BenArmani

Baghdad meet brings together lawmakers of Iraq's six neighbours: Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Jordan, and Kuwait. A summit organised by Iraq brought together regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran on Saturday as part of a broader effort by Iraqi leaders to fashion the country's image as a friend among neighbours. Scarred by more than three decades of war, Iraq is recasting itself as a...

No, it wasn't because of WMDs, democracy or Iraqi oil. The real reason is much more sinister than that. Sixteen years after the United States invaded Iraqand left a trail of destruction and chaos in the country and the region, one aspect of the war remains criminally underexamined: why was it fought in the first place? What did the Bush administration hope to get out...

Lack of adequate care and frustration over absence of resettlement plans prompt attempted suicides, refugees say. Medenine, Tunisia - Last Monday night, 16-year-old Nato* slit his wrists and was rushed to the local hospital in Medenine. He had decided to end his life in a refugee facility run by the UN's refugee agency, the UNHCR, in Medenine. After running for two years,...

Energy giant Rosneft struck major deals with Iraq's Kurdish region in 2017. Today, it has yet to cash in on them. Erbil, Iraq - Two years after Iraq's new constitution in 2005 officially recognised the autonomy of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Russia established formal relations with its regional government (the KRG) by opening a consulate in its capital Erbil. By then, the United States,...

As some Libyan officials and Italian media warn of exodus, experts say it is impossible to predict impact on migration. Names marked with an asterisk* have been changed to protect interviewees' identities. It's been three months since Abdi* went to Bani Walid, a town known to Libya's refugees and migrants as the "ghost city" due to the prevalence of smugglers known for torturing their human...

Refugees and migrants request immediate medical assistance as several people are reportedly wounded by gunfire. Refugees and migrants trapped in a detention centre on the front line of conflict in Tripoli for weeks say they were shot at indiscriminately on Tuesday by fighters aligned with eastern forces advancing on Libya's capital. At least 10 people were seriously wounded by gunfire, detainees said. "Right now...

Trump has refused to cooperate in numerous congressional probes, setting the state for several long court fights. Washington, DC - US President Donald Trump is refusing to cooperate with several committees in the House of Representatives that have launched investigations of his presidency and business dealings, setting the stage for a legal confrontation that is likely to land in the US Supreme Court. "We...

Israel's apartheid is not that different from the one South Africa used to have, both in terms of policy and brutality. Apartheid is alive and well and thriving in occupied Palestine. Palestinians know this. South Africans know this. Many Israelis have accepted this as part of their political debate. Americans are coming to terms with this, with new voices in Congress and...

What an old Hebrew parable can tell us about Kushner's strategy and the deal of the century. Over the past two years, the Trump administration has launched an all-out diplomatic assault on the Palestinians, while preparing a new initiative to resolve the Middle East conflict. It has claimed its plan is different from any other, downplayed anything said about it...

The author cites scientific and contextual evidence which point to Arafat's poisoning with polonium . Polonium 210 is so toxic that it is difficult to explain just how dangerous it is - a fatal dose is almost a million times less than is needed for cyanide, for example. Its danger comes from its high radioactivity. It decays by giving out alpha...

Govt signs 'new social deal' with employers and labour unions while teachers continue protests over contracts. The Moroccan government has announced a "new social deal" with employers and the main labour unions, under which many workers will enjoy a pay rise. The deal agreed by the General Confederation of Moroccan Businesses (CGEM) and the three main unions - UMT, UGTM and...

The Saudi nationals received the death penalty for charges including 'adopting extremist terrorist ideologies'. Saudi Arabia executed 37 of its citizens on Tuesday for what it said were "terrorism" related crimes, publicly pinning at least one of the bodies to a pole as a warning to others. The individuals were found guilty of attacking security installations with explosives, killing a number of...

Bodies of 15 people, including six children, discovered at the site of a fierce overnight gun battle in an eastern town. The bodies of 15 people, including six children, were discovered at the site of a fierce firefight at a home on the east coast of Sri Lanka after suicide bombers targeted approaching security forces. A police spokesman on Saturday said three suspected suicide...

Football's governing body is seeking to expand the event by adding one or more countries to host matches. FIFA will hold talks with human rights groups about issues associated with expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as football's governing body seeks to find at least one more country in the region to cohost the tournament. Qatar is currently working on a 32-team tournament...