Tens of thousands bid farewell to Iran’s Raisi ahead of burial
Men and women thronged the main boulevard of Mashhad, Iran's second city in the northeast where Raisi was born, bidding...Geostrategy
Israel, Hamas reject bid before ICC to arrest leaders for war crimes
Israel and Hamas, engaged in heavy fighting in the Gaza Strip, both angrily rejected on Monday moves to arrest their...Geostrategy
Iraq PM to hold talks with Turkey on water, Kurd rebels
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani will visit Turkey on Tuesday for talks including on scarce water resources...The rivers Tigris and the Euphrates both have their sources in Turkey and Baghdad has long accused Ankara of withholding water in dams.
As per official Iraqi statistics from last year, the level of the Tigris entering Iraq has dropped to 35 percent of its average over the past century.
China urges ICC to respect immunity for heads of state after Putin warrant
China has urged the International Criminal Court to respect immunity for heads of state and to avoid what it called...Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin exhorted the court to "avoid politicisation and double standards"
Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday to hold talks with Putin and sign an accord before heading back to Beijing
Iran proposes three locations to Saudi Arabia for foreign ministers’ meetingÂ
Dubai, UAE - Saudi Arabia and Iran are taking more steps to consolidate their ties following the rapprochement between them...Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has already "welcomed" invitation from Saudi Arabia's King Salman to visit the kingdom following the reconciliation deal between the two countries
Iranian foreign minister also said that his country hoped steps would be taken to normalize its ties with Bahrain, a Saudi ally that had also severed ties with Iran in 2016
Japan PM arrives in India to widen trade, technology ties
New Delhi, India--Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in India on Monday for talks expected to focus on deepening trade and...Japan PM's visit comes in the wake of Australian PM's trip to India, which also saw talks centering around China and trade
India and Japan are expected to announce initiatives on clean energy, digital trade and infrastructure
Putin visits Mariupol in occupied Ukraine territory, his first visit invasion
Just hours after Putin visited Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the peninsula's annexation, video distributed by the Kremlin...The visit triggered an angry reaction from Ukraine, with a presidential aide blasting its "cynicism" and "lack of remorse."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the visit took place "very late" on Saturday and into the early hours of Sunday
West Bank shooting injures Israeli as talks in Egypt seek ‘calm’
The attack in Huwara came three weeks after the fatal shooting of two Israeli settlers, also in the same occupied...Officials from Egypt, Jordan and US attended the "extensive discussions on ways to de-escalate tensions between the Palestinians and Israelis" in Sharm al-Sheikh
Sunday's talks took place as "a terrorist opened fire toward an Israeli vehicle" at a junction in Huwara town, who was later arrested, the Israeli army said in a statement
Egypt’s president meets Russian envoy in Cairo in sign of closer ties
Renewing their commitment to "continuing to strengthen bilateral relations", Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with a senior Russian delegation...The Russian delegation's visit came two days after the Hague-based International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant for Putin on the war crimes
Before the outbreak of war, which has entered its second year, 85 percent of Egypt's wheat imports were sourced from both Russia and Ukraine
Israel, Palestine seek ‘to restore calm’ in West Bank at Cairo meet
Cairo, Egypt - Israeli and Palestinian officials were holding talks in Egypt on Sunday "to restore calm" after a surge in...Reportedly, the meeting aims at supporting talks between Israel and Palestine to stop unilateral actions and escalation in violence.
The officials of Egypt, Jordan and the US were also present at the meeting alongside Israeli and Palestinian representatives.
Iran, Iraq sign border protection agreement
BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Iran's top security official on Sunday signed a deal with Iraqi authorities for "protection" of their common border,...Ali Shamkhani, who heads Iran's Supreme National Security Council, inked the deal with his Iraqi counterpart Qassem al-Araji.
Kurdish factions based in Iraq's mountainous north have in the past waged an armed insurrection against Iran.
Time for Syria to return to Arab fold, Sheikh Mohamed tells Assad
Abu Dhabi, which normalized relations with Assad's government in 2018, has led aid efforts in the aftermath of the February...This is Bashar al-Assad's second trip to the UAE in successive years, and follows his visit to Oman in February.
UAE has vowed to provide in excess of $100 million as aid to quake hit Syria, and gave thousands of tons materials in relief items.
