PARIS (AA) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged France to continue diplomatic efforts with Russia to enforce its planned humanitarian corridors after Moscow’s evacuation plan failed to let civilians out of the besieged city of Mariupol. “The initiative of France on humanitarian corridors from Mariupol must be implemented,”...
JERUSALEM (AA) – Right-wing Israeli Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir forced his way on Thursday into the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem under police protection, according to a Palestinian agency. Ben-Gvir stormed the site after Israeli police agreed Wednesday evening to allow him to tour the complex ahead of the Muslim fast...
Amman, Jordan – AFP Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday condemned “violence in all its forms” in a meeting with visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog, following a spate of deadly attacks in the Jewish state. A total of 11 people have been killed in three attacks in the space of a week in Israel, the […]
Algiers, Algeria – AFP Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having a “deadly” impact on the Arab world, particularly through spiralling wheat prices, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Algiers Wednesday. He was speaking on the final leg of a trip that began with an unprecedented summit in an Israeli kibbutz, attend...
WASHINGTON (AA) – President Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday that the US intends to provide Ukraine with $500 million in direct budgetary aid, according to the White House. Biden and Zelenskyy spoke during a telephone call about the ongoing work by the US and its allies to deliver military, economic and hum...
ISTANBUL – The number of people fleeing Ukraine due to the war with Russia has reached 4 million, head of the UN refugee agency said. “Refugees from Ukraine are now 4 million, five weeks after the start of the Russian attack,” tweeted Filippo Grandi. “I have just arrived in Ukraine. In Lviv, I will discuss […]
WASHINGTON (AA) – The US sanctioned an Iranian national and his network of companies Wednesday on charges of aiding Iran’s ballistic missile program. Mohammad Ali Hosseini used his network to procure items for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Research and Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization, which is responsible for T...
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Israeli army forces early Wednesday detained 23 Palestinians, including a woman, in raids in the occupied West Bank, according to a Palestinian NGO. The detention campaign targeted the cities of Qalqilya, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem, the Asra Media Office said in a statement. In a related development,...
GENEVA – As the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh is approaching its fifth year, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has called for international support for the refugees escaping genocide in Myanmar and for their Bangladeshi hosts. The 2022 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis was launched on March 29, and humanitari...
WASHINGTON- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that it authorized a second booster of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccines for older people. The agency said the second booster dose may be administered to individuals 50 years and older at least four months after getting the first booster dose of any approved [&hel...
