankara had condemned Beijing’s treatment of its Muslim ethnic Uighur minority, calling it a ‘shame for humanity’. China has hit back at claims by Turkey over its treatment of Uighur people and denied reports a prominent poet and musician from the ethnic Muslim minority was tortured to death in prison. The Chinese embassy in Turkey said in […]

Iran’s foreign ministry dismisses EU’s condemnation of its missile programme, regional influence and internal policy. The Iranian foreign ministry has dismissed a European Union statement on the block’s unease about Iran’s missile programme, regional policies, alleged rights abuses and assassination plots in Europe. “Clear threats against the Islamic Republic are not constructive, efficient or helpful, and they […]

Turkish leader rules out any direct talks with President Bashar al-Assad, but confirms having ‘low-level’ contacts. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his government maintained “low-level” contact through its spy agency with Syria’s leadership despite being one of its staunchest critics. Erdogan’s comments on Sunday were the first confirmation of direct discussions with Damascus. “Foreign […]

Former Pakistani top envoy to Iran says Islamabad helping Tehran with probe and denies escalating border tensions. Pakistan has rejected allegations by senior Iranian officials that it is harbouring the armed group, Jaish al-Adl, which claimed responsibility for last week’s attack that killed 27 members of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the southern […]

Doha has significantly boosted defence spending after being diplomatically isolated by its Gulf neighbours in 2017. Qatar took delivery of the first of 36 Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets it ordered from French manufacturer Dassault. The hand-over ceremony on Wednesday in Merignac, in southwestern France, where the planes are built, was attended by Qatar Defence Minister […]