Blinken in Israel to push ceasefire plan for Gaza
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hold talks with key Israeli opposition figures on Tuesday, a day after he...Geostrategy
US destroys drones, missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen
Houthi television channel Al-Massirah meanwhile said there were air strikes in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and elsewhere in the country...Geostrategy
Iran’s president visits Syria for first trip since war
Preparations for Raisi's visit have been underway for days in the Damascus district housing Iran's embassy, with concrete barriers in...The visit comes just weeks after Iran's landmark agreement to restore ties with regional rival Saudi Arabia and amid a flurry of diplomacy in the Middle East
Raisi and Assad would discuss "bilateral ties, shared economic and political issues, and positive developments in the region", Syria's state news agency said
Sudan warring parties agree ‘in principle’ to 7-day truce: S. Sudan govt
Diplomatic efforts have intensified to end more than two weeks of war in Africa's third-largest country as warnings multiply about...The week-long truce came in a phone conversation South Sudan's President Salva Kiir had with the warring parties as part of IGAD's initiative for a pause in fighting
The repeated violations of truces sparked criticism earlier Tuesday at a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of the Extended Mechanism on the Sudan Crisis
7 killed in Israeli strikes on Syria; Aleppo airport damaged
Israeli strikes on north Syria's Aleppo province killed four Syrian officers and three Iran-backed fighters, putting the area's international airport...Strikes "completely destroyed" a munitions depot in the Nayrab airfield area, killing four Syrian army officers, says a war monitor
Israeli missiles also slammed into Syrian air force factories in Safireh, Aleppo province, "causing extensive material damage", it adds
Israeli  strikes kill soldier in Syria, damage Aleppo airport
Israeli strikes targeted north Syria's Aleppo province, killing a soldier, wounding seven people and putting the area's international airport out...Strikes "completely destroyed" a munitions depot in the Nayrab airfield area, killing a Syrian army officer, said a Britain-based war monitor.
Israeli missiles also fell on Syrian air force factories in the Safireh area of Aleppo province, the war monitor said, "causing extensive material damage".
Over 430,000 people have fled homes in Sudan, says UN
The fighting in Sudan has caused over 330,000 people to flee their homes within the country, with over 100,000 others...The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said an estimated 334,000 people had been internally displaced by the fighting.
The UN said its 2023 aid appeals for Sudan were $1.5 billion short and only 14 percent funded.
US exhorts Lebanese parliament to elect new president
Former president Michel Aoun's term expired in October, with no successor lined up. Countries including France, the United States and...A caretaker cabinet with limited powers has been at the helm since May last year after legislative polls gave no side a clear majority
Numerous parliamentary votes have been held since October 2022, but no candidate has garnered enough support to succeed Michel Aoun
100,000 Russian dead, wounded in 5 months in Ukraine: W.House
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was not giving estimates of Ukrainian casualties because "they are the victims...National Security Council spokesman told reporters that Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, including over 20,000 killed in action
John Kirby, citing newly declassified US intelligence, said that about half of those killed were soldiers recruited by the private military company Wagner
Tunisia’s main workers union criticizes IMF loan talks
TUNIS, TUNISIA - Tunisia's largest union on Monday attacked the government's handling of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on...Despite an agreement in principle on the loan, talks with the IMF have stalled for months over Tunisian President not committing to restructure public bodies.
The IMF has called for legislation to restructure over 100 state-owned firms, which hold monopolies over many parts of the economy.
Suspected Islamic State group chief killed in Syria: Erdogan
"The suspected leader of Daesh, codename Abu Hussein al-Qurashi, has been neutralised in an operation carried out yesterday (Saturday) by...The Islamic State group announced the death of its previous leader, Abu Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, on November 30, replacing him with Abu Hussein al-Qurashi
An AFP correspondent in northern Syria said Turkish intelligence agents and local military police, backed by Turkey, had on Saturday sealed off a zone in Jindires
UN sending envoy to Sudan as conflict worsens humanitarian crisis
With projectiles crashing into residential buildings, supplies running short and daily life increasingly untenable for civilians, foreign nations have scrambled...Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' announcement Sunday came shortly after rival Sudanese forces announced the extension of a truce they have largely violated
More than 75,000 people have been internally displaced in Sudan, the UN said, and almost 40,000 have crossed borders, mostly into Chad but also South Sudan and Ethiopia
