Latest Middle East News

Top US Air Force official in Mideast worries about possible Russia-Iran 'cooperation and collusion'

Sep. 24, 2023 23:47 PM EDT

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's supplying of bomb-carrying drones to Russia could see Moscow help Tehran's program become more lethal, raising risks across the wider Middle East, the top U.S. Air Force commander in the Middle East said Wednesday. Lt. Gen. Alexus...

Israel strikes alleged Syrian military structures. It says the buildings violated a 1974 cease-fire

Sep. 21, 2023 14:56 PM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said tanks struck two structures inside a demilitarized zone in Syria on Thursday, claiming the buildings violated a half-century-old cease-fire agreement between the two countries. The structures, it said, were being used by the Syrian...

UN reports says West Bank settler violence has displaced over 1,100 Palestinians since 2022

Sep. 21, 2023 12:24 PM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Violence from Israeli settlers has displaced over 1,100 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2022, according to a U.N. report released Thursday, with officials describing the exodus as unparalleled in recent years. The report documented about three...

Nearly 100 migrants rescued from a yacht off southwestern Greece

Sep. 20, 2023 14:32 PM EDT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Nearly 100 migrants were safely evacuated Wednesday from a yacht reported to be in difficulty off the southwestern coast of Greece, authorities said. The coast guard said in a statement that the yacht carrying 93 people was located about 40 nautical miles (46...

A daughter of long-detained activist in Bahrain is blocked from traveling to the island kingdom

Sep. 15, 2023 10:15 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A daughter of a long-detained human rights activist in Bahrain tried to return to the island kingdom on Friday to press for her father's release but was turned away from her flight in London. Maryam al-Khawaja was accompanied by a phalanx of...

Britain, France and Germany say they will keep their nuclear and missiles sanctions on Iran

Sep. 14, 2023 21:48 PM EDT

VIENNA (AP) — Britain, France and Germany announced Thursday they will keep their sanctions on Iran related to the Mideast country's atomic program and development of ballistic missiles. The measures were to expire in October under a timetable spelled out in the now defunct nuclear deal between...

Mixed martial arts investment latest example of Saudi Arabia's foray into global sports

Sep. 12, 2023 10:49 AM EDT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Saudi Arabia's most recent venture into the global sports scene — purchasing a stake in the Professional Fighters League — is yet another example of the oil-rich kingdom using athletics to increase its influence. The purchase was relatively modest — $100...

Israeli army kills 16-year-old Palestinian in West Bank, claiming youths threw explosives

Sep. 09, 2023 17:12 PM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli security forces on Saturday killed a 16-year-old Palestinian in a confrontation in the southern occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said, the latest violence to roil the territory during one of the most violent stretches of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in...

Paris strips Palestinian leader Abbas of special honor for remarks on Holocaust

Sep. 09, 2023 11:52 AM EDT

PARIS (AP) — Paris has rescinded a special honor it bestowed on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas because of his recent antisemitic comments minimizing the Holocaust. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo published a letter Friday saying that “your remarks run counter to universal values...

Japan's Kishida says China seafood ban contrasts with wide support for Fukushima water release

Sep. 08, 2023 01:06 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s prime minister said that China’s blanket ban on Japanese seafood in reaction to the release of treated radioactive water from a tsunami-ravaged nuclear power plant contrasts starkly with broad understanding shown by many other members of the international community. ...