TEHRAN, IRAN- Iran executed Swedish-Iranian dissident Habib Chaab for "terrorism" on Saturday, according to the judiciary. "The death sentence for Habib Chaab... nicknamed Habib Asyud, the head of Harakat al-Nidal terrorist group... was executed today, Saturday morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported. Chaab had been held in Iran since October...

Israeli troops killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, as the army claimed to have targeted the perpetrators of a "shooting attack". "Two martyrs, shot by the occupation (Israeli forces) arrived at Thabet Thabet government hospital," in Tulkarm, the health ministry said in a...

Tehran, Iran--Iran's head of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) considers the United States to be responsible for all of Israel's actions targeting the Iranian nuclear facilities and the people working for the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Ali Shamkhani made the remarks in a tweet on Friday. According to Mehr News...

Dubai, UAE--The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have dispatched 30 tonnes of urgent medical supplies to Sudan today. A plane carrying supplies for injury treatment, emergency surgeries, and essential drugs arrived in Port Sudan Airport early this morning. The shipment, valued at US$ 444 000,...

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, however, warns that "the worst thing any country could do now is to use this news as a reason to let down its guard, to dismantle the systems it has built, or to send the message to its people that Covid-19 is nothing to worry...

This will be the third port relocation of a Dragon crew spacecraft, following previous relocations during the Crew-1 and Crew-2 missions.

New York, USA - Omar Sultan AlOlama, UAE's Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, called for the use of digital technologies to build and sustain peace during a United Nations Security Council open debate on “peacebuilding and sustaining peace.” “The emergence of new, powerful...

Tehran, Iran -- Iran has expelled four Azerbaijani diplomats, state media reported Friday, saying the move was "in response" to Baku's expulsion of Iranian embassy staff in April after months of tensions. "Four diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, declared personae non gratae, were...

During late-night talks Thursday, Raisi and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad discussed "ways to develop and strengthen bilateral relations" and "emphasized existing cooperation in the field of reconstruction", according to a joint statement.

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Thursday spoke on the telephone to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to strengthen them further. The two leaders reviewed current areas of UAE-Qatar...

Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials will discuss ways to ensure consumers benefit from AI while being protected from its dangers. US President Joe Biden has urged Congress to pass laws getting stricter limits on the tech sector, but these efforts have little chance of making headway given...

Iran's president hailed his visit to Damascus as a "turning point", after Tehran's support helped Syria retake most of the territory it lost in 12 years of war. Ebrahim Raisi's two-day trip is the first such visit to Tehran's close ally since 2010. "This trip will be a turning point...

Since the beginning, more than 765 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported to the WHO from around the world, including nearly seven million deaths. And Covid remains a threat. While the death rate from the disease has plunged in recent months, it still killed at least 16,000 people...

BERN, SWITZERLAND - The UAE discussed bolstering strategic relations and cooperation in various development, economic and financial fields of common interest with Switzerland here. The UAE's Ministry of Finance (MoF) held the fifth financial dialogue with the Swiss Confederation in Bern. Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of the Ministry of...

The network's social media accounts -- which ranged from Facebook to YouTube, Telegram and Twitter -- pushed content focusing on incendiary political issues in Europe and the United States, according to Meta. While Meta had taken down some of the accounts, much of the networks' content remains online.

Terming it as a "planned terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation," Moscow said that two unmanned vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin and the devices were "put out of action." The statement said that Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory...

The United Nations called for security guarantees at "the highest level" to ensure aid deliveries in Sudan, after trucks carrying food to the Darfur region were looted. The UN's top humanitarian official Martin Griffiths insisted on the need "we have the commitments publicly, clearly given by militaries, to protect humanitarian...

Tehran, Iran -- Iranian authorities have arrested managers at a major petrochemical company for backing a workers' strike over pay and conditions in an energy-producing region in the south, Iranian media reported Wednesday. "A number of managers" were arrested for "having supported the acts of counter-revolutionary elements" and "organized strikes"...

