Lebanese filmmaker and Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim shot dead
February 5th, 20210 BEIRUT — Activist, publisher and filmaker Lokman Slim was found dead in a car in Southern Lebanon on Thursday. Slim died from four bullets in the head and one in the back. Slim’s sister Rasha al-Ameer suggested he had been murdered because of his ardent criticism of Shi’a Hezbollah. He was last seen after visiting a poet...
First big suicide attack in Baghdad in three years kills at least 32
January 21st, 20210 BAGHDAD — ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in a crowded Baghdad market on Thursday, killing at least 32 people in Iraq’s first big suicide bombing in three years, authorities said, describing it as a possible sign of the reactivation of ISIS. ISIS claimed early on Friday that two of its men blew themselves up in Tayaran...
International year in review: Palestinians betrayed, calamity in Beirut, crisis in Yemen
January 14th, 20210 The following is a year in review for the top international news that we covered in 2020. Palestinians betrayed, calamity in Beirut, crisis in Yemen. Protests in Lebanon over deepening economic crisis Authorities in some of the most populous areas of Lebanon cracked down on mass protest by Lebanese expressing their frustration...
Iraq issues arrest warrant for President Trump
January 7th, 20210 BAGHDAD — A judge in Baghdad has issued an arrest warrant for President Trump for the killing of an Iranian general and Iraqi militia leader last year. The Washington-directed drone strike had killed Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside of the capital’s airport last January. Al-Muhandis was the deputy...
Lebanon orders three-week lockdown to fight virus spread
January 4th, 20210 BEIRUT - Lebanon announced a full lockdown for three weeks, including a night curfew, to stem a rise in COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals in a country already facing financial meltdown. Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan said the lockdown would start on Thursday and run until Feb. 1, with further details on...
At least 22 killed in Yemen airport explosion
December 30th, 20200 YEMEN - As the newly formed government arrived at Aden Airport in Yemen, several explosions went off, killing at least 22 and injuring more than 50 people. https://youtu.be/KN2bmuo5CKQ Above: Deadly explosions hit Yemen's Aden Airport as newly formed government arrives (viewer discretion advised) All of the Cabinet members are safe,...
A country in turmoil: Why Netanyahu is a symptom, not cause of Israel’s political crisis
December 23rd, 20200 It is convenient to surmise that Israel’s current political crisis is consistent with the country’s unfailing trajectory of short-lived governments and fractious ruling coalitions. While this view is somewhat defensible, it is also hasty. Israel is currently at the cusp of a fourth general election in less than two years. Even by...
Lebanon’s airline warns of new ticket challenge facing dollar account holders
December 20th, 20200 BEIRUT — The head of Lebanon’s airline said on Sunday the carrier would at some point need to demand payment for tickets bought in Lebanon using “fresh dollars”, or recently transferred currency that is not subject to restrictions imposed since a financial crisis. Middle East Airlines (MEA) Chairman Mohamad El-Hout did not...
Washington Spirit Women’s Soccer Team visits Qatar, plays friendly match
December 18th, 20200 DOHA, QATAR — Players from the Washington Spirit Women’s Soccer Team played a friendly match with members of the Qatar Women’s National Soccer team on Tuesday, Dec. 15. The Spirit’s visit was organized by the Embassy of the State of Qatar in the U.S. in partnership with the Qatar Museums and the U.S. Embassy in Doha. The...
When the people rose: How the Intifada changed the political discourse around Palestine
December 16th, 20200 December 8 came and went as if it was an ordinary day. For Palestinian political groups, it was another anniversary to be commemorated, however hastily. It was on this day, 33 years ago, that the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising) broke out, and there was nothing ordinary about this historic event. Today, the uprising is merely...
Two ex-ministers snub judge after being charged over Beirut blast
December 16th, 20200 BEIRUT — Two former Lebanese ministers charged with negligence over a huge explosion at Beirut port in August that killed 200 people snubbed a judge on Wednesday by not turning up for questioning. Judge Fadi Sawan charged three former ministers and the caretaker prime minister last week, sparking fierce debate about whether he had...
