Latest Middle East News

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2019, file photo, an Emirates jetliner comes in for landing at Dubai International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, said Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, that it is taking special precautions to screen the droves of Chinese tourists expected for the Lunar New Year holiday after the outbreak of a pneumonia-like virus that has led to China's lockdown of the entire city of Wuhan. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File)

Dubai airport implements special screening for China flights

Jan. 23, 2020 6:05 AM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, announced on Thursday that it's taking special precautions to screen the droves of Chinese tourists expected for the Lunar New Year holiday after the outbreak of a pneumonia-like virus that has led...

FILE - In this Thursday, June 20, 2019 file photo, a Turkish police officer patrols the dock, backdropped by the drilling ship 'Yavuz' to be dispatched to the Mediterranean, at the port of Dilovasi, outside Istanbul. The leaders of Greece, Israel and Cyprus are set to sign a deal Thursday Jan. 2, 2020, for a 1,900-kilometer (1,300-mile) undersea pipeline that will carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

Cyprus backtracks on claim Turkey stole offshore gas data

Jan. 23, 2020 5:58 AM EST

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus' government spokesman on Thursday backpedaled on a claim that Turkey may have stolen technical data it used to pinpoint a target for gas drilling in waters where the island nation has exclusive economic rights. Government spokesman Kyriakos Koushos told The Associated Press...

Naama Issachar, left, mother of Yaffa, who is imprisoned in Russia on drug possession charges meets Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah in Jerusalem on January 23,2020 . Putin, will be a guest of honor Thursday at a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum marking the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Red Army's liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz death camp. (Heidi Levine, Pool via AP)

The Latest: Israel, Russia commemorate WWII Leningrad siege

Jan. 23, 2020 5:50 AM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — The latest on the gathering in Jerusalem of dozens of world leaders for the World Holocaust Forum, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp (all times local): 12:45 p.m. Israeli and Russian officials are attending a dedication ceremony for a...

Relatives of Bui Thi Nhung walk behind her casket during a funeral procession to Phu Thang church ahead of Nhung’s burial on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019 in the village of Do Thanh, Vietnam. The body of 19-year old Nhung was among the last remains of the 39 Vietnamese who died while being smuggled in a truck to England last month that were repatriated to their home country on Saturday. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Police bust ring accused of smuggling 10,000 migrants to UK

Jan. 23, 2020 5:48 AM EST

PARIS (AP) — French and Dutch police have arrested 23 suspected members of a criminal network that has smuggled as many as 10,000 migrants from France to Britain, according to the European police agency Europol. The network was suspected of earning 70 million euros ($77.6 million) in profits by organizing...

Britain's Prince Charles, left, meets Israel President Reuven Rivlin at his official residence in Jerusalem, Thursday Jan. 23, 2020. Prince Charles is among dozens of presidents, heads of state and dignitaries who have descended upon the city to attend the largest-ever gathering focused on commemorating the Holocaust and combating modern-day anti-Semitism (Victoria Jones/Pool via AP)

World leaders rally in Jerusalem against anti-Semitism

Jan. 23, 2020 4:56 AM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Dozens of world leaders descended upon Jerusalem on Thursday for the largest-ever gathering focused on commemorating the Holocaust and combating modern-day anti-Semitism. Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prince Charles, Vice President Mike Pence...

FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, file photo, crewmen of Bradley fighting vehicles stand guard at a U.S. military base in Northeastern Syria. Iran has had its fingers in Iraq's politics for years, but the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and Iraqi militia commander outside Baghdad has added new impetus to the effort, stoking anti-Americanism that Tehran now hopes it can exploit to help realize the goal of getting U.S. troops out of the country. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

Iran uses violence, politics to try to push US out of Iraq

Jan. 23, 2020 4:39 AM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Iran has long sought the withdrawal of American forces from neighboring Iraq, but the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi militia commander in Baghdad has added new impetus to the effort, stoking anti-American feelings that Tehran hopes to exploit to help realize the goal. The...

FILE - In this May 11, 2018 file photo, former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver leaves federal court in New York. A federal appeals court upheld former Silver's corruption conviction Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, but ordered a resentencing after reversing the conviction on some charges. On Tuesday, the 2nd Circuit tossed out charges related to legal fees Silver collected to refer mesothelioma cases to a law firm. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

US, other leading powers flag in fight against corruption

Jan. 23, 2020 12:00 AM EST

BERLIN (AP) — The U.S. and several other leading industrial powers are struggling to keep up the momentum in the fight against corruption, according to a report Thursday that urged governments to address problems with political party financing. Watchdog group Transparency International's annual Corruption...

Anti-government protesters throw stones at the riot police during ongoing protests in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Lebanon's new government has held its first meeting a day after it was formed following a three-month political vacuum. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese Cabinet faces multiple challenges, growing unrest

Jan. 22, 2020 6:56 PM EST

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's new government made up of appointees nominated by the Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies got down to business Wednesday, a day after it was formed. Questions arose immediately about its ability to halt spiraling violence and economic and financial collapse. As the government...

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2017, file photo, Jeff Bezos attends the premiere of

Saudi crown prince's WhatsApp linked to Bezos phone hack

Jan. 22, 2020 5:44 PM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The cellphone of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was hacked in what appeared to be an attempt by Saudi Arabia's crown prince to "influence, if not silence" the newspaper's reporting on the kingdom, two U.N. human rights experts said Wednesday. The U.N....

FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2011, file, photo taken on a government-organized tour, a guard waves to fellow officers in the main lobby of the international airport in Tripoli, Libya. The only functioning airport in Libya's capital suspended its operations after coming under attack Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, airport authorities said, despite a tenuous truce that world powers have pushed warring parties to respect. Authorities at Mitiga airport said six Grad missiles crashed into the tarmac. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)

Tripoli's main airport halts flights after shelling, threats

Jan. 22, 2020 5:42 PM EST

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — The only functioning airport in Libya’s capital closed Wednesday after coming under attack, despite a tenuous truce that world powers have pushed warring parties to respect. Authorities at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport said six Grad missiles crashed into the tarmac,...

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