Middle East

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israel detained 509 Palestinians in January from occupied Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including 89 children and eight women, according to Palestinian prisoners rights groups. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), the Palestinian Prisoners and Former Prisoners’ Affairs Committee, and Addameer said in a joint statement that the Israeli authorities detained […]

Saudi Arabia

European Union to add Saudi Arabia to Money Laundering, Terror Blacklist

AFP

The European Commission proposed adding seven countries including Saudi Arabia to the EU’s money-laundering blacklist of governments that do too little to thwart the financing of terrorism and organised crime Brussels (AFP) – The European Commission on Wednesday proposed adding seven countries including Saudi Arabia to the EU’s money-laundering blacklist of governments that do too […]

Syria

Russia, Turkey, Iran Delighted at US Syria Withdrawal

AFP

By Maria PANINA Sochi (AFP) – The leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran hailed the planned US withdrawal from Syria as they met for talks Thursday on how to work more closely together in the country’s long-running conflict. Hosting his Turkish and Iranian counterparts in the southern city of Sochi, President Vladimir Putin said the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israeli Voter Suppression: Bedouin Villages have no Polling Stations

Maan News Agency

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Eleven unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev desert, in southern Israel, have no polling stations or public transportation and a number of their thousands of residents will have to travel up to 50 kilometers to vote in the upcoming national elections on April 9th. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights […]

Syria

Russia, Turkey and Iran are holding a Summit on Syria and not inviting Trump

AFP

By Maria PANINA | – Sochi (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to host his Iranian and Turkish counterparts Thursday to discuss how to resolve the conflict in Syria as Islamic State jihadists made a last stand in the east of the country and Washington prepares to withdraw troops. A flurry of diplomatic […]

Yemen

Curtailing Trump War Powers, House Votes to End US Help to Saudi’s Yemen War

AFP

Washington, DC (AFP) – The US House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to end American involvement in Saudi Arabia’s war effort in neighboring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump and his alliance with Riyadh. The chamber voted 248 to 177 to approve historic legislation that would direct the president within 30 days to “remove United […]

Human Rights

Iran’s Bizarre Prosecution and Torture of . . . Environmentalists?

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch (Beirut) – Iran’s judicial authorities are violating fair trial standards in the case of eight environmentalists who have been detained for over a year, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities should immediately open an impartial and transparent investigation into the torture allegations the accused have raised during the trial. On January 30, […]

Israel/ Palestine

Israel orders 300 Palestinians to Leave own Homes in Tubas for Military Exercise

Maan News Agency

TUBAS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces ordered, on Tuesday, for 50 Palestinian families in the northern Jordan Valley to evacuate their homes on Wednesday to make way for active Israeli military training. In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Mutaz Bisharat, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activity in the Jordan Valley/Tubas district, said that […]

Featured

Iran: ‘If US attacks us, Tel Aviv is Toast;’ Israel: ‘You do that and Iran is Toast’

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Aftab reports that the head of the political bureau of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, and a liaison to clerical Leader Ali Khamenei, Brig.-Gen. Yadollah Javani, gave a speech Monday in which he said that Iran has nothing to fear from the United States. He also said that that last […]