JERUSALEM – Israel is upgrading its F-35 fighter jets to be capable of hitting Iranian targets without need of refueling, according to The Jerusalem Post newspaper. The paper did not provide further details about the Israeli move, but said the upgrading is part of Israeli preparations for any “future strike against Iran’s nuclear c...
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Nigeria’s ruling party elected former Lagos State Governor Ahmed Tinubu as its presidential candidate ahead of the general election early next year. Tinubu emerged the winner of the All Progressive Congress (APC) party’s electoral college after securing 1,271 votes from 2,322 party delegates in the nation’...
PARIS – France is the second-largest European investment destination for Qatar after the UK, with assets of more than 25 billion euros ($26.7 billion), according to a recent study. The Gulf country has 42 companies in France through direct holdings or firms mostly managed by the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, a study c...
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – Somalia’s newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was officially inaugurated on Thursday. The inauguration ceremony was attended by regional leaders, including Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Egyptian Prime Minister Kama...
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AA) – Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Thursday called on his parliamentary bloc members to resign over the failure to form a new government in Iraq, according to the official Iraqi news agency. The al-Sadr bloc has 73 legislators in the 329-seat parliament, following parliamentary elections held in October last year. “...
PARIS (AA) – The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance on Thursday called on Denmark to urgently address anti-Muslim discrimination and racism against minorities and stop forced evictions of immigrant families. In a monitoring report, the commission urged Danish authorities to introduce a national action plan against racism ...
BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Parliament on Thursday condemned the “brutal and arbitrary repression” of Uyghurs and Turkic people in China’s Xinjiang region, and called on Beijing to release those detained. In a resolution adopted by show of hands, EU lawmakers condemned “in the strongest possible terms the fact that the Uyghur community ...
BAKU (AA) – Azerbaijan summoned Thursday the Indian envoy over insulting remarks on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by officials of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Last week, ruling party spokesperson Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, the BJP’s Delhi media head, made insulting remarks about the prophet, trigge...
BAGHDAD (AA) – Saudi-Iranian talks hosted by Iraq have reached an “advanced level”, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on Wednesday. Iraq “has played an important role in bringing the views of the regional countries closer by hosting dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran,” al-Kadhimi told a press conference in the capital Bagh...
TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran on Wednesday announced plans to turn off some cameras of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at its nuclear sites, amid rising tensions between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog. In a statement, Iran’s nuclear agency accused the IAEA of being “ungrateful for Iran’s extensive cooperation,” saying survei...
