Posts in tag

middleeast


Naftali Bennett was sworn in as Israel’s new prime minister on Sunday and this march will be the first real test for his government. The Minister of Internal Security, Omer Bar-Lev, completed a situation assessment with the participation of the Commissioner, the IDF, the Shin Bet and the National Security Council, according to a statement …

After four elections in two years, Bennett’s incoming government breaks a long political deadlock and ushers in the most diverse coalition Israel has ever seen, including the first Arab party to serve in the government. In his speech before the Knesset confidence vote, Bennett celebrated the diversity and warned of polarization within the country. “Twice …

Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, notified Israeli President Reuven Rivlin that he had managed to cobble together a coalition just 38 minutes before the midnight deadline. Though Lapid holds the mandate to form the government under the agreement, it is Naftali Bennett — leader of the small right-wing party Yamina and …

The Al Jala’a building, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Saturday afternoon, contained offices for Al Jazeera and the Associated Press, among other media outlets, marking the latest escalation of violence that has spread across Israel and the Palestinian territories this week — the conflict’s bloodiest in recent years. Israel launched more airstrikes …

The cruiser USS Monterey stopped the stateless dhow on May 6 during a routine operation to verify its registry, the Navy said. A US Coast Guard Advanced Interdiction Team deployed on the Navy ship then boarded the dhow and found the weapons stash. The massive arms haul covered much of the rear flight deck of …

Iranian officials on Sunday confirmed an “incident” at Natanz, an underground facility where uranium enrichment takes place. “Fortunately, the incident did not cause any human injuries or leaks,” said Behrouz Kamalvand, a spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI). “The causes of the accident are under investigation and further information will be announced later.” AEOI …

Security forces say they pursued the two attackers before they blew themselves up. It was the first suicide attack to strike Baghdad in nearly two years. The first bomber entered the marketplace and, pretending to be sick, asked for help, causing people to gather around him before he blew himself up, according to officials and …

Seventeen Iraqi civilians, including 9- and 11-year-old boys, were killed when private contractors from the US security firm Blackwater opened fired in Baghdad’s Nisour Square in 2007. Fourteen of those killings were unjustified under the rules of the use of deadly force by security contractors, according to an FBI investigation. In 2014, a US federal …

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who became the face of Iran’s controversial nuclear program, was killed in an apparent ambush in a district east of Tehran on Friday. Photos from the scene showed the shattered windshield of a car, and blood on the road. “There are two matters that people in charge should put in their to do list: 1- …

Thousands of demonstrators poured into Beirut’s Martyr’s Square calling for “revenge” against the ruling class of politicians widely held responsible for the explosion that lay waste to large swathes of Lebanon’s capital. The demonstrators erected mock gallows in what were dubbed “Judgment Day” protests, as grief gave way to anger after more than 154 people …