Arab World

Iran Announces Discovery of Major Gold Deposit
Iran Announces Discovery of Major Gold Deposit

Iran has announced the discovery of a major gold deposit at one of the country's biggest mines for the precious metal, local media reported Monday. The new vein structure was found at the privately owned Shadan gold mine in the eastern province of South Khorasan, which Fars news agency described as "among the country's most important." The ...

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"Iron Beam": Israel’s Laser Defense System Ready for Deployment

The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that the laser defense system “Iron Beam” will officially enter service on December 30. According to The Jerusalem Post, already tested in the field, the laser has demonstrated its ability to neutralize drones, and authorities now say it will also be able to intercept missiles, rockets, and ...

Israel Says Killed 40 Fighters over Past Week in Gaza Tunnels Operation
Israel Says Killed 40 Fighters over Past Week in Gaza Tunnels Operation

The Israeli army said Sunday that it had killed more than 40 Palestinian militants over the past week in operations targeting tunnels near Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the day, the army announced it had killed four militants emerging from underground in the territory's southernmost city overnight. Dozens of Hamas fighters are holed up in ...

Pope Reiterates Support for Two-State Solution for Israel and Palestinians
Pope Reiterates Support for Two-State Solution for Israel and Palestinians

Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that a two-state solution was the only one likely to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Flying from Istanbul to Beirut during his first foreign trip since his election in May, the pope continued the tradition of his predecessors by speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane. "The Holy See has ...

Netanyahu Submits Pardon Request in Israel Corruption Cases
Netanyahu Submits Pardon Request in Israel Corruption Cases

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on trial facing corruption charges, announced Sunday he had submitted a pardon request, saying the long-running cases were tearing the country apart. US President Donald Trump wrote to Israeli President Isaac Herzog earlier this month, asking him to pardon Netanyahu, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing ...

Iran and Turkey Agree to Build Key Trade Rail Link
Iran and Turkey Agree to Build Key Trade Rail Link

Iran and Turkey have agreed to begin constructing a new joint rail link to serve as a strategic gateway between Asia and Europe, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday. The planned route, known in Iran as the Marand–Cheshmeh Soraya railway transit line and running towards Turkey's Aralik border region, will cover around 200 ...

Pope Visits Istanbul's Blue Mosque
Pope Visits Istanbul's Blue Mosque

Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque early on Saturday on the third day of his trip to Turkey. It was the first time the American pope, elected in May as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, visited a Muslim place of worship since taking over from his late predecessor Francis. The Blue Mosque is one of Istanbul's main ...

Syrians Mark One Year Since Offensive That Toppled Assad
Syrians Mark One Year Since Offensive That Toppled Assad

Demonstrators across multiple Syrian cities condemned on Friday the deadly Israeli attacks on the south of the country during rallies to mark one year since the start of the offensive that toppled former ruler Bashar al-Assad. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had called on Thursday for Syrians to "go down to the squares" to commemorate the ...

Israeli Operation in Southern Syria: 13 Killed
Israeli Operation in Southern Syria: 13 Killed

Violent clashes erupted overnight from Thursday to Friday in southern Syria when Israeli soldiers operating in the Beit Jinn area came under fire from armed residents, according to local and military sources. At least one Syrian was reported killed in the first hours of the exchange, which began around 3:15 a.m. local time and lasted several ...

Israel Finds Nine Bodies in Rafah Tunnels as Mediators Discuss Safe Passage for Hamas Fighters
Israel Finds Nine Bodies in Rafah Tunnels as Mediators Discuss Safe Passage for Hamas Fighters

The Israeli army announced on Friday that it had recovered the bodies of nine Palestinian fighters recently killed during its operations to dismantle the tunnel network in the southern Gaza Strip. During operations in the eastern sector of Rafah, soldiers “located nine additional terrorists who had been eliminated in the underground terrorist ...

Pope Leo XIV and Bartholomew Mark 1,700 Years Since Nicaea in Turkey
Pope Leo XIV and Bartholomew Mark 1,700 Years Since Nicaea in Turkey

Pope Leo XIV will join the leader of the world's Orthodox Christians Friday to celebrate 1,700 years since one of the early Church's most important gatherings, on the second day of his visit to Turkey. The American pope began his four-day visit on Thursday in Ankara, where he urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to embrace Turkey's role as a ...

Syria's Sharaa Recognised 'Legitimate Demands' of Alawite Protesters
Syria's Sharaa Recognised 'Legitimate Demands' of Alawite Protesters

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protesters had "legitimate demands", state media reported, days after thousands took to the streets to denounce violence against the country's Alawite minority. The demonstrations earlier this week in several cities along Syria's coast -- the heartland of the country's Alawites -- were the ...