MIDDLE EAST

Biden aides hold talks with Israel on Iran, regional issues

10:56 am March 12, 2021

Washington: Top US and Israeli national security officials met Thursday by secure video conference for their first round of talks on Iran and other regional issues as the Biden administration looks to avoid antagonizing Israel while attempting to resurrect the US-Iran nuclear deal. The first virtual US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group meeting led by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat, comes as President Joe […]

UNICEF: Syria’s war has killed and wounded 12,000 children

10:54 pm March 10, 2021

Beirut: Syria‘s 10-year-long civil war has killed or wounded almost 12,000 children and left millions out of school in what could have repercussions for years to come in the country, the U.N. children’s agency said Wednesday. The grim statistics were released in a UNICEF report ahead of the 10th anniversary of Syria’s conflict that began in mid-March 2011. The […]

Pope visits Iraq’s war-ravaged north on last day of tour

3:10 pm March 7, 2021

Irbil (Iraq): Pope Francis arrived in northern Iraq on Sunday, where he planned to pray in the ruins of churches damaged or destroyed by Islamic State extremists and celebrate an open-air Mass on the last day of the first-ever papal visit to the country. The Vatican hopes that the landmark visit will rally the country’s […]

CMS holds Global Interfaith Convention to promote communal harmony

Israeli-owned ship docked in Dubai after mysterious blast

10:02 pm February 28, 2021

DUBAI: An Israeli-owned cargo ship that suffered a mysterious explosion in the Gulf of Oman came to Dubai’s port for repairs Sunday, days after the blast that revived security concerns in Mideast waterways amid heightened tensions with Iran. News agency Associated Press journalists saw the hulking Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray sitting at dry dock facilities […]

Internet disruption reported in southeast Iran amid unrest

11:14 am February 28, 2021

Tehran: Iran’s impoverished southeast has been experiencing wide disruptions of internet services, experts said, as unrest gripped the remote province after fatal border shootings. Several rights groups reported in a joint statement that authorities shut down the mobile data network in the restive province of Sistan and Baluchestan, calling the disruptions an apparent “tool to conceal” the government’s […]