News Archive

Israel launched airstrikes on military airbases and infrastructure sites in the Syrian cities of Damascus, Hama and Homs on Wednesday, the Israeli military said.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the United States and higher duties on dozens of the country's biggest trading partners, deepening a trade war that he kicked off on his return to the White House. 

Following Saudi Arabia, Turkey has strongly condemned the visit of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Wednesday.

For the first time since Joseph Aoun's election as President of Lebanon on January 9, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai visited the Baabda Presidential Palace on Wednesday to express his support for the newly elected head of state.

A Gaza family's open admission this week that they killed an officer from the Hamas-run police force after they said a relative was shot dead has added to signs of popular dissent against the militant group after 18 months of war with Israel.

On November 16, 2024, acclaimed Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, 80, was arrested upon arrival at Algiers airport from Paris. He has not been seen since. 

Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned the visit of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Wednesday, calling it a provocation and denouncing what it referred to as “Israeli aggression” against the holy site.

Israel is reeling from a growing political scandal dubbed "Qatargate", involving close advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused of accepting funds from Qatar — a nation that plays a dual role as mediator in the Israel-Hamas conflict and host to Hamas leadership.

France's foreign minister warned on Wednesday that if world powers were unable to quickly reach a new agreement with Iran over its contested nuclear programme then a military confrontation seemed "almost inevitable".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins a four-day visit to Hungary on Thursday, defying an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza as Israel has expanded its military operation in the enclave.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reinforced U.S. military capability in the Middle East with more warplanes, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, amid a more than two-week-old U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran.

European visitors to Britain will have to purchase an electronic permit in advance for trips from Wednesday, as the UK government follows other countries in seeking to strengthen immigration security by screening people before they cross its borders.