Latest Middle East News
Ships rescue 190 Europe-bound migrants off Libya
ABOARD THE GEO BARENTS (AP) — Two vessels rescued around 190 Europe-bound migrants, including women and children, off the coast of Libya, charities operating the vessels said Monday. The rescues came amid a spike in attempted crossings of the Mediterranean Sea. More...
Drone strike kills at least 1 in northwestern Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — A drone strike hit a vehicle traveling on a rural road in rebel-controlled northwestern Syria on Monday, killing at least one person, rescue workers and a war monitor said. The Civil Defense team, known as White Helmets, said the unidentified body was...
The Latest: Taliban fire director of Afghan cricket board
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban have sacked the executive director of Afghanistan’s cricket board. Hamid Shinwari posted on his official Facebook page Monday he had been fired by Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of the Taliban’s new Interior Minister Sirajuddin...
Lebanon's Cabinet wins confidence vote after power cut delay
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s new Cabinet won a vote of confidence from Parliament on Monday during a session that was delayed for almost an hour because of a power outage and broken generator at the venue. The electricity outage underscored the multiple crises roiling the...
IS bomb attacks on Taliban raise specter of wider conflict
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The extremist Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly roadside bombs targeting Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan, raising the specter of wider conflict between the country’s new Taliban rulers and their long-time...
Dutch court: Syrian brothers guilty of Jabhat al-Nusra roles
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch court on Monday convicted two Syrian brothers of holding senior roles in the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group in their home country between 2011 and 2014, the first time Dutch judges have convicted a suspect of leadership in a Syrian extremist...
Top Israeli, Swedish diplomat chat in effort to mend ties
JERUSALEM (AP) — The foreign ministers of Israel and Sweden held their first phone call in seven years on Monday, a move hailed by the top Israeli diplomat as the “relaunching of relations" after protracted tensions between the two countries. Foreign Minister Yair...
4 men charged for shouting antisemitic abuse in London
LONDON (AP) — Four men were charged Monday for allegedly shouting antisemitic abuse while driving around in a convoy in north London. The suspects, all in their 20s and from the northwest English town of Blackburn, are accused of using threatening, abusive or insulting...
AP PHOTOS: Jews redeem firstborn son in ancient ceremony
BEIT SHEMESH, Israel (AP) — Shortly after sundown, Yaakov Tabersky presented his firstborn son on a silver platter to a Jewish priest in a ceremony harking back to the biblical exodus from Egypt. The ceremony, known as “pidyon ha-ben,” or redemption of the...
UN, US, UK condemn Houthis’ execution of 9 Yemenis
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — The United Nations, the United States and the United Kingdom on Sunday condemned the executions of nine Yemenis by the country’s Houthi rebels over allegations that they were involved in the killing of a senior Houthi official in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition...
