Latest Middle East News

FILE - In this Sunday, March 20, 2016 file photo, volunteers help migrants and refugees on a dinghy as they arrive on the shore of the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey. A Washington-based Syrian rights group filed on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 a case with the International Criminal Court calling for an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity by Greece for its treatment of refugees at its borders and in sprawling camps. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Syria group files for int'l probe of Greece migrant abuse

Jan. 28, 2021 11:08 AM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — A Washington-based Syrian rights group filed a case with the International Criminal Court on Thursday, calling for an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity by Greece for its mistreatment of refugees. The Syria Justice and Accountability Center said witness testimony and video...

Dr. Katia Cytryn-Silverman, an archaeologist with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, poses for a portrait at the site of the Al-Juma (Friday) Mosque, in Tiberias, northern Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Archaeologists said recent excavations at the ancient city of Tiberias have discovered the remnants of one of the earliest mosques in the Islamic world. The foundations of the Muslim house of worship date to the late 7th century.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

By Sea of Galilee, archaeologists find ruins of early mosque

Jan. 28, 2021 11:00 AM EST

TIBERIAS, Israel (AP) — Archaeologists in Israel say they have discovered the remnants of an early mosque — believed to date to the earliest decades of Islam — during an excavation in the northern city of Tiberias. This mosque’s foundations, excavated just south of the Sea of Galilee...

Contact made with pirates who kidnapped 15 Turkish sailors

Jan. 28, 2021 10:56 AM EST

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Pirates who kidnapped 15 Turkish crew members of a cargo ship off the West African coast, have made contact with the shipping company, Turkish media reports said Thursday. All 15 sailors were “well, unhurt and being kept together,” according to a statement from the...

A man walks past Tokyo's promotional banners for its rescheduled Olympic games to be held in the summer 2021, in Tokyo on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

The Latest: Japan to produce 90M doses of AstraZeneca shots

Jan. 28, 2021 10:31 AM EST

TOKYO — More than 90 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will be produced in Japan by a Japanese pharmaceutical company through a licensing agreement. It will cover three quarters of the supply the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company has pledged to provide to the country, officials said...

A protester covers himself from flames during a protest against deteriorating living conditions and strict coronavirus lockdown measures, in Tripoli, north Lebanon, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. Violent confrontations overnight between protesters and security forces in northern Lebanon left a 30-year-old man dead and more than 220 people injured, the state news agency said Thursday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Unrest grows in crisis-hit Lebanon amid coronavirus lockdown

Jan. 28, 2021 10:28 AM EST

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese security forces fired volleys of tear gas at rock-throwing youth in the northern city of Tripoli on Thursday amid outrage over the death of a 30-year-old protester after violent confrontations with security forces the previous day. The scope of the protests in Tripoli, now...

FILE - in this Sunday, April 14, 2019 file photo, Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako addresses the faithful during the Palm Sunday service at Mar Youssif Church in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq’s top Catholic official said Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 that a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad hasn’t thwarted Pope Francis’ plans to visit, and he confirmed the pontiff would meet with the country’s top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, in a significant highlight of the first-ever papal trip to Iraq. The Chaldean patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, provided the first details of Francis’ March 5-8 itinerary during a virtual press conference hosted by the French bishops' conference. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

Patriarch: Pope to meet Iraqi Shiite leader Sistani in Iraq

Jan. 28, 2021 8:24 AM EST

ROME (AP) — Iraq’s top Catholic official said Thursday that a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad hasn’t thwarted Pope Francis’ plans to visit, and he confirmed the pontiff would meet with the country’s top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, in a significant highlight of the...

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2018 file photo, a worker counts money at the Central Bank of Yemen's internationally recognized government in Aden, Yemen. A report by a panel of U.N. experts released Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, accused the government of implementing a scheme in 2019 to illegally divert to traders $423 million in Saudi money. The funds were meant to buy rice and other supplies for Yemenis who have been suffering from a protracted military conflict since 2014, the report said. The Central Bank of Yemen said Wednesday the report was based on “misleading claims and information” propagated by “enemies of Yemen.” (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File)

Yemen's central bank dismisses UN corruption allegations

Jan. 28, 2021 7:58 AM EST

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen's central bank dismissed United Nations allegations that the Yemeni government misused millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia to buy essential commodities for the Yemeni people A report by a panel of U.N. experts released to the media this week accused the internationally recognized...

CORRECTS THAT IRAN HAS EXCEEDED 17 KILOGRAMS NOT WILL EXCEED -- FILE - In this April 9, 2018, file photo, released by an official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani listens to explanations on new nuclear achievements at a ceremony to mark

Iran says production of enriched uranium exceeds goals

Jan. 28, 2021 6:09 AM EST

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has exceeded 17 kilograms of 20% enriched uranium within a month's time, state TV reported Thursday, moving its nuclear program closer to weapons-grade enrichment levels amid heightened tensions with the U.S. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, during a visit to the...

FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020 file photo Rohingya refugees board a naval ship to be transported to an isolated island in the Bay of Bengal, in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Countries with the least corruption have been best positioned to weather the health and economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a closely-watched annual study released Thursday by anti-graft watchdog organization Transparency International. Bangladesh, which scored 26 and placed 146th on the list, “invests little in health care while corruption flourishes during COVID-19, ranging from bribery in health clinics to misappropriated aid,” Transparency wrote. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu, file)

Watchdog: Least corrupt nations produce best virus response

Jan. 28, 2021 2:45 AM EST

BERLIN (AP) — Countries with the least corruption have been best positioned to weather the health and economic challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a closely-watched annual study released Thursday by an anti-graft organization. Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption...

Ultra-Orthodox Jews argue with Israeli border police officers during a protest over the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, in Ashdod, Israel, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. As he seeks re-election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned to a straightforward strategy: Count on the rock-solid support of his ultra-Orthodox political allies and stamp out the coronavirus pandemic with one of the world’s most aggressive vaccination campaigns. But with ultra-Orthodox communities openly flouting safety guidelines and violently clashing with police trying to enforce them, this marriage of convenience is turning into a burden. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Ultra-Orthodox unrest threatens Netanyahu re-election hopes

Jan. 28, 2021 1:07 AM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — As he seeks reelection, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned to a straightforward strategy: Count on the rock-solid support of his ultra-Orthodox political allies and stamp out the coronavirus pandemic with one of the world’s most aggressive vaccination campaigns....

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