TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of two French nationals for stoking unrest by participating in teacher protests. Iran’s state broadcaster showed a film about the duo’s arrest by intelligence sleuths and their activities in Iran, calling them “spies.” The pair were identified as Cecile Kohler, 37...
ISTANBUL (AA) – The UN has urged the Taliban to fulfill their pledge of inclusivity and reconciliation in the war-torn country. Deborah Lyons, the UN chief’s special envoy for Afghanistan, met acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul on Tuesday, where she discussed several pressing issues such as women’s rights, including their acces...
DEIR-EZ-ZOR/AZAZ, Syria (AA) – A man who had been imprisoned in Syria and subjected to torture for three years says the Assad regime extorts money from families of prisoners. Mohammed Shilash, who is from the town of Sor in Deir Ez-Zor province, decided to leave the country to work in Lebanon in 2019 after his […]
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli police attacked the funeral procession for a Palestinian youth in occupied East Jerusalem Monday evening, according to witnesses. Clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian mourners near the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex during the funeral of a 23-year-old youth killed by Israeli gunfire last month, the...
WASHINGTON (AA) – A senior US diplomat and her Turkish counterpart reaffirmed their nations’ bilateral “strategic relationship,” the State Department said on Monday. Meeting in Washington, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal “discussed the two countries’ many areas of b...
HOUSTON, Texas (AA) – Authorities in Southern California say a man who opened fire at a church on Sunday, killing one and injuring five others, was a Chinese immigrant motivated by hate against Taiwanese people. Police say 68-year-old David Chou entered the Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in the city of Laguna Woods, 46 miles (74 kilometer...
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Allies of Lebanese group Hezbollah appear to have suffered losses in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Lebanon, early results have shown. Unofficial results showed that Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Amal Movement have retained their seats in the 128-seat parliament. Hezbollah ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, however, won ...
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Doctors in Saudi Arabia have successfully separated Yemeni conjoined twins after a “complicated” 15-hour operation. The baby boys, Yussef and Yassin, were “conjoined in several organs”, and some 24 doctors were involved in the operation to separate them. Yemen has been wrecked by a brutal se...
KARACHI, Pakistan – Longtime allies Pakistan and China have vowed to enhance economic cooperation, expand trade, and encourage greater investments from Beijing. In a phone call, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang agreed that an “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership”...
BAGHDAD – Classes at schools in Iraq were suspended for one day due to a heavy sandstorm, according to the Education Ministry. The ministry said in a statement that the heavy sandstorm, which started in the morning in many cities, including the capital Baghdad, negatively affected life. Dozens of people at risk of suffocation were […]