Doha, Qatar (AFP): A Yemeni official accused Iran of sending “gifts of death” to his war-wracked country as the two sides clashed at a UN summit for poor nations on Monday. Othman Majali harangued Iran, which backs Yemen’s Huthi rebels, during his speech at the Least Developed Countries meeting in Qatar, drawing a terse respo...
Tehran, Iran (AFP): Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday said those behind the poisoning of schoolgirls in recent months should face “severe punishment”, according to his website. Several hundred cases of gas poisoning have been reported in more than 52 schools across Iran since the end of November, accordin...
Baghdad, Iraq (AFP): The head of the UN cultural agency, Audrey Azoulay, on Monday started a three-day visit to Iraq where many priceless cultural treasures have been damaged or destroyed during decades of conflict. Years of war and insurgency have taken a heavy toll on Iraq’s many Mesopotamian, Islamic and Christian treasures including ...
Nouakchott, Mauritania (AFP): Four insurgents escaped from prison in Mauritania after a shootout left two guards dead, the interior ministry said Monday, a rare event in a nation spared the insurgency sweeping through the Sahel. “The National Guard has tightened its control over the prison and immediately started tracking down the fugiti...
Abuja, Nigeria (AFP): Nigeria’s opposition leader Atiku Abubakar who came second in a February 25 presidential poll took to the streets on Monday along with his supporters to contest the election results. The electoral body last week declared Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner to take over from Presid...
GENEVA (AA) – The UN’s Palestine refugee agency UNRWA launched a $16 million appeal Monday for Palestinian refugees impacted by last month’s earthquakes in Türkiye. It aims to “meet the humanitarian and early recovery needs of Palestine refugees who were affected by this natural catastrophe in Syria and Lebanon,” the ag...
TRENTON, Canada (AA) – A Toronto-area school board has become the first in Canada to introduce an anti-Islamophobia program. The Peel District School Board did its homework and found that about one-quarter of its 153,000 students – Kindergarten through Grade 12 in 244 schools – were Muslim. “The launch of the strategy demonstrates the Peel [&h...
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel’s army chief has warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that personnel walkouts could spread in the military over government plans for judicial overhaul. Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told Netanyahu that recent threats from reservists, including fighter pilots and cyber security experts, not to report for duty in protest agai...
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Four Palestinians were injured in an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jericho on Monday. Israeli forces raided the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in Jericho, triggering clashes with angry residents during which soldiers used live fire and tear gas canisters, the state news agency Wafa reported. More than [&hel...
JOHANNESBURG (AA) – The US has said the February 25 election in Nigeria “failed to meet” the expectations of Nigerians. “The people of Nigeria demonstrated their dedication to democracy on February 25, but there are many angry and frustrated Nigerians as well as many who are celebrating victories they believe were hard-fought and well-ea...