After 60 years, East Jerusalem Palestinians face eviction under Israeli settler rulings
December 15th, 20200 JERUSALEM — For Nabil al-Kurd, being forced out of the East Jerusalem home he has lived in since the 1950s would be a fate worse than death. But the 76-year-old and his wife and children are among dozens of Palestinians under threat of eviction from two districts of the disputed city, after an Israeli court ruled their properties are...
“Long live the (dead) peace process”: Abbas prioritizes U.S. ties over Palestinian national unity
December 10th, 20200 No one seemed as excited about the election of Joe Biden being the next president of the United States as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. When all hope seemed lost, where Abbas found himself desperate for political validation and funds, Biden arrived like a conquering knight on a white horse and swept the Palestinian...
Iran says “smart satellite-controlled machine gun” killed top nuclear scientist
December 8th, 20200 TEHRAN — The killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist last month was carried out remotely with artificial intelligence and a machine gun equipped with a “satellite-controlled smart system”, Tasnim news agency quoted a senior commander as saying. Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen...
Iran likely to hold off on retaliation over scientist’s killing, U.S. envoy says
December 4th, 20200 TEHRAN — Iran is unlikely to retaliate over the assassination of a prominent nuclear scientist before the inauguration of Joe Biden in case it jeopardizes any future sanctions relief, the top U.S. envoy on Iran told Reuters on Thursday. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who had little public profile in Iran, but had been named by Israel as a prime......
The king’s man: Blinken’s appointment reassures Israel that little will change under Biden
December 2nd, 20200 Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nothing to worry about as Antony J. Blinken, who will directly handle America’s foreign policy in the Middle East is a loyal friend of Israel. Crisis averted. President-elect Joe Biden’s appointment of Antony J. Blinken as his secretary of state was a master stroke,...
In world first, U.K. approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
December 2nd, 20200 (REUTERS) — Britain approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the rest of the world in the race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation program in history with a shot tested in wide-scale clinical trials. Prime Minister Boris Johnson touted the green light from the U.K.’s medicine authority as a...
Expansion and mass eviction: Israel “takes advantage” of Trump’s remaining days in office
December 1st, 20200 In a few words, a close associate of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summed up the logic behind the ongoing frenzy to expand illegal Jewish settlements in Israel. “These days are an irreplaceable opportunity to establish our hold on the Land of Israel, and I’m sure that our friend, President (Donald) Trump and Prime...
UAE halts new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim states
November 28th, 20200 DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates has stopped issuing new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a document issued by a state-owned business park. A source briefed on the matter told Reuters the visas had temporarily stopped being issued to Afghans,......
Suspected Iranian nuclear scientist Fakhrizadeh assassinated near Tehran
November 27th, 20200 TEHRAN — An Iranian scientist long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb program was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday that could provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency. The military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei...
No normalization, but Saudi Arabia and Israel ready to gang up on Iran
November 26th, 20200 RIYADH — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman earlier this week, despite a denial of the meeting by Israeli officials. On the discussion table was a country that has played the role of boogeyman for both Israel and its allies in the U.S. government: Iran. The two leaders talked......
COVID mutation will not increase transmissibility, affect vaccine efficacy
November 25th, 20201 LONDON — A peer-reviewed scientific study published on Wednesday says known mutations of the SARS-CoV-2, or coronavirus, do not increase virus transmissibility. Researchers also say the mutations do not pose a threat to vaccine efficacy. Viruses mutate, or change, constantly and some, like the flu, mutate more than others. The...
Netanyahu has “warm” convo with Biden, calls him “president-elect”
November 17th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Biden had a “warm conversation” with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone on Tuesday. Netanyahu referred to Biden as president-elect in a statement after the talk. Netanyahu had acknowledged and congratulated Biden’s electoral victory early on, but had refrained from calling him president-elect......
