A human rights monitoring groups has reported that a prominent Iranian lawyer has been arrested and convicted of a security related crime in a secret trial. It has been reported that she may be facing a very lengthy sentence. As a lawyer, her focus is directed upon women who defy Iran’s head-covering rule for all women. The group learned of… Read more »
BEIRUT — President Trump’s call to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights fired up Middle East tensions on Friday and complicated a U.S. push to roll back the growing regional influence of Iran and its allies, which say their military expansion is necessary to counter Israeli threats to Arab lands. Syria, which lost control of a third of the strategic… Read more »
ISTANBUL — A group of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent women’s rights advocates appeared in court in the Saudi capital Wednesday at the start of a trial that could signal whether the government intends to roll back an aggressive, years-long crackdown on political activists. Ibrahim al-Sayari, the president of the Criminal Court, told reporters that 10 women are facing trial in Riyadh, including figures… Read more »
CAIRO — American- and British-made bombs may have killed or injured nearly 1,000 civilians, including women and children, in Yemen’s four-year conflict, according to a report released Wednesday by human rights groups. The airstrikes killed 203 people and injured at least 749, the report found. At least 122 children and 56 women were among the dead and wounded. U.S. and British lawmakers have… Read more »
Global ride-hailing service provider Uber has acquired its Middle East competitor Careem for $3.1bn, making it the largest-ever technology purchase in the region. Uber said in a statement on Tuesday that the $3.1bn purchase consists of $1.7bn in convertible notes and $1.4bn in cash. Under the deal, Careem will keep its brand as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber, operating as… Read more »
Southern city of Shiraz suffers extensive damage as government urges people to cancel trips amid forecast of more rains. Tehran, Iran – Flash flooding in southern and parts of western Iran has left at least 19 people dead and more than 100 injured as the government urged people to cancel trips and warned of more rains, according to Fars news agency. The Ministry… Read more »
The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria has called for the creation of an international tribunal to try thousands of suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group. One official, Abdul Karim Omar, told the BBC they were struggling to cope with the thousands who emerged from the last IS enclave of Baghuz, in the east. Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)… Read more »
Israel has carried out strikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, after a rocket attack on a house injured seven Israelis. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the office of Hamas’s political leader and the group’s military intelligence headquarters were among the targets. Gaza’s health ministry said seven Palestinians were injured. Militants later launched a barrage of rockets towards southern Israeli… Read more »
The Israel-Palestine conflict is not a new one; ever since the 1940s the two groups have been at odds. However, in recent times, the fighting has received an increasing level of international attention, as the media has been covering it more and more. It seems as if everyday now there are more civilians killed by the IDF; another Palestinian man… Read more »
The Trump administration is granting Iraq a renewed 90-day waiver exempting it from U.S. sanctions on Iran, a State Department official told CNBC on Tuesday. The waiver, last issued in December and which expired on the morning of March 19, will allow Iraq to continue buying electricity from its neighbor even as the White House pledges a maximum pressure campaign… Read more »