Reporting Spike in Deaths, Media Trade Groups Urge UN Action
Counting a dozen more deaths from the previous year, the International Federation of Journalists reported Monday that 2018 was a highly bloody one for the press.
Read moreMiddle East
Christmas Festivities Begin in West Bank Town of Bethlehem
Palestinians are preparing to host pilgrims from around the world in celebrating Christmas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
Read moreChina Said to Drive Use of Armed Drones in Middle East
The use of armed drones in the Middle East, driven largely by sales from China, has grown significantly in the past few years with an increasing number of countries and other parties using them in regional conflicts to lethal effects, a new report said Monday.
Read moreTaliban Say They’re Meeting US Officials Again on Monday
The Taliban say they are holding “another” meeting on Monday with U.S. officials, this time in the United Arab Emirates and also involving Saudi, Pakistani and Emirati representatives in the latest attempt to bring a negotiated end to Afghanistan’s 17-year war.
Read moreWhite House Pressure to Expel Turkish President’s Foe Tests Rule of Law
Amid reports of White House pressure to expel the Turkish president’s top foe Fethullah Gulen, experts noted that evidence in any extradition case opened against the cleric would be thin.
Read moreDefense Settlement
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation agreed Friday to pay more than $25 million to settle claims it violated the False Claims Act by inflating employees’ hours working on a defense contract in the Middle East.
Read moreBolton Says No Timetable for Trump’s Mideast Peace Plan
President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said Wednesday there was no timetable for releasing the administration’s much-anticipated Mideast peace plan.
Read moreWhite House Pushes Ahead With Mideast Peace Plan
The Trump administration is aiming to roll out its much-hyped but long-delayed Middle East peace plan next month amid signs it may further alienate the Palestinians by slashing millions of dollars in funding for humanitarian and development projects in the West Bank and Gaza.
Read moreBahrain Revokes Citizenship of 115 People in Mass Trial
A Bahrain court on Tuesday revoked the citizenship of 115 people at a mass terrorism trial, sentencing dozens to prison amid a years-long crackdown on all dissent in the island kingdom.
Read moreTrump’s Mideast Policies Fuel Global Worries for the Region
President Donald Trump’s prospects for brokering the Mideast peace “deal of the century” plunged ever deeper as the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem opened amid bloodshed in Gaza. The day fueled global concern that U.S. policies are tipping the broader Middle East into deeper, intractable conflict.
Read moreDisease Detective Unravels Mystery of What Killed Sultan Saladin
A researcher may have discovered the cause of death of one of the most prominent figures of the 12th century, potentially resolving a centuries-long mystery.
Read moreWorkplace Bias
A federal jury in Michigan awarded a former Ford engineer nearly $17 million based on his claims that supervisors harassed him because he is of Arab descent, according to reports.
Read moreBahrain’s Largest Oil Find Estimated at 80 Billion Barrels
The small island-nation of Bahrain says its largest ever discovery of oil amounts to an estimated 80 billion barrels.
Read more6 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire on Gaza Border
Large crowds of flag-waving Palestinian protesters marched toward the Gaza border fence with Israel on Friday, some of them throwing stones and drawing Israeli fire that officials said killed at least five people.
Read moreGulf Arabs Relish Tillerson Firing; Iran Weighs Nuclear Deal
Reactions in the Middle East on Wednesday to the firing of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reflect the volatile divide between Iran, where many fear his departure heralds the demise of the 2015 nuclear deal, and Gulf Arab nations hoping for a more hawkish U.S. stance toward Tehran and Qatar.
Read moreSaudi Military Leaders Replaced Amid Stalemate in Yemen
Saudi Arabia replaced its military chief of staff and other defense officials early on Tuesday morning in a shake-up apparently aimed at overhauling its Defense Ministry during the stalemated and ruinous war in Yemen.
Read moreBahrain Sentences Prominent Activist to 5 Years in Prison
A prominent human rights activist in Bahrain was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison over tweets alleging prison torture in his country and misconduct in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, despite wide international criticism of his trial.
Read morePoll Finds Americans’ Divide on Israel-Palestine Widening
Americans are more divided today than at any point in the last four decades on where their sympathies lie in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the Pew Research Center reported Tuesday.
Read moreTrump Warns Palestinian Authority It May Lose US Aid Money
Acknowledging his push to broker peace in the Middle East has stalled, President Donald Trump appeared to threaten to cut off U.S. aid money to the Palestinian Authority, asking why the U.S. should make “any of these massive future payments” when the Palestinians are “no longer willing to talk peace.”
Read more