Seeing no way out of a political crisis that has prevented the country from having an effective government, Kuwait's emir has dissolved parliament on Monday and called a new general election. The wealthy Gulf state, the only nation in the region to have an elected government, remains mired in political...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammed S. Al-Sudani chaired a meeting focused on discussing the provisions of the federal budget bill submitted to the Parliament. The meeting was attended by Parliament Deputy Speaker Muhsin Al-Mandalawi, Parliament Deputy Speaker Shakhwan Abdullah and MPs of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, as well...

TEHRAN, IRAN  -  Iran's parliament has adopted proposals to toughen penalties for perpetrators of violence against women which could be voted into law within months, state media has reported. Initiated more than 10 years ago, discussions in parliament led to the adoption on Sunday of the general principles of a draft...

Dubai, UAE -- Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah has named Manaf Abdulaziz Al Hajri as minister for finance and minister of state for economic and investment affairs in the new cabinet announced Sunday. Most of the ministerial portfolios remain unchanged in the new cabinet, such as Bader Al...

Women earn on average nearly 13 percent less per hour than men for the same work in the 27-nation European Union, according to official data for 2020. Under the new rules, workers can demand to know individual and average pay levels, broken down by gender, in their workplace.

It suffers from constant stand-offs between elected lawmakers and cabinets installed by the ruling Al-Sabah family, despite a parliamentary system in place since 1962.

Israeli parliament approved legislation restricting grounds for declaring a premier unfit for office, a move the opposition has called a "personal law" that serves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The vote came as Netanyahu's government pushes forward with a judicial reform program, which critics say threatens Israeli democracy and has sparked...

The ruling was made due to discrepancies in the decree dissolving the previous parliament, the official KUNA news agency said. The September polls were the most inclusive in a decade and saw opposition members take a parliamentary majority with 28 out of 50 seats.

New Delhi, India -- India’s Minister for New, Renewable Energy and Power, R K Singh said on Tuesday that India and the UAE have both taken a lead in the development of renewables at low costs.  “The two countries are moving towards a strong relationship in the field of renewable...

State television broadcast the proceedings and only official media were permitted to cover the session, with representatives of Tunisia's private press and foreign journalists denied access, according to an AFP correspondent. "What is happening is dangerous and reflects the authorities' unjustified distrust of the media," Amira Mohamed, deputy head of...

Tunisia inaugurated a new parliament largely stripped of its powers, after a vote that saw a paltry turnout amid boycotts following President Kais Saied's July 2021 power grab. The new assembly held its first session at the legislature's traditional home in Bardo, a suburb of the capital Tunis.

Beijing, China--China's new premier warned Monday that the country's five-percent growth target for 2023 would not be "easy" to achieve, as its rubber-stamp parliament wrapped up over a week of meetings. The government set the economic growth target of "around five percent" this month, one of the lowest in decades as China...

MANAMA, BAHRAIN -  Speaker of  the UAE Federal National Council Saqr Ghobash discussed ways to enhance cooperation with First Deputy Chairman of Ukraine Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) Oleksandr Kornienko on the sidelines of the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held here. During the meeting, they discussed parliamentary cooperation between the...

Li Qiang, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping's trusted allies, was confirmed as premier, as Xi cements his influence on the country's leadership. Li, the former Shanghai party chief who oversaw the city's two-month lockdown last spring, was named the successor of outgoing premier Li Keqiang at a meeting of...

The councils were seen as a key democratic gain after the 2011 revolt that sparked the Arab Spring. Saied sacked the government in a 2021 power grab, and has since scrapped the post-revolution constitution, neutered parliament and seized far-reaching executive powers.

