Israel PM sees Iran nuke deal ‘shortly’

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett yesterday said that Iran may “shortly” agree a new nuclear deal with major powers but warned it will be weaker than the original 2015 agreement.
20 February 2022

Abbas, Pelosi hold rare West Bank meet

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas met with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Thursday for talks on reviving a two-state solution to the conflict, Abbas’s office said.
18 February 2022

Israel fires on new drone from Lebanon

Israel’s military said its air defences fired at an unmanned aerial vehicle that had crossed into its airspace from Lebanon yesterday, the second such incident in as many days.
18 February 2022

Kuwait allows women to serve in army, but without guns

Kuwaiti women are angry after the military, having allowed female soldiers in combat roles, decided they need the permission of a male guardian and banned them from carrying weapons.
17 February 2022

Thousands of Saudi women apply to drive trains

A job advert to recruit 30 female train drivers in Saudi Arabia has attracted 28,000 applicants, highlighting the scale of pent up demand as the conservative kingdom opens up more opportunities to women.
17 February 2022

Saudi coalition hits Yemen capital

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen yesterday destroyed a communications system used for drone attacks and located near the telecoms ministry in Sanaa, it said in a statement.
14 February 2022

Vienna talks ‘complicated’

Iran yesterday said talks with world powers in Vienna to restore the 2015 nuclear deal are “complicated and difficult” but have not hit an impasse.
14 February 2022

Biden order ‘atrocity against Afghans’

Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has called a White House order to unfreeze $3.5bn in Afghan assets held in the United States for families of 9/11 victims an atrocity against the Afghan people.
14 February 2022

‘Nothing for the poor’

Hundreds of people in Sweida, a Druze-majority city in southwestern Syria, have taken to the streets for a fifth day to decry corruption and worsening living standards, according to activists.
11 February 2022

Dozens killed as fighting rages around Yemen city

Dozens of Yemeni pro-government fighters have been killed in a new offensive to take a rebel-held city, loyalist sources said yesterday, following a surge in violence including missile attacks on the United Arab Emirates.
8 February 2022

‘Biden, Trump harmed US’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali accused Joe Biden and Donald Trump of damaging the reputation of the United States in rare direct criticism of US
8 February 2022

UN's $66m project aims to transform Gaza Valley from sewage dump to nature reserve

The United Nations is set to begin the restoration of a historic valley in the Palestinian Gaza Strip next month, hoping to transform it from a landfill and sewage dump into a vibrant nature reserve in a planned $66 million project.
7 February 2022

Two-state confederation: Palestinian, Israeli public figures draw up proposal

Israeli and Palestinian public figures have drawn up a new proposal for a two-state confederation that they hope will offer a way forward after a decade-long stalemate in Mideast peace efforts.
7 February 2022

‘Little Rayan’ dies before rescue

Morocco was in shock yesterday after emergency crews found a five-year-old boy dead at the bottom of a well in a tragic end to a painstaking five-day rescue operation that gripped the nation and the world.
6 February 2022

Israel’s Mossad suspected of penetrating Iran’s security intel

Former Iranian officials expressed concerns that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has penetrated the Iranian security and intelligence institutions, BBC reported.
6 February 2022

‘Good but not enough’

US steps on lifting sanctions are “good but not enough”, Iran said yesterday, following Washington’s announcement it was waiving sanctions on Iran’s civilian nuclear programme.
5 February 2022

Saving little #Rayan

Moroccan rescuers worked through the night into yesterday, the fifth day of an increasingly urgent and nerve-wracking effort to rescue Rayan, a five-year-old boy trapped underground in a well.
5 February 2022

Shadowy militant group claims latest UAE drone attack

A little-known militant group has claimed the latest drone attack on the United Arab Emirates, raising the possibility of widening security threats after a wave of assaults from Yemeni rebels.
4 February 2022

IS chief ‘kills himself’

The leader of Islamic State died when he blew himself and family members up during a US military raid in Syria, President Joe Biden said on Thursday, dealing a blow to the jihadist group’s efforts to reorganize as a guerrilla force after losing large swathes of territory.
4 February 2022

13, including children, dead in Syria after US special forces' air raid

US special forces hunted down high-ranking jihadists in a rare airborne raid in northwestern Syria on Thursday, killing 13 people in an operation the Pentagon described as "successful".
3 February 2022