Aftershock rocks Indonesia quake zone as search for survivors continues

Rescuers search for survivors at a collapsed building in Mamuju city on January 16, 2021, a day after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Sulawesi island. (Photo by AFP) An aftershock hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island on Saturday as rescue workers searched for people trapped under rubble...

Turkey to continue talks with Russia on 2nd batch of S-400 air defense systems: Erdogan

This undated file picture shows highly advanced Russian-built S-400 air defense systems at an unknown location in Russia. (Photo by TASS news agency) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara will continue talks with Moscow for the procurement of the second batch of advanced Russian-made S-400...

Russia: Iran is ’victim of terrorism’, among ’pioneers’ in fight against terror

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russia has rejected the United States’ fresh allegations of link between Iran and the al-Qaeda militant group that launched the September 11, 2001 attacks, describing the Islamic Republic as a victim of terrorism and a pioneer in the counter-terror...

Tunisian protesters, security forces clash after police beating of shepherd

File photo of Tunisian police officers stand guard in capital Tunis. (Photo by AFP) Hundreds of protesters in northern Tunisian city of Siliana have clashed with police, burned wheels and blocked roads following the beating of a shepherd by an officer. Officers fired tear gas to disperse rock-throwing...

Cuba blasts US sanctions on interior ministry as ‘coercive measure’

An AFP file photo taken on October 18, 2018, shows the US Treasury Department building in Washington, DC. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in its final days in office imposed sanctions on Cuba’s interior ministry over accusations of rights abuses, with the government in Havana denouncing...

Johnson triggers diplomatic row with China by blaming it for coronavirus pandemic

Boris Johnson has drawn Beijing’s ire by appearing to link the country’s culture to the Covid-19 outbreak Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has touched off a diplomatic row with China after blaming the country’s cultural and eating habits for the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson told an...

Absolutely groundless: Russia rejects US claim of Iran-Qaeda ties

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zamir Kabulov (Photo by ITAR-TASS) Russia has dismissed the United States’ latest bout of trying to link the al-Qaeda terrorist group and Iran without providing any proof as absolutely groundless. This is absolutely unsubstantiated and unreasonable. There is absolutely...

Venezuela’s Maduro denounces US ’criminal policy’ at new parliament

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro presents the annual report of his government before the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 12, 2021. (Photo by AFP) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has denounced the United States’ illegal sanctions and criminal blockade of his country, calling...

Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny ’to return to Russia on Jan. 17’

This grab, taken from a video posted on January 13, 2021 on the Instagram account of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny shows him recording an address in Germany. (Via AFP) Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has announced his decision to return to Russia after a lengthy recuperation period...

US threatens to sanction European firms helping Nord Stream 2 pipeline

A worker puts a cap to a pipe at the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, near the town of Kingisepp, Leningrad region, Russia June 5, 2019. (Reuters photo) The US State Department has warned European companies which it suspects are involved in building Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline...

North Korean leader pledges to strengthen military, nuclear arsenal

This picture, taken on January 12, 2021 and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 13, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) and other officials during the last day of the 8th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Via...

UAE’s flag carrier suspends Tunisian pilot for refusing to fly to Israel

An Emirates Airbus A380-842 aircraft is pictured grounded at Dubai international Airport in Dubai. (File photo by AFP) The United Arab Emirates’ flag carrier has suspended a Tunisian pilot for refusing to fly a plane to Israel, in a controversial move that has prompted condemnation in the Arab world. Tunisian...

Lebanon files complaint with UN Security Council over Israeli violations

In this undated file picture taken from Israeli media, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet takes off en route to an exercise in Germany. Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe has filed a complaint with the UN Security Council (UNSC) and UN Secretary-General António Guterres against the Israeli...

Ethiopia warns Sudan against igniting war at disputed border region

Ethiopian refugees arrive at the Tenedba camp in Mafaza, in eastern Sudan, on January 8, 2021. (Photo by AFP) Ethiopia has accused Sudan of a military build-up in a contested border region, warning that a military confrontation could be imminent as its peaceful approach to the decades-old dispute has...

US faces extraordinary humiliation as Europeans refuse to meet with Pompeo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on January 12, 2021. (Photo by AFP) European leaders have refused to meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, forcing him to cancel a trip to Europe, and the US envoy to the United Nations (UN) has scrapped a trip...

