Arab World

Trump Completes Demolition of White House East Wing
Trump Completes Demolition of White House East Wing

Demolition workers have finished tearing down the White House's entire East Wing to make way for US President Donald Trump's giant new $300 million ballroom, satellite pictures showed Thursday. The completion of the wrecking work came as the White House released a list of donors to the ballroom including Apple, Google and Meta. A gray ...

Putin says US Sanctions 'Serious' but won't Significantly Hit Economy
Putin says US Sanctions 'Serious' but won't Significantly Hit Economy

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the latest US sanctions targeting two major oil firms were "serious", but not strong enough to significantly affect the economy. The United States on Wednesday hit Russia's two biggest oil producers -- Rosneft and Lukoil -- with sanctions, the first against Russia since US President Donald ...

Arab and Muslim Countries Condemn Israel's West Bank Annexation Bills
Arab and Muslim Countries Condemn Israel's West Bank Annexation Bills

More than a dozen Muslim and Arab states condemned on Thursday a pair of Israeli bills calling for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, in a joint statement reported by the Saudi state news agency. The 14 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey, as well as the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, said they ...

In Interview with Time, Trump Says Would Pull US Support if Israel Annexes West Bank
In Interview with Time, Trump Says Would Pull US Support if Israel Annexes West Bank

President Donald Trump said Israel would lose its crucial backing from the United States if it annexes the West Bank, in a Time magazine interview published Thursday. Trump's comments, which Time said were made by telephone on October 15, were published as both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against any ...

Syria Urges Banks to Provision Their Claims on Lebanon
Syria Urges Banks to Provision Their Claims on Lebanon

The Central Bank of Syria has given domestic banks a six-month deadline to fully provision their claims on the Lebanese banking sector, estimated at $1.6 billion, according to a circular cited by Reuters. The directive does not specify the exact nature of these claims – whether deposits, placements or financial investments – making their ...

Vance Rejects any West Bank Annexation as Rubio Heads to Israel
Vance Rejects any West Bank Annexation as Rubio Heads to Israel

US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Israel would not move to annex West Bank, after Washington warned that such a step could jeopardise a fragile US-brokered truce in Gaza. Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday advanced two bills paving the way for West Bank annexation, days after President Donald Trump secured a ceasefire deal aimed at ending ...

King Charles, Pope Leo Pray Together in Historic First
King Charles, Pope Leo Pray Together in Historic First

King Charles III, the head of the Church of England, became the first British monarch Thursday to pray publicly with a pope in a Vatican service led by Leo XIV. The ceremony in the Sistine Chapel, broadcast live by the Vatican's official news service, came during a state visit by the 76-year-old monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla. It was the ...

Assassination Casts Dark Cloud over Iraqi Elections
Op-edAssassination Casts Dark Cloud over Iraqi Elections

In the early hours of October 15, an IED tore through a Chevy Tahoe in Baghdad’s northern outskirts, killing Safaa al-Mashhadani, a candidate in Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections. Three days later, gunmen opened fire on the office of another candidate, Muthanna al-Azzawi, 25 kilometers south of the Iraqi ...

Syrian Forces Agree Truce With French-Led Jihadist Group
Syrian Forces Agree Truce With French-Led Jihadist Group

Syrian authorities have agreed to a ceasefire with a group of jihadists led by Frenchman Oumar Diaby in northwest Syria, sources from both sides told AFP on Thursday. Government forces surrounded the camp of Firqatul Ghuraba ("the Foreigners' Brigade") on Wednesday, leading to the first clashes with jihadists under Syria's new leadership since ...

Shampoo Basin Syndrom: The Stroke from the Beauty Salon
ExplainerShampoo Basin Syndrom: The Stroke from the Beauty Salon

That day, Julien never imagined that a simple shampoo would turn his life upside down. Sitting comfortably at the basin with his head tilted back, he enjoyed a moment of calm, unaware that a hidden danger was looming. A few days later, he suffered a stroke. On Instagram, he shared: “When I had my stroke, one of the first questions the ...

Zelensky Hails 'Strong' Message' of US Sanctions on Russia
Zelensky Hails 'Strong' Message' of US Sanctions on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday hailed the "strong and much-needed" message sent by US sanctions on Russia's energy sector, after President Donald Trump moved to ratchet up pressure on Moscow in step with the EU. "We waited for this. God bless, it will work, and this is very important," Zelensky told journalists at an EU summit ...