PARIS, FRANCE -  Some 258 million people needed emergency food aid last year because of conflict, economic shocks and climate disasters, a UN report said Wednesday, a sharp rise from 193 million the previous year. "More than a quarter of a billion people are now facing acute levels of hunger, and...

Iranian forces seized a Panama-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the US Navy said, the second such incident in less than a week. The tanker, Niovi, was sailing from Dubai towards Fujairah, another port in the UAE, when it was stopped by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.

The junta said in a statement that pardons were granted to 2,153 prisoners to mark the birth anniversary of the Buddha as dozens of people turned up outside the prison to greet their relatives. Thousands of protestors and activists have been arrested since the February 2021 putsch ended the country's...

Israeli strikes on north Syria's Aleppo province killed four Syrian officers and three Iran-backed fighters, putting the area's international airport out of service, a war monitor reported. In over a decade of war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, targeting Iran-backed forces, Lebanese Hezbollah...

Israeli strikes targeted north Syria's Aleppo province, killing a soldier, wounding seven people and putting the area's international airport out of service, state media reported. "At around 11:35 pm (2035 GMT)... the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack with several missiles... targeting Aleppo international airport," state news agency SANA...

His Tuesday death came during his 13th stint in Israeli custody, with nearly eight years of his life spent behind bars. Adnan, who leaves behind nine children, had refused food since his Feb 5 arrest by Israel.

Al Jaber's call marked a public endorsement of a target laid out by the International Energy Agency. Last month at a closed-door meeting with G7 leaders in Japan, he had also raised the target. At the same time, he did not call for a complete end to the use of...

Former president Michel Aoun's term expired in October, with no successor lined up. Countries including France, the United States and Saudi Arabia hold regular consultations on Lebanon. Their representatives met in February in Paris to discuss the crisis, without achieving any tangible progress.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was not giving estimates of Ukrainian casualties because "they are the victims here. Russia is the aggressor." The White House will not put "information in the public domain that makes it any harder" for the close Western ally, whose army is being...

TUNIS, TUNISIA - Tunisia's largest union on Monday attacked the government's handling of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a loan to bail out the North African country as it slides deeper into debt. Tunisia is seeking a bailout package worth nearly $2 billion from the IMF, which conditions...

Envoys from the United States, China and Russia as well as major European aid donors and key neighbors such as Pakistan are among representatives from about 25 countries and groups called to the two days of talks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The Taliban government has not been invited.

"The suspected leader of Daesh, codename Abu Hussein al-Qurashi, has been neutralised in an operation carried out yesterday (Saturday) by the MIT in Syria," Erdogan announced on television, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State organisation. Residents said that an operation had targeted an abandoned farm that was being...

With projectiles crashing into residential buildings, supplies running short and daily life increasingly untenable for civilians, foreign nations have scrambled to evacuate their nationals by air, road and sea. But millions of Sudanese are still trapped in the country, where aid workers are among the dead and the UN said...

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  - In the European Union countries, 75 percent (193.5 million) of people in the 20-64-year- age group were employed, the highest since the start of the time series in 2009, as per the labor force data published by Eurostat. The employment rate dropped to 72 percent in 2020...

The 69-year-old president has bounced back strongly from what was described as a digestive problem in the run-up to one of Turkey's most important elections of its post-Ottoman history. The illness shook Erdogan's strongman image, which he has cultivated over two decades of economic booms and busts, social transformation and...

Iran's parliament voted in an impeachment session to remove the industry minister amid soaring prices as the Islamic republic's economy reels under the pressure of international sanctions. Reza Fatemi Amin failed to garner enough support in a vote of confidence that saw 162 MPs vote in favor of his removal...

