Istanbul, Turkey - NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday called on Ankara to drop its opposition to Sweden's bid to join the defense alliance, saying Stockholm has addressed Turkey's security concerns. "Sweden has taken significant concrete steps to meet Turkey's concerns," Stoltenberg told reporters after meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Sweden...

The last truce was agreed to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid and safe passages into areas of Sudan ravaged by the fighting, but like all that preceded it was routinely violated by both sides.

Syria's opposition urged the resumption of moribund United Nations-sponsored talks with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who has returned to the Arab fold after years of isolation. "The international, regional and Syrian conditions provide an appropriate circumstance for the resumption of direct negotiations...," the Syrian Negotiation Commission said in...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia has advanced three ranks in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings in 2023, with 25 Saudi universities securing a presence in the global performance index. The number of Saudi universities was 22 in 2022 within the international ranking, which sorts universities that impact achieving...

Traffic in both directions returned to normal after a brief disruption when the Malta-flagged Seavigour experienced a "machinery malfunction" while en route from Russia to China, Three tugboats "successfully towed and moored the ship" at a shipyard where the technical fault will be fixed before the tanker "resumes its crossing".

Three Israeli soldiers and a member of Egypt's security forces were killed in a rare exchange of fire near the border between the two countries, official sources from both sides said. The Israeli army said an Egyptian assailant shot dead two soldiers " while they secured a military post at...

Blinken's June 6-8 trip comes as both the United States and Saudi Arabia are seeking to broker a durable cease fire between Sudan's warring generals. On the trip, Blinken will "discuss US-Saudi strategic cooperation on regional and global issues and a range of bilateral issues including economic and security cooperation,"...

Iran released one Danish and two Austrian-Iranian citizens it had been holding after mediation by Oman, and they are being flown to Belgium, said the country's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. This comes a week after Tehran freed a Belgian aid worker in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was...

Morocco has the largest population of Berbers in North Africa, and Thursday's decision responds to a long-standing demand by activists to preserve the language, which is currently taught to just 330,000 pupils. The move "will necessitate more specialist and bilingual teachers", the education minister said.

Abu Dhabi, UAE - The UAE and Switzerland have discussed opportunities for cooperation between the Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution Office and the Swiss Public Prosecution Office and the means to develop the services provided. Ali Mohammed Alblooshi, Attorney-General of Abu Dhabi, met with Stefan Blatler, Attorney-General of Switzerland and Massimo...

Washington, United States -- The White House on Thursday announced economic and visa sanctions against Sudanese leaders responsible for breaking a ceasefire and provoking "appalling" bloodshed. "We are following through by levying economic sanctions, imposing visa restrictions against actors who are perpetuating the violence," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said...

A military judge has accused five members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, only one of whom is in custody, of killing an Irish United Nations peacekeeper in December last year, a judicial official said. Fadi Sawan issued a 30-page indictment accusing five Hezbollah members of "forming a group of malefactors...

Gita Gopinath said she believes there are grounds to provide subsidies to help stimulate innovation. Gopinath's intervention into the debate on subsidies follows frustration in Europe over US President Joe Biden's major climate plan, which grants generous subsidies to new electric vehicles manufactured in the United States.

Following the shipment suspension and "as a result of the economic outlook, Nintendo of Europe has decided to wind down operations of its Russian subsidiary", the company said. Nintendo's eShop was already "under maintenance" in Russia because its payment provider had stopped ruble transactions.

"As a result of our ongoing evaluation of effective security cooperation with all partners, two months ago, the UAE withdrew its participation in the Combined Maritime Forces," a statement carried by the official WAM news agency said. The Bahrain-headquartered CMF was established in 2001, initially as a partnership between 12...

The mediators of the talks in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah have acknowledged repeated violations of the truce by both sides but have so far held off imposing any sanctions in the hope of keeping the warring parties at the negotiating table. The army walked out "because the rebels...

Tehran, Iran-- Terming the UAE as a reliable trade partner, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said bilateral between the two countries are developing in both government and private sectors. He made the remarks during a meeting with Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, Minister of State of the UAE on Tuesday...

