Latest Middle East News
Italy seeks to bring home family whose son died in Egypt
ROME (AP) — The Italian Foreign Ministry said Thursday it is working to quickly bring back from Egypt an Italian family whose 6-year-old son died suddenly in the leading Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and the parents ended up hospitalized. Italian news reports said the child was...
Oil minister says Iraq to act to annul Kurdish oil deals
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s oil minister said on Thursday the government will take steps to enforce a recent court decision to annul oil contracts the semiautonomous northern Iraqi Kurdish region made with international companies. The minister, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail, told The...
UK warship seizes advanced Iranian missiles bound for Yemen
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A British Royal Navy vessel seized a sophisticated shipment of Iranian missiles in the Gulf of Oman earlier this year, officials said Thursday, pointing to the interdiction as proof of Tehran’s support for Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the embattled country. ...
Russia taking 'operational pause' in Ukraine, analysts say
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Foreign analysts say Russia may be temporarily easing its offensive in eastern Ukraine as the Russian military attempts to reassemble its forces for a significant — and what it hopes could prove decisive — new offensive in the neighboring country. On...
UAE court hands Israeli woman life sentence on drug charges
JERUSALEM (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has sentenced an Israeli woman convicted on drug charges to life in prison, her lawyer said Thursday. The court had initially sentenced her to death but cancelled it last week. Israel says it has closely followed the case in the UAE, which...
Turkish health care workers protest mounting violence
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Health care professionals took to the streets in several Turkish cities on Thursday to protest mounting violence against them, a day after a cardiologist was killed by the son of a patient. In Istanbul, police used pepper gas to disperse doctors and other...
A hajj closer to normal: 1 million Muslims begin pilgrimage
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — It is a scene that stirs hope — and relief — for Muslims around the world. A million pilgrims from across the globe gathered on Thursday in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform the initial rites of the hajj, marking the largest Islamic...
Russia proposes 6-month cross-border aid renewal for Syria
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — As the U.N. Security Council prepares to vote Thursday on humanitarian aid deliveries to rebel-held northwest Syria from Turkey, Russia agreed to continue such deliveries but only for six months — not a year, as many U.N. Security Council members, Secretary-General Antonio...
Polish scientist is being held in Iran, government confirms
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A citizen of Poland is being held in Tehran, the Polish government said Thursday, confirming the detention after Iran's Revolutionary Guard accused several Europeans of spying on military sites as tensions remain high between Tehran and the West. ...
Rights groups say probe into Egypt economist's death flawed
CAIRO (AP) — Two leading human rights groups on Thursday accused Egyptian authorities of failing to conduct an impartial and transparent investigation into the suspicious death of an economic researcher in custody. In a joint statement, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International...
