NEW YORK (AA) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the resumption of humanitarian aid through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing into northwest Syria on Tuesday after a two-and-a-half-month hiatus. “Though our humanitarian operations have continued to assist millions of people in need in northwest Syria, the Bab al-Hawa crossing...
TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran’s parliament has agreed to the trial implementation of the Chastity and Hijab Bill for a period of three years after a majority of lawmakers voted in favor of it, state media reported. Following the report by the parliament’s Judicial and Legal Commission, the bill was put to vote with 152 […]
GENEVA (AA) – The Swiss parliament passed legislation on Wednesday making it illegal to cover one’s face, including wearing a burka – a Muslim women’s veil that covers the entire body from head to toe – with a fine of 1,000 Swiss francs (approximately $1,114). The “burka ban” law was approved by the upper chamber [&hell...
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Five Malian soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in clashes with rebels in the north, the military said on Tuesday. The clashes between the Malian armed forces and northern Tuareg rebels broke out Sunday in the town of Lere, in Timbuktu region near the Mauritanian border. According to initial reports […...
ISTANBUL (AA) – Five US citizens who had been imprisoned in Iran returned to the US on Tuesday after being released under a prisoner swap agreement by the Biden administration with Tehran. A plane carrying these five prisoners, along with two of their family members, touched down at a military facility in Virginia, located just […...
United Nations, United States – AFP The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday urged Iran to reconsider its decision to deny access to top UN inspectors, telling AFP that failure to cooperate will carry severe consequences. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Saturday that Iran had withdrawn accreditation fr...
WASHINGTON (AA) – A group of 12 Muslim Americans, including a longtime New Jersey mayor, sued the Justice Department on Monday in an attempt to end its use of a secretive FBI watchlist that they describe as a “de facto Muslim registry.” The suit, filed in US District Court in Massachusetts, says that by placing […]
Doha, Qatar – AFP Frozen funds totalling $6 billion have been transferred to Qatari banks under a US-Iran prisoner swap deal, with a plane on standby in Tehran to fly out five American detainees, a source told AFP on Monday. The release of the funds by US ally South Korea, long blocked under US sanctions, […]
Cairo, Egypt – – AFP An Egyptian court has sentenced liberal opposition figure Hisham Kassem to six months in prison, his lawyer said. The move bars him from running in next year’s presidential election. Kassem was also slapped with a 20,000 pound (about $650) fine after being found guilty of defaming a former minister and [&...
TRIPOLI, Libya- AA About 5,000 homes have been damaged by devastating floods caused by Storm Daniel in Libya’s northeastern Jabal Akhdar region, according to the country’s unity government. “The region needs maintenance and rebuilding of about 35 km of damaged roads, and 20 km of main rainwater drainage lines,” the Housing and Util...
