Record temperatures and pending deals inflame Iraq's power woes
In Iraq’s oil-rich south, the scorching summer months pose painful new choices in the age of the coronavirus: stay at home in the sweltering heat with electricity cut off for hours, or go out and risk the virus. This is Zain al-Abidin’s predicament. A resident ...
Egypt grapples with women's freedoms online as #MeToo re-emerges
Social media has become a new and dangerous battleground for women's rights in Egypt after young TikTok influencers were jailed while a resurgent #MeToo movement decried male sexual violence. Last Monday, a court sentenced five female social media influencers, Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three ...
A second wave of coronavirus infections sweeping the Israeli-occupied West Bank is fueling fears of a surge in overcrowded Palestinian refugee camps where social distancing is next to impossible. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the Palestinian Authority quickly imposed a lockdown ...
Iran has moved a mock-up U.S. aircraft carrier to the strategic Strait of Hormuz, satellite images show, suggesting it will use the look-alike vessel for target practice in war games in a Gulf shipping channel vital to world oil exports. The use of dummy American ...
Joy and heartache: Pilgrims in Saudi Arabia vie for downsized hajj
A Jordanian couple in Saudi Arabia burst into tears of joy to be among the chosen ones for next week's scaled-down hajj pilgrimage, but countless rejected applications have stirred resentment.
Iranian health officials play down president's figure of 25 million people infected
Iranian health officials sought on Sunday to play down the president’s estimate that some 25 million people have been infected with the coronavirus, saying it was based on serological blood tests that measure exposure to the illness and that cannot be relied on to ...
Turkey sent up to 3,800 Syrian fighters to Libya, U.S. Defense Department says
Turkey sent between 3,500 and 3,800 paid Syrian fighters to Libya over the first three months of the year, the U.S. Defense Department’s inspector general concluded in a new report, its first to detail Turkish deployments that helped change the course of Libya's war. The ...
Iran threatens retaliation after what it calls possible cyberattack on nuclear site
Iran will retaliate against any country that carries out cyberattacks on its nuclear sites, the head of civilian defense said, after a fire at its Natanz plant which some Iranian officials said may have been caused by cybersabotage. The Natanz uranium-enrichment site, much of which ...
China is not the Middle East's high roller
Beijing gets far more credit than it is due for investments in the region.
Former rebel fighters have disappeared, died or suffered abuse at the hands of regime forces, despite signing so-called reconciliation deals.
JS Takanami returns to Japan from information-gathering in Middle East
The MSDF vessel was the first Japanese destroyer to conduct the research mission in the region to ensure sea lane safety.
Iran says it's ready for talks if U.S. apologizes over nuclear pact
Iran would be open to talks with the United States if Washington apologizes for exiting a 2015 nuclear deal and compensates Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, cautioning that U.S. calls for discussions were insincere. The confrontation between arch foes Tehran and Washington ...
