Baghdad, Iraq – (AFP): Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad Monday in counter-protests as rival supporters of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr extended their occupation of parliament into a third day. Almost 10 months after Iraqis went to the polls, a political standoff pits two key factions of the Shiite political scene, ...
TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – Libya’s High Council of State on Monday re-elected Khaled Al-Mishri as its head for a fifth term. Al-Mishri obtained 65 votes out of 118, while his rival, Al-Ajili Abu Sedil, came second with 50 votes in a second round of voting, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent. Three council members abstained […]
BAGHDAD (AA) – Supporters of Iraqi groups close to Iran staged demonstrations in the capital Baghdad on Monday and attempted to storm the fortified Green Zone. Supporters of the Coordination Framework bypassed three military checkpoints and rallied at the gate of the Green Zone, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter at the scene. Secur...
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – A fighter plane believed to belong to the Ethiopian military on Saturday carried out an airstrike in a Somali border region reportedly controlled by al-Shabaab, local media reported. The airstrikes took place in the southwestern town of Garaswayne, located on the outskirts of Hudur, capital of the Bakol region. ...
ANKARA (AA) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on Iraqi parties to avoid violence amid tension over the nomination of a new prime minister. In a statement, his spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN chief is “following with concern” the ongoing protests in Iraq that have left many people injured...
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) – Lebanon has denied reports about taking discriminatory measures against Syrian refugees in the country. In a statement, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said Lebanon has not taken any measures or decisions that would distinguish between the displaced Syrians and Lebanese citizens. The ministry said the global food cri...
RABAT, Morocco (AA) – Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has called for establishing normal relations with regional rival Algeria. “We aspire to work with the Algerian presidency so that Morocco and Algeria can work hand in hand to establish normal relations between two brotherly peoples,” the monarch said in a speech marking t...
BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraq’s parliament session was suspended on Saturday following the breaching of its building by supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, the parliament speaker announced. In a statement published by Iraqi official agency INA, Mohammed al-Halbusi said the country is going through difficult and sensitive times, and that differences of opinio...
ERBIL, Iraq (AA) – The head of northern Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Nechirvan Barzani, on Sunday called for dialogue between the country’s political rivals in Erbil. “KRG will always be part of a solution to the ongoing political deadlock in Iraq,” Barzani said in a statement. He said the proposed dialogue “aims to reach [&...
TUNIS, Tunisia (AA) – The health of three Tunisian judges who have been on hunger strike for several weeks in protest against President Kais Saied’s decision to fire 57 justices has deteriorated and they have been admitted to hospital, according to a judicial fraternity organization. A statement issued by the Tunisian Judges Associ...
