United Nations, United States (AFP): The United Nations has bought a ship to remove oil and avoid a potentially catastrophic spill from a tanker decaying for years off the coast of war-ravaged Yemen, officials said Thursday. In an unusual step for a UN agency, the UN Development Program said it signed a contract to purchase […]
Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan (AFP): The Taliban governor of Afghanistan’s Balkh province, known for fighting against Islamic State, was killed in a suicide attack at his office on Thursday, officials said. The killing, a day after he met top government officials visiting from Kabul, makes Mohammad Dawood Muzammil one of the highest-rankin...
Damascus, Syria (AFP): Iran’s Foreign Minister welcomed during a trip to Damascus on Thursday Arab outreach to Syria’s internationally-isolated government after an earthquake struck Turkey and the war-torn country last month. He also said Tehran, which has backed Damascus during its 12 years of conflict, would join efforts to recon...
Tel Aviv, Israel (AFP): Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, on a visit to Israel, expressed concerns on Thursday about Jewish settler violence against Palestinians and warned against acts that could trigger more insecurity. The US defence secretary held talks in Israel as three Palestinians were killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and protesters...
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (AFP): Cradling a pink stuffed animal as she sleeps in a United Arab Emirates hospital, a nine-year-old Syrian earthquake survivor is recovering from the wounds that nearly claimed her life, believing her mother is still alive. Sham Sheikh Mohammed, who suffered severe crush injuries in a 40-hour ordeal under th...
Torkham, Afghanistan (AFP): A dusty logjam of trucks inches across a rut in the mountains splitting Pakistan and Afghanistan, teeming with a cargo of fruit and coal — and paying the Taliban authorities for the privilege of passage. In downtown Kabul, a patrol of accountants inspects a bazaar, billing shopkeepers for trading honey, hair c...
ANKARA (AA/AFP) – US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has hailed Egypt’s role in easing tensions between Israel and Palestinians. Austin met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Wednesday as part of a regional tour that also included Jordan. Egyptian Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Mohamed Zaki attended the meeting. ...
WASHINGTON (AA) – UN Special Representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva said Wednesday that under the Taliban, Afghanistan “remains the most repressive country in the world” when it comes to women’s rights. “The bans against women working, studying, traveling without a male companion, and even going to parks or bath...
Bamako, Mali (AFP): An influential organisation of religious leaders in Mali on Tuesday called on its followers to reject a new constitution being drawn up under the country’s junta leadership maintaining the principle of secularism. The proposal to change Mali’s constitution aims to enable the military-run West African nation to r...
Qalyub, Egypt (AFP): Two people were killed and several others injured Tuesday in a train accident north of Cairo, Egypt’s health ministry said after the country’s latest rail tragedy. A ministry statement said there were “two dead in the train accident at Qalyub, while the injured are in a stable condition.” An earlier...
