Qatar PM, Egypt intelligence chief meet Hamas in Doha
Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in months of negotiations over details for a ceasefire in...Geostrategy
Kuwait emir names former PM as new crown prince
Kuwait entered new political turbulence in May when the 83-year-old emir, Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, dissolved parliament just six weeks...Geostrategy
Sound Saudi-Syria relations should be norm, says Bashar al-Assad
The Syrian president met with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan in Damascus. This is the first visit to...Assad was politically isolated in the region since the conflict began but Saudi-Iran rapprochement has shifted regional relations.
Assad and Prince Faisal discussed steps to "achieve a comprehensive political settlement that... contributes to Syria's return to the Arab fold," the Saudi foreign ministry said.
Civil Society groups under ‘severe restrictions’ in Libya, says HRW
TRIPOLI, LIBYA - Libyan authorities have imposed "severe restrictions" on local and international civil society groups, obstructing their work in the...The rights watchdog said authorities must take step like adoption of a "civil society organization law that guarantees the right tot freedom of association."
Human Rights Watch called for a reform of the penal code, and “redefining criminal acts to exclude peaceful exercise of the right to express opinions."
Tunisia shuts offices of opposition party Ennahdha
The move came a day after the arrest of the party's leader, Rached Ghannouchi, 81, at his home in the...Since early February, authorities in the North African country have arrested more than 20 political opponents and personalities.
Ghannouchi was the speaker of Tunisia's parliament before Saied dissolved it and went on to seize wide-reaching powers through a series of moves opponents have dubbed a "coup".
Turkey president Erdogan’s chief rival defends Kurds ahead of vote
ISTANBUL, TURKEY - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief rival in next month's election defended Kurdish rights on Tuesday and accused the...Kemal Kilicdaroglu leads a six-party alliance that is posing one of the stiffest electoral challenges of Erdogan's two-decade rule.
Kilicdaroglu's comments followed weeks of attempts by Erdogan to link the opposition with Kurdish militants fighting the Turkish state.
Saudi top diplomat heads to Syria for first visit since war
Recent months have seen increasing Arab engagement with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been politically isolated in the region...The visit of Saudi diplomat comes less than a week after Syrian Foreign Minister visited Saudi Arabia, also on the first such visit since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011
Prince Faisal said in February that a consensus was building in the Arab world that a new approach to Syria requiring negotiations would be needed to address the conflict
Kuwait dissolves parliament, to hold new general election
Seeing no way out of a political crisis that has prevented the country from having an effective government, Kuwait's emir...In 1962, Kuwait embraced a parliamentary system, but repeated political crises have caused state paralysis
The rich country, unlike other Gulf Arab states, has a vigorous political life in which MPs and civil society regularly take the authorities to task
G7 vows ‘severe costs’ for those helping Russia in Ukraine
After two days of talks in the bucolic Japanese mountain resort town Karuizawa, the top diplomats from leading economies unveiled...G7 foreign ministers also put Beijing on notice over its "militarization activities" in the South China Sea and insisted their Taiwan policy was unchanged.
Their final statement sparked a furious reaction from China, which said it had been "maliciously slandered and smeared".
UN chief calls for Sudan ceasefire as death toll in fighting touches 185
Calling on warring parties in Sudan to immediately cease hostilities, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that any further escalation...The UN's special representative to Sudan told reporters that the violence raged for a third day through Monday, with the death toll increasing to at least 185 people
The fighting broke out between the two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup: Sudan's army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo
Best chance for peace in Yemen in eight years, says UN envoy
Yemen faces its best chance to strike a peace deal since the country's civil war started over eight years ago,...The Arabian Peninsula country is one of the poorest in the Middle East, and has been devastated by the war, which started in 2014.
The government and the rebels have exchanged nearly 900 prisoners in recent days, as hopes grow for peace.
Air France, Airbus acquitted over 2009 Rio-Paris crash
PARIS, FRANCE - Air France and plane manufacturer Airbus were acquitted Monday over the 2009 crash of a Rio-Paris flight after...The two companies went on trial in October to determine their responsibility for the worst aviation disaster in Air France's history.
If convicted, Air France, Airbus would have risked a fine of US$250,000 as well as significant reputational damage.
