Middle East
Latest stories
Syria Condemns Israel's Plans to Expand Golan Settlements

Syria has said that Israel's plans to double the number of settlers living in Israeli-annexed Golan Heights are "dangerous and unprecedented" and only perpetuate its occupation of the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday a multimillion-dollar plan meant to double the number of settlers living in the region that Israel captured from Syria more than five decades ago.

W140 Full Story
Israeli PM Says Not Opposed to 'Good' Nuclear Deal with Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday he is not opposed to a "good" nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, but voiced skepticism that such an outcome would emerge from the current negotiations.

Bennett spoke a day after negotiators from Iran and five world powers resumed talks in Vienna on restoring Tehran's tattered 2015 nuclear deal. He reiterated that Israel was not bound by any accord, leaving it room to maneuver militarily.

W140 Full Story
Yemen Rebels Allow Aid Flights to Resume after Saudi-Led Strikes

Yemen's Huthi rebels said Tuesday they have allowed the temporary resumption of U.N. aid flights into the capital Sanaa, a week after a halt due to Saudi-led coalition air strikes.

"The civil aviation authority announces the resumption of U.N. and other organization flights into Sanaa airport on a temporary basis," the rebel-run Al-Masirah television reported.

W140 Full Story
Syria Reports 2nd Israeli Attack on Vital Port in a Month

An Israeli air strike hit Syria's Latakia port before dawn on Tuesday, sparking a fire that lit up the Mediterranean seafront in the second such attack on the key cargo hub this month, Syrian state media reported.

Since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out air strikes on its strife-torn neighbor, mostly targeting Syrian government troops as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hizbullah fighters.

W140 Full Story
Man Held in France over Syria Chemical Weapons Parts

A French-Syrian man has been detained by French police on suspicion of supplying components for the manufacture of chemical weapons in Syria through his shipping company, sources briefed on the case told AFP.

W140 Full Story
KSA Says IS-Linked Man Executed for Suicide Attack Plot

Saudi Arabia on Monday executed a Yemeni man accused of plotting a suicide attack in the kingdom and of links to the Islamic State jihadist group, the interior ministry said.  

W140 Full Story
Iraq's Highest Court Rejects Bid to Annul Election Results

Iraq's supreme court on Monday rejected a motion filed by the Hashed al-Shaabi ex-paramilitary alliance contesting its defeat in the October 10 parliamentary election.

"The Federal Court has decided to reject the complaint... and to make the plaintiffs bear the costs," Judge Jassem Mohamed Aboud said, reading out the verdict.

W140 Full Story
Libyan Lawmakers Meet on Delayed Presidential Election

Libyan lawmakers met Monday to discuss the myriad challenges that forced a postponement of the long-awaited presidential election this month. The postponement was a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich North African country.

The vote has faced many obstacles, including controversial presidential hopefuls, disputes over laws governing the elections, and occasional infighting among armed groups.

W140 Full Story
Iraq Receives Bodies of 16 Drowned Kurdish Migrants

The bodies of 16 Iraqi Kurdish migrants who drowned last month as they attempted to cross the English Channel have been repatriated to northern Iraq.

The Nov. 24 disaster, in which 27 migrants died, has been described as the worst on record involving migrants trying to cross the perilous passage to Britain from France. The boat capsized off the coast of northern France, sparking a political crisis. Britain and France accused each other of not doing enough to deter people from crossing the English Channel.

W140 Full Story
Israel Plans to Double Settlement in Occupied Golan Heights

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday the country intends to double the amount of settlers living in the occupied Golan Heights with a multimillion-dollar plan meant to further consolidate Israel's hold on the territory it captured from Syria more than five decades ago.

Speaking at a special Cabinet session being held in the Golan Heights, Bennett said the recognition by the Trump administration of Israeli sovereignty over the swath of land, and the Biden administration's indication that it will not at this point walk that decision back, prompted the new investment in the region.

W140 Full Story