EU, OIC slam Israel’s plan to build more illegal settler homes in West Bank

In this file photo taken on October 13, 2020, new buildings are pictured under construction in the Beit El settlement in the occupied West Bank. (By AFP) The European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have condemned the Israeli regime’s plan to advance the construction of hundreds...

Israel launches fresh airstrikes on Syria’s east: SANA

An image grab taken on November 20, 2019, shows a ball of fire during a reported Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus. (By AFP) Syrian media say the Israeli regime has launched fresh airstrikes on eastern parts of the country near the Iraqi border, with reports falling short...

EU slams US blacklisting of Yemen’s Houthis, warns of aid delivery disruption

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell addresses a video press conference at the conclusion of a video conference of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, April 22, 2020. (Photo by AP) The European Union has censured a US decision to blacklist Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, warning...

Bahrain to reopen airspace to Qatar after reconciliation

People walk past the Qatar Airways office in Manama, Bahrain, on June 8, 2017. (Photo by Reuters) Bahrain’s civil aviation affairs authority says the country will open its airspace to Qatar as of Monday, following a deal to end the Saudi-led Persian Gulf row with Doha. The announcement was made on...

Top EU diplomat: US Capitol siege ‘wake-up call’ for democracies

File photo of EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell The European Union’s top diplomat has described last week’s deadly siege of the US Congress as a wake-up call for democracies, saying it exposed the perils of tolerating unchecked degradation of democratic values and the spread of disinformation...

Pakistan’s Imran Khan: Iran capable of turning into regional economic power

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at Asia Society New York. (Photo by Asia Society) Pakistan’s prime minister has expressed hope that the sanctions against Tehran will be lifted, saying the Islamic Republic of Iran has the capacity to turn into an economic power in the region. At a recent meeting...

UAE has converted Yemen’s Balhaf gas facility into secret prison

A man walks to the airport building in Yemen’s southern city of Aden on January 3, 2021. (AFP) Over the past few years, the United Arab Emirates has been pursuing a plethora of agendas in Southern Yemen, whether directly or via backing the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC). Among Abu...

Assuming father’s title, N Korea’s Kim elected ruling party’s general secretary

This picture released by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency on January 11, 2021 shows leader Kim Jong-un (C) attending the 8th Congress of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang. (Photo by AFP) North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has been elected as the ruling Workers Party’s general secretary...

Electrical power restored in Pakistan after grid breakdown

Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan speaks during a media briefing along with Information Minister Shibli Faraz (L) in Islamabad on January 10, 2021. (Photo by AFP) Electrical power has been restored in many areas across Pakistan after a nationwide blackout plunged the whole country into darkness and...

Kyrgyzstan heads to polls to cast ballots in critical presidential polls

People vote during Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election and a referendum on government system in the village of Koy-Tash outside Bishkek on January 10, 2021. (Photo by AFP) People in Kyrgyzstan have voted in presidential elections in possibly one of the most challenging polls since the Central Asian...

Ex-Qatari PM urges dialogue between Iran, GCC countries

Former Qatari prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani (File photo) Former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani has called on Iran and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states to engage in talks amid the resolution of the Qatar crisis and the upcoming inauguration...

Drone attack hits oil refineries in militant-held northern Syrian: Reports

A tank truck advances on a road at the Rumaylan (Rmeilan) oil fields in Syria’s northeastern Hasakeh Province, controlled by US-backed Kurdish militants, on January 6, 2021. (Photo by AFP) An unidentified drone has reportedly bombed oil refineries in northern Syria, an area which is controlled by Turkish-backed...

South Korean vice FM heads to Iran for ’in-depth talks’ on seized tanker

South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun (Photo by Yonhap news agency) A senior South Korean official says the situation surrounding a Korean-flagged oil tanker that has been seized by Iran for repeated environmental violations is serious, saying he is heading to the Islamic Republic...

Pakistani mourners bury slain Hazara Muslims amid tight security

Mourners from the Shia Hazara community carry the coffin of one of the miners during a funeral procession at a graveyard in Quetta on January 9, 2021. (Photo by AFP) Pakistani mourners have eventually buried the bodies of Hazara Muslims, who were brutally killed at the hands of Daesh terrorists in the...

China confirms India’s apprehension of border guard, calls for swift return

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint along a highway leading to Ladakh, at Gagangeer in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district June 17, 2020. (Photo by Reuters) China has confirmed that one of its soldiers lost on the border with India has been found by Indian troops, calling...