Syriac-speaking communities in Iraq and Syria have declined over the years, owing to decades of conflict driving many to seek homes in safer countries.

Iraq's supreme court ruled as unconstitutional the extended mandate of autonomous Kurdistan's parliament, rendering invalid votes taken by the chamber since last year. It is the latest source of tension between Iraq's federal authorities and Kurdistan whose leaders had denounced amendments in the federal budget affecting oil sales from the...

Russia has for years been issuing passports to people living in the eastern Donbas areas held by pro-Moscow separatists since 2014 as well as in annexed Crimea.

As drones struck in and around Moscow, Russian drones targeted Kyiv for a third straight day while Ukraine gears up for a major offensive against Russian forces. Officials said no one was seriously injured in Moscow, but some ordinary people said they never thought the Russian capital could be hit...

ABU DHABI, UAE  -  The Economic Integration Committee held its second meeting this year and discussed a range of key economic issues, including access to legislation supporting the growth of new economy sectors in the UAE. The meeting was chaired by Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, and...

Iranian media reports came just days before the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to meet to review progress in addressing the watchdog's remaining concerns. The IAEA had reported the discovery of traces of radioactive material at three sites not declared by Iran as having...

Beirut, Lebanon--A Saudi national who had been kidnapped in Beirut has been freed in a "special operation" by the Lebanese army near the Syrian border, it said in a statement Tuesday. "An army intelligence patrol managed to free kidnapped Saudi national Mashari al-Mutairi during a special operation on the Syrian border,"...

Many residents said they could hear gunfire after dark on Monday, shortly before the ceasefire extension was announced. Earlier, they reported street battles in northern Khartoum, as well as artillery fire in the south of the city, where a plume of grey smoke was visible. The persistent fighting has impeded...

SHARJAH, UAE - The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has embarked on a landmark trade mission to India, marking a significant step in strengthening economic ties between the two nations. The trade mission's first leg commenced with the highly successful UAE-India Business Forum held in Mumbai, India's bustling...

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he would welcome a resumption of diplomatic relations with Egypt, during a meeting with Oman's visiting Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. Ties between Tehran and Cairo soured following the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and Egypt's recognition of Israel, the Islamic republic's sworn enemy.

The Israeli military said "suspects fired heavily at the forces, who responded with fire toward the armed men" during a raid in Jenin. Since the start of the year, at least 155 Palestinians, 20 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,...

Since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes against regime positions as well as Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces, allies of Damascus and arch-foes of Israel. Israel rarely comments on the strikes on a case-by-case basis, but says it seeks...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan appealed for national unity Monday after winning a historic runoff election that extended two decades of his transformative rule until 2028. The 69-year-old overcame Turkey's worst economic crisis in a generation and the most powerful opposition alliance to ever face his Islamic-rooted party on his way to...

His trip comes just two days after Tehran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele from almost 15 months in custody in exchange for diplomat Assadollah Assadi, who was held in Belgium over a 2018 plot to bomb an Iranian opposition rally outside Paris. Oman helped facilitate the prisoner swap

In a country where political agreements are concluded after endless negotiations between political parties, the objection of the Kurds is delaying a parliamentary vote on the budget. The changes in budget text says the Kurdish region must first deliver 400,000 barrels of oil daily to the federal authorities, along with...

The UN chief was "shocked" by Burhan's letter, which requested "the nomination of a replacement" to Perthes and accused him of committing "fraud and disinformation" in facilitating a political process. Burhan and his rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo were meant to meet for negotiations on April 15, the day Khartoum became...

Tehran, Iran-- Urging OPEC member countries to preserve cohesion and unity among them, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said that several Western countries were seeking to divide OPEC member states. The Iranian president made the remark in a meeting with the Secretary-General of OPEC Haitham al-Ghais in Tehran on Saturday. Considering the...

