RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AA) – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has had a meeting with Iraqi Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim to discuss the lingering political crisis in Iraq. The meeting came after the leader of Iraq’s Hikma Movement, a political coalition, arrived in the Kingdom on an unannounced visit. During the meeting, Saudi-...
Baghdad, Iraq (AFP): In the capital of crisis-torn Iraq, two tent cities have sprung up as rival Shiite blocs have set up protest camps, complete with cooked meals and air-conditioners against the blistering heat. As the war-scarred country’s political impasse has dragged on ever since inconclusive October elections, both sides are diggi...
BAGHDAD (AA) – The movement led by Muqtada al Sadr in Iraq has rejected the results of a national dialogue meeting. The movement led by cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr refused to participate in the talks that were called by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. The session was attended by UN envoy to Iraq Jeanine Plasschaert to find […]
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – The Somali army claimed to have killed 17 al-Shabaab men in the country’s central region of Hiran. In a brief statement issued on Twitter on Thursday, the army said that the al Shabaab men were killed in counter-terrorism operations. The military also liberated three villages from al-Shabaab during the operation...
BAGHDAD (AA) – Leaders of Iraqi political parties have launched a national dialogue in an attempt to resolve the country’s political crisis, amid a boycott by influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In a statement, the Sadr’s movement said it will not participate in the dialogue called by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Tension flared up i...
TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran said Wednesday it is ready for a prisoner swap with the United States. “We are ready to swap prisoners with Washington,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani told reporters in Tehran. “The US must release jailed Iranian citizens without any conditions,” he added in statements cited by the semi-official Fars news [...
WASHINGTON (AA) – The US said Tuesday that many of the most pressing details to get Washington and Iran to return to compliance with the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement have been generally agreed upon. The “big issues” have been “largely settled,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters. That includes ...
BERLIN (AA) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed bilateral and regional issues with the Saudi crown prince in a phone call, a German government spokesman said Tuesday. The lingering war in Yemen and Ukraine and their global repercussions were also on the agenda of talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said Steffen Hebestreit in [&h...
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – A local court in Bangladesh on Wednesday sentenced five members of a banned outfit to death for carrying out grenade attacks inside a naval base in the port city of Chattogram in 2015. The Chittagong Anti-Terrorism Tribunal awarded five members of the proscribed Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) death sentenc...
ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye and Israel will mutually reappoint ambassadors, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced on Wednesday. “The steps we would take to normalize relations include mutually reappointing of ambassadors … Türkiye decided to appoint an ambassador to Israel, to Tel Aviv,” he told a news conferenc...
