Kuwait's government resigned Monday for the second time this year, underscoring the political problems plaguing the small, oil-rich nation.
The state-run KUNA news agency said Kuwait's ruler, Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, received the government's resignation notice. However, the report did not say whether Sheikh Nawaf would accept the resignation, tendered by the country's prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah.
Full StoryThe Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen said Monday it had killed 115 insurgents in the past 24 hours in air strikes around the northern Marib government bastion.
Nineteen vehicles were destroyed in the raids that targeted the Sirwah district west of Marib city and Al-Jawf further north, it said in a statement carried by the official Saudi news agency SPA.
Full StoryA top Iranian general visited Baghdad after the assassination attempt against Iraq's prime minister, and said Tehran and its allies had nothing to do with the drone attack that lightly injured the Iraqi leader, two Iraqi politicians said Monday.
News of the visit came as an Iraqi army general said the investigation into the drone attack against Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi is ongoing but that indications point to Iran-backed factions. The general said Monday the drones used in the attack took off from areas east of the capital where Iran-backed militias have influence.
Full StorySecurity researchers disclosed Monday that spyware from the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group was detected on the cellphones of six Palestinian human rights activists, half affiliated with groups that Israel's defense minister controversially claimed were involved in terrorism.
The revelation marks the first known instance of Palestinian activists being targeted by the military-grade Pegasus spyware. Its use against journalists, rights activists and political dissidents from Mexico to Saudi Arabia has been documented since 2015.
Full StoryThree days a week, Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank village of Qaffin line up at a yellow gate and show military permits to soldiers in order to tend their crops on the other side of Israel's separation barrier.
The farmers say that because of increasingly onerous Israeli restrictions they can no longer live off their land, which is suffering without proper cultivation. The olive groves just beyond the gate are scorched from a recent blaze — firefighters also need permission to enter.
Full StoryLibya's government has rejected a decision by the country's presidential council to suspend the foreign minister over allegations of monopolizing foreign policy.
The standoff between the two bodies is likely to increase political tensions in the North African county less than seven weeks before planned elections. It also comes a few days ahead of an international conference in Paris to push for holding the vote as scheduled Dec. 24.
Full StoryThe Palestinians have slammed Israel for rejecting the promised reopening of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, a move that would restore Washington's main diplomatic mission for the Palestinians in the contested city.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said there was no room in Jerusalem for another American mission.
Full StoryThe failed assassination attempt against Iraq's prime minister at his residence on Sunday has ratcheted up tensions following last month's parliamentary elections, in which the Iran-backed militias were the biggest losers.
Helicopters circled in the Baghdad skies throughout the day, while troops and patrols deployed around Baghdad and near the capital's fortified Green Zone, where the overnight attack occurred.
Full Story
Iraq's prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi -- who survived an assassination attempt on Sunday -- is a former spy chief and skilled negotiator who faces an uncertain future following last month's legislative elections.
Full Story
Iran on Sunday said it condemned a drone attack targeting Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi and urged "vigilance to foil plots aimed at the security and development" of his country.
Full Story