Latest Middle East News
Greece sends letters to UN over Turkey-Libya deal
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has sent two letters to the United Nations explaining its objections to a maritime boundary deal between Turkey and Libya and asking for the matter to be taken up by the U.N. Security Council, the government spokesman said Tuesday. The country’s foreign minister also...
Qatar emir not attending annual Gulf summit in Saudi Arabia
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A summit of Arab Gulf nations opened on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia without Qatar’s ruler in attendance, despite signs of a thaw in a diplomatic crisis that has gripped the regions U.S. allies. Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani instead sent Prime Minister Sheikh...
Angry residents attack Lebanese municipality headquarters
BEIRUT (AP) — Angry residents attacked the municipality headquarters in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Tuesday, smashing windows and setting a room on fire, an outburst of violence that came after a house collapsed overnight in the area, killing two siblings. A large military force was sent to...
European court rules for philanthropist jailed in Turkey
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey must immediately release a jailed philanthropist who has been held for more than two years for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday. Businessman Osman Kavala, 62, was arrested in November 2017 and accused of...
Egyptian whistleblower gets 5-year sentence in absentia
CAIRO (AP) — A self-exiled Egyptian businessman whose allegations of corruption against the country's military sparked rare protests has been sentenced in absentia to five years in prison for tax evasion. Mohamed Ali had released a series of viral videos from Spain earlier this year, pitching himself as a...
Natan Sharansky receives Israel's prestigious Genesis Prize
JERUSALEM (AP) — Former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky has been awarded Israel's prestigious 2020 Genesis Prize for a lifetime of work promoting political and religious freedoms, organizers announced Tuesday. The $1 million award is granted each year to a person recognized for outstanding professional...
African countries set meetings to resolve Nile dam dispute
WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan say they have agreed to hold two technical meetings in coming weeks in an effort to resolve a number of issues revolving around a $5 billion dam project on the Nile River. The foreign ministers of the three countries met in Washington Monday with...
Syria's Assad: OPCW faked a report on attack near Damascus
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview aired Monday that the global chemical weapons watchdog has faked and falsified a report over an attack near the capital Damascus last year "just because the Americans wanted them to do so." Assad's comments to Italy's Rai News 24 came after...
Syrian president's uncle faces Paris money laundering trial
PARIS (AP) — The trial of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s uncle, who is accused of illegally using Syrian state funds to build a French real estate empire, opened Monday in Paris. The trial opened five years after Transparency International and French anti-corruption group Sherpa filed a complaint...
Saudi Arabia's deficit widens to $49B ahead of Aramco sale
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia will reduce spending in 2020 as the budget deficit widens to $49 billion amid sluggish oil prices and deeper curbs on oil production by the heavyweight producer. King Salman announced Monday expenditures will reach $272 billion next year, a nearly 8% decrease from...
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