AMMAN,  JORDAN -   The Speaker of Jordan's Senate Faisal Fayez met with Arab Parliament Speaker Adel Abdulrahman Al-Asoomi and discussed the ways and means to activate parliamentary work and diplomacy to address the region's common interest. During the meeting, attended by Jordan's ambassador to Egypt Amjad Adaileh, the two sides...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - Speaker of the UAE Federal National Council (FNC) Saqr Ghobash said that Arab parliaments should are required to coordinate parliamentary work. He said that Arab parliaments should unify positions on all common issues, activate the role of parliamentary diplomacy and cooperate in order to achieve the integration...

"Hordes of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are still arriving, with all the violence, crime and unacceptable practices that entails," he said, according to a statement from his office on Tuesday evening.

The measures, which were inching towards approval through a series of preliminary votes inside the chamber, have provoked widespread criticism and charges that they would give the legislative branch nearly unchecked authority.

They have warned they will reconsider "all ties" with Lebanon if parliament fails to elect a president amid a worsening financial crisis. The warning came after the ambassadors or representatives of the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt met Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut.

Cairo, Egypt--The Arab Parliament on Saturday endorsed a proposal submitted by Jordan's Lower House Speaker Ahmad Safadi, stipulating the establishment of a regional center for food security in Jordan, Speaking at the Arab Parliament fifth conference on Saturday, Safadi said Jordan can facilitate and coordinate Arab and international action, and...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ -  First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohsen Al-Mandalawi said that the tourism sector in Iraq has all the ingredients for success. Al-Mandalawi made the statement while meeting with the Association of Travel and Tourism Companies in Iraq, a statement issues by the  media office of the First Deputy...

Beirut, Lebanon--Two Lebanese lawmakers on Friday entered the second week of a sit-in inside the crisis-hit country's parliamentary chamber, vowing to remain inside until fellow MPs elect a new president. Parliamentarians Najat Saliba and Melhem Khalaf, both independents, began their protest on January 19, after colleagues met and failed for an...

Three months after it was sworn in, Kuwait's government tendered its resignation in the wake of disputes with lawmakers, plunging the oil-rich state into political paralysis. The country's National Assembly is the only fully elected parliament in the Gulf but it has been fraught with repeated crisis between the executive...

"We slept here, and we hope that today will bring new hope to Lebanon," said lawmaker Najat Saliba in a video posted on social media on Friday. Fellow MP Melhem Khalaf said it was urgent to elect a president "who can save Lebanon", in an online message posted the night before.

Abu Dhabi, UAE-- The UAE and Morocco have agreed to deepen parliamentary cooperation between the two countries in order to benefit their respective peoples. In this connection, Mohammed Issa Al Kashf, Chairman of the Technical, Energy and Mineral Resources Affairs Committee at the Federal National Council (FNC), met with Tarik...

BAGHDAD, IRAQ  - Iraqi Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi said that an oil pipeline from Basra port to the Jordanian port of Aqaba will soon be operational pointing to many areas of cooperation between the two countries. Al-Halbousi, who spoke at a joint press conference at Baghdad airport with Jordan's Lower...

The law gives settlers in the occupied West Bank access to civilian law, while their Palestinian neighbours face military courts. The session marks the first legislative move since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office last month.

Tunis, Tunisia - Dozens of Tunisian lawyers protested on Thursday against newly imposed taxes on legal services, part of a 2023 budget that seeks to boost revenues to the cash-strapped treasury. Led by Bar Association head Hatem Mziou, lawyers gathered outside the Palais de Justice in Tunis as well as other...

Saied lashed out at unnamed critics, accusing such rivals of "drowning in corruption and treachery" and of "plotting against the state" and its "internal and external security". "This cannot continue, and these people cannot go unpunished," he said, in a video posted on his office's Facebook page. The president's power...

Tunis, Tunisia--Tunisians on Saturday overwhelmingly boycotted an election for a new parliament which will have virtually no authority following a power grab by President Kais Saied in the birthplace of the Arab Spring. Electoral board president Farouk Bouasker said that by close of polls at 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), just...

The two countries explore areas of joint cooperation to strengthen political, economic, investment and trade relations.

