Israel thanks US Senate for approving military aid
Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday thanked the US Senate for approving $13 billion in military aid that he said sent...Geostrategy
Iran, Israel appear to pull back from brink as US approves military aid
Iran downplayed Israel's reported retaliation for its unprecedented drone and missile attack, tamping down fears that escalating attacks between the...Geostrategy
Spill risk over as UN removes oil from decaying Yemen tanker
Hodeida, Yemen -- The United Nations said Friday it had successfully transferred more than one million barrels of oil from a...The milestone means that "the core aspect" of a years-long effort to address the threat posed by the Safer, often referred to as a "ticking time bomb", is now finished, the UN said
All told, the UN has priced the operation at $143 million, a fraction of the estimated $20 billion clean-up costs in the event of a spill.
Covid cases up 80 percent globally as new subvariant rises
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported worldwide rose by 80 percent in the last month, the World Health Organization...The UN agency said that nations reported nearly 1.5 million new cases from July 10 to August 6.
Many of the new cases came in the Western Pacific region, which saw infections jump by 137 percent.
Egypt dig unearths 41-million-year-old whale in desert
With an estimated length of 2.5 metres (eight feet) and a body mass of approximately 187 kilogrammes (410 pounds), Tutcetus...The team has dubbed the species "Tutcetus rayanensis" after the Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun and the Wadi El-Rayan Protected Area in Egypt's Fayoum Oasis
Fayoum Oasis, some 90 miles southwest of Cairo, boasts Wadi al-Hitan, the Valley of the Whales, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has turned up hundreds of fossils
IS attack on bus kills 23 Syrian soldiers: monitor
Despite losing their last piece of territory in Syria in 2019, IS has maintained hideouts in the vast Syrian desert...The attack killed "23 soldiers and wounded more than 10 others", some of whom in critical condition, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
Ten Syrian soldiers and pro-government fighters were killed earlier this week in an IS attack in the Raqa province, the Observatory said Tuesday
Iran says prisoners deal agreed with US: state media
Based on the agreement, five Iranian prisoners in the US and five American prisoners in Iran will be exchanged," the...All of the detained Americans are of Iranian descent, but Iran does not recognize dual nationality
Iranian state media reported that the process had begun to also release Iranian funds in a European bank
Tunisia, Libya collaborate to help stranded migrants at border
In a collaborative bid to address the migrant crisis, Tunisia and Libya have announced a shared responsibility for hundreds of...Tunisia and Libya agree to share responsibility for hundreds of migrants stranded at their border
Tunisia will take charge of 126 migrants, including children, with Libya accommodating the remaining 150-200
US, Iraq strengthen security ties; vow to defeat ISIS; set up military commission
WASHINGTON – The United States and Iraq pledged to boost security cooperation, regional stability, and the shared interest in Iraq's...Iraq, US focus on the 2008 U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement and non-combat role of U.S. forces
The two countries emphasize recognition of the support from CJTF-OIR to the Iraqi Security Forces
Oil prices surge to multi-month highs, mixed day for global stocks
Production limitations set by the OPEC + exporters "are continuing to offset concerns over demand," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst...China slipped into deflation for the first time in more than two years in July, official data showed
Despite the anemic China figures, crude oil prices vaulted higher with European benchmark Brent futures jumping 1.6 percent
US accuses Sudan of threatening to expel UN mission
United Nations, United States--The United States on Wednesday accused Sudan of having threatened to expel the United Nations mission from the...US ambassador whose country is chairing the Council in August, deplored the absence of Volker Perthes, the special representative of the secretary-general in Sudan
Sudan war, pitting army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FSR) of General Mohamed Hamdan, began in April
41 migrants missing after new Mediterranean shipwreck
The metal boat overturned in bad weather during the night of Thursday to Friday after setting off from the Tunisian...A Frontex plane on Tuesday morning spotted "a metal boat with four people on board" in waters covered by Libyan search and rescue, the agency said
IOM press officer said the migrants' boat would have been ill-equipped for the kind of bad weather seen in the Central Mediterranean in the past week