Middle East

United G7 Reiterates Support to Ukraine, Threatens Russia With Sanctions
United G7 Reiterates Support to Ukraine, Threatens Russia With Sanctions

The Group of Seven powers Friday warned Russia of new sanctions unless it accepts a ceasefire with Ukraine, in a forceful show of unity after President Donald Trump rattled the club of democracies. Meeting at a rustic hotel in rural Quebec, G7 foreign ministers also backed Ukraine's fight for its "territorial integrity" and spoke of ...

Mark Carney Sworn in as Canada's Prime Minister
Mark Carney Sworn in as Canada's Prime Minister

Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada's prime minister on Friday, taking charge of a country rattled by a breakdown in US relations since President Donald Trump's return to power. The ruling Liberal Party overwhelmingly backed Carney to replace Justin Trudeau, betting his experience leading two central banks through historic crises will ...

Senior Daesh Commander Killed by Iraq Security Forces
Senior Daesh Commander Killed by Iraq Security Forces

Iraqi security forces have killed a senior Daesh group leader responsible for "foreign operations," Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced on Friday. Although Iraq had proclaimed in 2017 the defeat of the jihadist group on its territory, Daesh cells have remained active and carry out sporadic attacks against Iraq's army and ...

Mass Layoffs at UN Migration Agency as US Aid Cuts Take Toll
Mass Layoffs at UN Migration Agency as US Aid Cuts Take Toll

The UN migration agency, which has been hit hard by US foreign aid cuts, has launched more mass layoffs, impacting around a fifth of staff at its Geneva headquarters, employees said Friday. Fresh cuts at the International Organization for Migration are expected to impact at least 20 percent of the more than 1,000 current headquarters staff, ...

Pope Francis Marks One Month in Hospital, With Football Stars Sending Messages of Support
Pope Francis Marks One Month in Hospital, With Football Stars Sending Messages of Support

Pope Francis marked a month in hospital Friday, with football players sending him messages of support for his recovery from pneumonia, including the captain of his favorite team, San Lorenzo. Francis, 88, has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital since February 14 and has suffered a series of breathing crises, with doctors initially warning his life ...

Syrian Foreign Minister Conducts First Visit to Iraq Since Assad's Fall
Syrian Foreign Minister Conducts First Visit to Iraq Since Assad's Fall

Syria's interim foreign minister arrived in Iraq on Friday, conducting his first visit to the country since his Islamist alliance toppled Bashar al-Assad. Relations between neighbors Syria and Iraq have become more complicated since the fall of Assad, who was a close ally of the government in Baghdad. In Baghdad, Syria's top diplomat, Assaad ...

Syrian Druze Cross Armistice Line for Pilgrimage to Israel
Syrian Druze Cross Armistice Line for Pilgrimage to Israel

Dozens of Syrian Druze clerics crossed the armistice line on the Golan Heights into Israel on Friday for their community's first pilgrimage to a revered shrine in decades. On board three buses escorted by Israeli military vehicles, the clerics crossed at Majdal Shams in the Golan, and headed to northern Israel. According to a source close to ...

Lebanese-Americans Appointed to Key Positions in the Trump Administration
WindowLebanese-Americans Appointed to Key Positions in the Trump Administration

Several Lebanese-Americans have been appointed to key positions in the new American administration set up by Donald Trump. Among them, three have been appointed ambassadors (Turkey, Lebanon and Tunisia). Massad Boulos has become Senior Advisor to the President of the United States. Tom Barrack Jr Tom Barrack Jr, born in 1947, is a businessman ...

Russia Expects More Truce Talks with US Once Witkoff Briefs Trump
Russia Expects More Truce Talks with US Once Witkoff Briefs Trump

Russia said Friday it expected Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump would discuss a US-proposed ceasefire in Ukraine, but that US envoy Steve Witkoff needed to relay Putin's thoughts to the American president first. Witkoff met the Russian president late Thursday to lay out the details of the US plan, which Ukraine agreed to on Tuesday. "When Mr ...

EU Hails Finalisation of Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Talks
EU Hails Finalisation of Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Talks

Top European Union officials on Friday congratulated Armenia and Azerbaijan for finalising a peace deal to end their decades-long conflict, and urged them to sign the treaty soon. Baku and Yerevan, who fought two wars for control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated region of Karabakh, said they had wrapped up talks on Thursday. "The announcements ...

Saudi Crown Prince Tells Putin he Supports 'all Initiatives' to end Ukraine War
Saudi Crown Prince Tells Putin he Supports 'all Initiatives' to end Ukraine War

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the kingdom supports "all initiatives" to end the Ukraine war, a statement said on Friday, after US-Ukraine talks in Jeddah proposed a 30-day ceasefire. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reaffirmed Saudi Arabia's "commitment to facilitating dialogue and supporting all ...