Over a decade since the country's revolution that unseated dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, opposition parties have urged a boycott of the poll, which they say is part of a "coup" against the only democracy to have emerged from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. The election for the new...

Some Israeli political analysts had forecast that Netanyahu would move to announce a coalition days after receiving his mandate from President Isaac Herzog on November 13. But the coalition talks have proved complex, with Netanyahu forced to give sensitive portfolios to controversial figures, including Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben Gvir,...

BERLIN, GERMANY - The German government aims to put a stop to energy price hikes it sees as unjustified with planned gas and electricity price controls, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported Saturday. Price increases are to be prohibited until the end of 2023 - unless the supplier can prove "that the...

Council of Ministers okayed a draft law amending the real estate sale tax law for 2022, aimed at stimulating investment in the sector.

Lawmakers in crisis-hit Lebanon failed to elect a new president for an eighth time, despite the deepening impact of the political deadlock on the country's economic woes. Lebanon has been without a head of state for a month after president Michel Aoun left office at the end of October with...

Tunis, Tunisia—The speaker of Tunisia's dissolved parliament appeared on Monday before a judge investigating accusations his party helped Tunisian jihadists travel to fight in Iraq and Syria. Rached Ghannouchi, an arch-rival of President Kais Saied and also head of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, arrived in the morning at the anti-terror court...

Two major opposition groups, the Shiite Al-Wefaq and the secular Waad, were prevented from presenting candidates. These parties were dissolved in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Turnout in the first round was 73 percent, authorities said, but no figures have been released for the second round.

Lebanese lawmakers failed for a sixth time to elect a successor to former president Michel Aoun, whose mandate expired last month. Parliament is split between supporters of the powerful Hezbollah movement and its opponents, neither of whom have a clear majority. Lawmaker Michel Moawad won the support of 43 of...

It would take two years after the passing of the law to fully restore conscription, Iraqi MP Watout said, adding that only-sons and breadwinners would be exempted.

The political deadlock has hit efforts to form a new government since the outgoing cabinet's mandate expired in May, despite Lebanon being gripped by its worst-ever financial crisis. At the end of a visit to Beirut last week, France's Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna urged election of a new president to...

Kuwait's crown prince swore in a new government, less than a month after the emirate held parliamentary elections in which the opposition reaped major gains. The polls capped a political stand-off between the former cabinet and legislature that saw lawmakers occupy the national assembly building for days.

Iraqi firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr's movement announced its refusal to join a new government being formed by prime minister-designate Mohammad Shia al-Sudani.

Kuwait City, Kuwait— Kuwait has decided to postpone the convening of the first parliament session after elections to Oct. 18, according to media reports. The news agency KUNA said in a statement: “The National Assembly’s first regular session of the 17th legislative term is adjourned until Oct. 18, head of...

The EU is "ready to discuss" a price cap on gas within the bloc to bring down soaring energy costs, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday. Her comment, to the European Parliament, signaled a shift in tone after powerhouse EU country Germany had expressed worries that a...

During the session, Jordanian MP Khalil Attia was elected as second deputy speaker of the parliament, Iraqi MP Shaalan Abdul-Jabbar Al-Karim as third deputy speaker, and Egyptian MP Alaa Abed as fourth deputy speaker.

Lebanon's parliament failed to elect a new president after a first round of voting amid deep divisions over a replacement for Michel Aoun whose term expires next month. Majority of lawmakers cast blank ballots, suggesting the election process may drag on, an outcome Lebanon can ill afford as it wrestles...

Several opposition MPs had been on strike in protest at delays to parliamentary sessions and the failure to form a new government. A core source of friction is MPs’ demand for ministers from the royal family to be held accountable for corruption.

The term of Michel Aoun expires at the end of October. The session will mark the first attempt by lawmakers to elect a new head of state at a time when the country is in the grips of a financial crisis described by the World Bank as one of the...