KHARTOUM, SUDAN -  A first Red Cross plane laden with humanitarian aid on Sunday landed in Sudan, where deadly clashes between rival generals' forces have entered their third week. "The eight tonnes of humanitarian cargo includes surgical material to support Sudanese hospitals and volunteers from the Sudan Red Crescent Society," the...

The visit comes against the backdrop of a rapprochement between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, and increased Arab engagement with Damascus. Iran is a major ally of President Bashar al-Assad.

Washington, United States--The US called on China Saturday to stop its "provocative and unsafe conduct" in the disputed South China Sea, after a Chinese coast guard ship recently cut off a Philippine patrol vessel there, causing a near-collision. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, in a statement two days before President Joe...

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - The first Iranian evacuees to escape the Sudan conflict through Saudi Arabia arrived on Saturday in Jeddah, relieved that their country has settled its differences with the regional rival. The 65 Iranians were among about 1,900 people on the latest boat to arrive from Port Sudan as...

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi slammed the United States' presence in the Middle East, as he hosted his counterpart from neighboring Iraq for wide-ranging talks. Decades-old arch enemies the United States and Iran have vied for influence in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Both helped Iraq...

AMMAN, JORDAN - Value of Jordanian exports to European Union countries increased during January-February period of 2023, by 108.5 percent to reach about US$87 million (JD62 million), compared to about US$42 million (JD30 million) for the same period last year.According to foreign trade data issued by the Department of Statistics...

Three civilians were wounded in Israeli air strikes near the Syrian city of Homs, state media reported, with a war monitor saying a Hezbollah munitions depot was hit. Over a decade, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on Syria's territory, targeting Iran-backed forces, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and the country's...

Tehran, Iran - Iran's Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, has offered to solve Lebanon's electricity shortage issue through bilateral cooperation despite US sanctions, mehrnews reported on Saturday.  During his visit to Beirut, Amir-Abdollahian stated that Iran can solve the problem if both countries agree on joint cooperation, despite US pressure and...

Tehran, Iran--Accompanied by a large delegation, Iraq's President Abdul Latif Rashid arrived in Tehran to deepen economic, trade and political ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Upon his arrival early on Saturday, the Iraqi chief executive was welcomed by Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance of Iran Ehsan Khandozi at...

Raisi's planned trip comes against the backdrop of a rapprochement between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, and increased Arab engagement with Damascus. Amir-Abdollahian said the Riyadh-Tehran detente would have "positive repercussions on the whole region and in Lebanon in particular".

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi customs authority foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 4 million tablets of captagon through the Al-Bat-ha land inlet, SPA reported Friday. In a statement, the authority said that as many as 4,152,000 tablets of drugs were found hidden in a consignment shipped into the...

European investigators probing Lebanese central bank chief Riad Salameh's wealth will question officials from two international firms previously tasked with auditing the central bank's accounts, a judicial official said. Salameh is the target of a series of judicial investigations at home and abroad on suspicion of embezzlement and money laundering,...

The "Friends of the Tree" group works to raise awareness about green areas around Tripoli that are quickly disappearing because of drought, human activity and desertification. "Man has destroyed forests" and much of the vegetation, said the group's leader Khalifa Ramadan, who has been working in agriculture and gardening for...

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA  - Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) President and Group Chairman Dr. Muhammad Al-Jasser and Uzbekistan Minister of Investments, Industry, and Trade Laziz Kudratov have signed three financing agreements for  the development of infrastructure and social services in the Central Asian country. These agreements aim to promote sustainable economic...

ABU DHABI, UAE - The UAE will participate in the Joint Annual Meeting of Arab Financial Institutions, which will be held Friday in Rabat, Morocco, to discuss means of overcoming the development challenges faced by the region. Minister of State for Financial Affairs Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini will lead...

The US is "showing that one cannot engage in this sort of awful behavior of using human beings as pawns, as bargaining chips, without paying consequences," said a senior US official. Both agencies have already been hit with punitive measures by the US State and Treasury Departments in the past.