Plan faces broad Arab rejection

Arab politicians and commentators greeted US President Donald Trump’s Middle East $50 billion economic vision with a mixture of
23 June 2019

Regime strikes kill 4 civilians in Syria

Syrian government air strikes on the rebel-held northwest Idlib region killed four civilians, two of them children, yesterday, a war monitor
22 June 2019

Saudis can do more

A US official said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia should do more to ensure accountability over the death of dissident writer Jamal Khashoggi but stopped short of blaming the crown prince after a UN probe linked him to the killing.
20 June 2019

Iran won’t wage war

President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday Iran would not wage war against any nation, while Russia, China told the United States it should drop what it called provocative plans to deploy more troops to the Middle East.
18 June 2019

Putin, Trump could meet briefly at G20

The Kremlin said yesterday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Donald Trump could meet briefly at the G20 in
17 June 2019

Jihadist rocket fire kills 12 civilians in Syria

Rocket fire has killed 12 civilians in a regime-held village in northwestern Syria, state news agency SANA has said blaming former Al-
17 June 2019

No ME deal without Palestinian state

The head of the Arab League yesterday warned that attempts to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict will be in vain without the
17 June 2019

Israel launches ‘Trump Heights’ on Golan

Israel approved in principle on Sunday a new community named after US President Donald Trump on a contested frontier zone with
17 June 2019

Won’t hesitate to deal with ‘threats’

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accused arch-rival Iran of attacks on oil tankers in a vital Gulf shipping channel, adding he “won’t hesitate” to tackle any threats to the kingdom, according to an interview published yesterday.
16 June 2019

Iran renews ultimatum

Iran will continue scaling back compliance with a nuclear deal unless other signatories to the pact show “positive signals”, the Iranian president said yesterday as tensions with the United States escalated over tanker attacks in the Gulf region.
15 June 2019

Syria flare-up kills 35 fighters,10 civillians

At least 10 civilians and 35 combatants, mostly pro-regime forces, were killed yesterday in clashes and air strikes that erupted at dawn in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.
15 June 2019

US blames Iran for tanker attacks in Gulf of Oman, Iran rejects assertion

The United States has blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday that drove up oil prices and raised concerns about a new US-Iranian confrontation, but Tehran has bluntly denied the allegation.
14 June 2019

Suicide bomber kills 9 in Afghanistan

At least nine people, including four security personnel and five civilians were killed and 12 others injured by a suicide bomber in the eastern
13 June 2019

Israel strikes Gaza after rocket fire

Israeli warplanes bombed bunkers at a Hamas base in Gaza early yesterday following the first rocket fire from the territory since early
13 June 2019

Gulf tension takes a new turn

Two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman yesterday, leaving one ablaze and both adrift, shipping firms said, driving oil prices as much as 4% higher over worries about Middle East supplies.
13 June 2019

Japan's Abe warns of armed conflict amid soaring US-Iran tension

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has warned of unintended clashes in the crisis-hit Middle East after meeting the Iranian president in Tehran, amid a brewing confrontation between Iran and the United States.
13 June 2019

Japan moves to defuse row

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday landed in Tehran on a mission to ease tensions between the US and Iran, just hours after Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen launched an attack on an airport in Saudi Arabia, wounding 26 people.
12 June 2019

US can’t expect to stay safe

Iran’s foreign minister warned the US yesterday that it “cannot expect to stay safe” after launching what he described as an economic
10 June 2019

Syria flare-up leaves 83 fighters dead: monitor

Fierce clashes between Russia-backed government forces and jihadists have left 83 combatants dead in northwestern Syria in the past 24 hours, a Britain-based war monitor said yesterday.
7 June 2019

4 killed as govt bus hit in Kabul blast

At least four people were killed yesterday when a bomb tore through a bus in Kabul, an official said, marking the second day straight that
3 June 2019