GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that the first presidential and parliamentary elections since 2006 will be held later this year. But the road to the vote — key to advancing Palestinian statehood and mending a rift between Abbas' Fatah party and the...
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt on Tuesday reopened its airspace to Qatar flights after regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia reopened its airspace and border with the Gulf Arab state last week, Egyptian airport officials said. A Qatar Airways plane is due to land in Cairo on Friday, the officials said, speaking on...
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Qatar Airways jetliner landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday, completing the first direct flight from Doha to Riyadh since the kingdom’s boycott of the tiny, energy-rich state in 2017. The resumption of direct flights came after regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia...
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A roadside bomb exploded in Afghanistan's capital Sunday, killing at least three people in a vehicle. It was the latest attack to take place as government negotiators in Qatar resume peace talks with the Taliban. Tariq Arian, spokesman for the interior minister, said a spokesman...
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The latest round of peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators that began this week in Qatar has been off to a slow start as concerns grow over a recent spike in violence across Afghanistan. The talks, which are taking place in Qatar where the Taliban maintain a...
Human rights activists are denouncing FIFA President Gianni Infantino's starring turn in a promotional video for the Saudi Arabian government in which he claims the kingdom has made important changes. The slick 3½-minute PR campaign was posted on Twitter by the Saudi ministry of sport on Thursday, featuring...
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates announced on Friday that it would reopen its borders and airspace to Qatar after boycotting the tiny energy-rich country alongside its Gulf allies since 2017. The decision to restart commerce and travel would take effect on Saturday, Foreign...
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Attacks in Afghanistan left at least 23 civilians and security forces dead, officials said Thursday, even as Afghan negotiators were in Qatar to resume talks with the Taliban aimed at finding an end to decades of conflict. In southern Uruzgan province, a suicide car bomber...
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qataris awoke to a surprise blockade and boycott by Gulf Arab neighbors 3 1/2 years ago, and this week were jolted again by the sudden announcement that it was all over. The period in between was bitter, with mud-slinging by both sides and viscous media blitzes, social...
AL-ULA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Gulf Arab leaders signed a declaration Tuesday to ease a rift with Qatar, following Saudi Arabia’s decision to end a 3 1/2-year embargo of the tiny energy-rich country that deeply divided regional U.S. security allies and frayed social ties across the Arabian Peninsula....