Clashes broke out between Iranian and Taliban forces at the border between the two countries, Iranian police said without reporting casualties, amid a water dispute between the two neighbors. State news agency IRNA quoted deputy head of the police force Qassem Rezaee as saying that Taliban forces started shooting at...

Iraq presented an ambitious plan to turn itself into a regional transportation hub by developing its road and rail infrastructure, linking Europe with the Gulf and other Middle East countries. Once completed, the US$17 billion project known as the "Route of Development" would stretch 1,200 kilometers from Turkey to the...

NEW YORK, US -  United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was "shocked" by a letter from Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, reportedly requesting the replacement of special envoy Volker Perthes amid a brutal war with paramilitaries. Guterres "is proud of the work done by Volker Perthes and reaffirms his full confidence...

The UN-recognized Government of National Unity said the strikes hit "hideouts used by gangs of smugglers in fuel, narcotics and humans" and that they were ordered by interim PM Abdulhamid Dbeibah. But the country's parliament accused the Tripoli-based government of targeting the home of one of its lawmakers Ali Bouzribah,...

Within minutes of the ceasefire taking effect late Monday, witnesses in the capital Khartoum reported air strikes and gunshots. The one-week truce is the latest in a series of agreements that have all been systematically violated, with the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accusing each other of...

Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele after almost 15 months in custody, in a prisoner exchange for an Iranian diplomat convicted of terrorism. Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said the 42-year-old had arrived in Oman and added: "If all goes to plan, he'll be with us this evening....

"The transfer of nuclear munitions has begun," Lukashenko told reporters during a visit to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin. In Washington, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Russia's move "yet another example of making irresponsible and provocative choices".

Brussels, Belgium -- The European Union approved a historic agreement banning harmful fisheries subsidies on Thursday, joining a small group of countries that include the United States. After more than two decades of negotiations towards banning subsidies that encourage overfishing and threaten the sustainability fish stocks worldwide, a deal, albeit...

ISMAILIA, EGYPT -  A cargo ship ran aground on Thursday in Egypt's Suez Canal before it was quickly refloated without interrupting traffic, the authority in charge of the vital waterway said. The Hong Kong-flagged Xin Hai Tong 23 bulk carrier was refloated after "a sudden malfunction of the machinery" while it...

Sudanese who cross into Egypt's south must then buy a bus ticket to take them to the nearest major city, Aswan, around 200 kilometres north of the border. They are greeted there by volunteers who offer a hot meal -- the first for many since embarking on the perilous desert...

Tehran, Iran--Iran has displayed a new long-range missile capable of carrying 1,500 kg warhead with the capacity to hit targets 2,000 kms away. Iranian armed forces unveiled their latest model of ballistic missiles dubbed "Khorramshahr-4 long range strategic missile" in a ceremony on Thursday morning in the presence of defense...

The Iraqi presidency said the duchess delivered a written message from King Charles III -- who had himself visited Iraq in 2004. The last time a British royal visited Iraq was in 2006 when the late Prince Philip visited a base for British troops deployed to Iraq as part of...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--The GCC has called for the strengthening of trade and investment relations with the United Kingdom amid the ongoing negotiations over a GCC-UK free-trade agreement. The call was made by the organization's secretary general Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi during a meeting with Kemi Badenoch, UK business secretary in Riyadh...

On Wednesday, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the two countries will "appoint new ambassadors". A Canadian foreign ministry statement named Jean-Phillipe Linteau as Ottawa's new envoy to the kingdom. The latest announcement follows a frenetic stretch of high-stakes Saudi diplomacy triggered by the kingdom's surprise Chinese-brokered rapprochement deal with Iran...

In a world where Turkey and Russia are both sceptical of Western military, political and economic dominance, Putin and Erdogan see each other as reliable partners. "Russia must have breathed a sigh of relief," said a Western diplomat, referring to the outcome of the first round on May 14.

The new envoy, Alireza Enayati, previously served as Iran's ambassador to Kuwait, assistant to the foreign minister and director general of Gulf affairs at the foreign ministry, the English-language Iran Daily said. There was no immediate confirmation of his appointment from the foreign ministry of the Islamic republic.