Reformist hopes for breakthrough as Iran goes to polls
Tehran, Iran - Iranians voted in a presidential election on Friday marked by a lone reformist's bid to break through against...Geostrategy
Telegraph report on Hizbollah weapons at Beirut airport sparks outrage
Dubai, UAE - An article in The Telegraph alleging that Hizbollah is stockpiling Iranian weapons at Beirut International Airport (BIA)...Geostrategy
UAE and US review strategic cooperation and events in MENA
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, reviewed strategic cooperation and joint coordination in a meeting...The two exchanged views on the overall issues and topics of mutual interest, particularly the latest developments in the Middle East
Sheikh Mohamed welcomed their visit to the UAE and pointed at the significance of such visits to exchange views and thoughts regarding various issues of mutual interest
Turkey rebuffs Macron call for Libya troop withdrawal
Turkey on Saturday rebuffed French President Emmanuel Macron's call on foreign powers to remove their forces from Libya as part...The North African country has been mired in civil war since the overthrow of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a 2011 uprising
The bloodshed has drawn in competing Libyan factions and Islamist groups as well as foreign powers
Turkey accuses Israeli couple of ‘espionage’ after taking photo
An Istanbul court on Friday charged an Israeli couple with "espionage" after they allegedly took a photo of the Turkish...The couple were detained on Thursday after visiting Camlica tower which opened last year in the district of Uskudar on the Asian side of Istanbul
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's office issued a statement on Friday insisting the couple "do not work for any Israeli agency"
Qatar will act on US interest in Afghanistan
The Gulf country has played a significant role both in diplomacy and evacuations as the US ended its 20-year war...Qatar signed to work on America's interest in Afghanistan, to bridge Taliban
Qatar has sent 15 charter planes to Afghanistan, and also offered to repair its Kabul Airport
Biden, Xi to hold virtual summit as tensions mount on Taiwan
The virtual talks will take place "in the evening" on Monday in Washington -- meaning early Tuesday in Beijing.The virtual talks will take place "in the evening" on Monday in Washington -- meaning early Tuesday in Beijing
The US president has largely kept the tougher approach on Beijing of his predecessor Donald Trump
Dr Abdullah Asiri chosen member of WHO panel on novel pathogen origins
Dr Abdullah Asiri, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister for Preventive Health, has been chosen as one of the members of the...Asiri, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister for Preventive Health, is one of the 28 members of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens.
Lebanese Dr Nada Ghosn is another expert from the Middle East chosen as the member.
Qatar FM calls for halt to normalization with Syria after UAE visit
Qatar's top diplomat voiced hope Friday for a halt to normalization with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after his counterpart from..."We hope that countries will be discouraged from taking further steps with the Syrian regime"
The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are both close US allies, although they have had a rift in recent years
Iraq to repatriate citizens ‘who volunteer’ from Belarus
Iraq said on Friday it was drawing up lists of those among the hundreds of Iraqis blocked on the border...Hundreds of migrants and asylum-seekers, many of them Kurds from Iraq, have been stuck for days on the Belarus-Poland border in near-freezing temperatures.
Poland is refusing to allow them to cross, with the West accusing Belarus of bringing them into the country to send over the border in revenge for sanctions.
Turkey bans Iraqis, Syrians, Yemenis from flying to Belarus
Ankara on Friday banned citizens of Syria, Iraq and Yemen from flying from Turkish airports to Belarus because of the...The announcement followed an urgent round of diplomatic contacts between Polish, Turkish and European officials aimed at stemming the flow of people
Turkish Airlines on Tuesday rejected charges that its flights "prepare the ground for illegal migrant trafficking"
High freight costs push world food import bill to record high
The global food trade should hit a record high in both volume and value, according to a new report by...The bill is 14 percent higher than last year and 12 percent higher than the previous forecast.
The increase is also driven by higher price levels of internationally traded food commodities.
