middle east

Princess Latifa al Maktoum, one of the daughters of Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has recorded a series of videos in which she refers to herself as a “hostage” and appeals for help. The clips, which were reportedly smuggled out of the emirate, also mark the first time the princess has spoken […]

A nuclear watchdog employed by the U.N. has warned in a report released on Friday that Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium are more than 10 times the limit that had been mandated in the 2015 International Treaty. According to the Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) claimed Iran has a total of 2,105.4 […]

More than 100 people died and 4,000 were injured in the devastating explosion that ripped through the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday, the Daily Mail reported. A further 300,000 citizens were left homeless by the catastrophe, as hospitals struggled to cope. According to the report, the blast that ripped through the city’s port area […]

A massive explosion rocked the city of Beirut today, as seen in videos posted across social media. BBC reported that the blast happened in the port area of the city and that authorities “fear many casualties.” The cause of the explosion has not been confirmed. Lebanon’s health minister told reporters there were many injuries and […]

A car bomb explosion in the Afghan city of Puli Alam has left 17 people dead, Al Jazeera reported. The attack came just hours before a ceasefire was set to begin between Afghan security forces and the Taliban. Dedar Lawang, spokesman for the Logar province where the incident occurred, said the explosion happened in a […]

An Iranian passenger plane was forced to quickly change its altitude, causing injuries to several of its occupants after two U.S. military jets approached it mid-flight, The Guardian reported. It’s yet another chapter in the unfolding feud between two of the world’s most powerful nations. The Mahan Air commercial airliner was flying over Syrian airspace […]

The nation of Iran is reportedly reeling after an incident of friendly fire has claimed the lives of dozens of men. The incident was first reported in Arabic by Al Jazeera, writing that local media claimed an Iranian destroyer hit a battleship during practice exercises earlier today. Forty men — which many believe to be […]

An elderly Iraqi man stopped a television news crew at a hospital in Baghdad to complain about the state of the country’s health services and confront a doctor about poor care. Halfway through, the man hobbled and fell to the ground, dying of a heart attack on live TV. As Gulf News reported, the incident […]

Several Israeli soldiers’ phones were hacked after they were tricked into downloading an app after being duped by Hamas agents posing as attractive, lonely women, BBC News reports. Fortunately for the Israeli army, it’s not believed that the hackers were able to get their hands on any useful data. It’s one of the oldest tricks […]

Qassim al-Rimi, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed in an airstrike in Yemen per the White House. The White House delivered the news yesterday in an official statement. The successful counterterrorism operation that killed al-Rimi was ordered by President Trump, taking place after the terrorist leader repeatedly expressed interest in attacking […]

Some cell phone users have reported getting official-looking text messages telling them they need to immediately show up at the nearest military installation to report for a draft, presumably because of a potential war in Iran, CBS News reports. There is no draft and there are no plans to conscript anyone into service, the U.S. […]

Iran retaliated against the United States Tuesday by launching a reported 15 ballistic missiles at two of the country’s military bases in Iraq. The Pentagon alleged that no troops were hurt in the attack, and many who are hopeful for peace are pushing for U.S. President Donald Trump to deescalate the situation. In a lengthy […]

The Iraqi parliament voted on Sunday to expel all U.S. troops from the country and filed a complaint with the United Nations against the United States for violating the country. This is the latest of the ever-expanding fallout from an attack that killed a top Iranian military leader at the Baghdad airport. As CNBC reported, […]

Some Americans are worried that the draft may be coming back after a U.S. airstrike against a top Iranian commander sparked fears of another war, possibly one that could evolve into World War III, The New York Times reports. So many people visited the Selective Service website in the hours following the airstrike that killed […]

New airstrikes targeted the leader of an Iraqi militia group widely believed to be controlled by Iran, in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to reports out of the region. As of about 6 p.m. ET in the United States, there had been no further confirmation of the attacks, or of who carried them […]

A senior official from chemical weapons watchdog Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reportedly sent an internal email to remove all traces of a report suggesting the alleged chemical weapons attack on Douma, Syria, in April 2018 was a false flag operation, RT reports. The document was revealed by WikiLeaks and covered an […]

Two days have passed since Donald Trump hailed an announced cease-fire in Syria between the attacking Turkish military and Kurds who have made northeastern Syria their home “a great day for civilization.” This was so even as Middle East experts described the agreement brokered by United States Vice President Mike Pence as a “surrender.” On […]

On Friday, President Donald Trump posted a video that called Mitt Romney, the Republican senator from Utah, of being a “Democrat secret asset” who was trying to “infiltrate” the Trump administration. According to the Washington Examiner, the president called for Republicans to unite against the “slippery” Utah politician. Despite being a member of Trump’s own […]

On Friday, Donald Trump made a claim about the conflict in Syria that baffled foreign policy and energy industry experts, according to a Bloomberg News report. Trump told reporters that the United States had “taken control of the oil in the Middle East.” A video posted online this week, however, shows Russian mercenaries in control […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that substantial attacks against terrorists in Gaza will continue after more than 400 rockets were fired towards Israel, CNN reports. The prime minister’s remarks were made at a weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday morning. “Hamas bears the responsibility not only for its own attacks and actions but also for […]

Over 40,000 displaced persons, across 14 refugee camps, were battered by the recent flooding in northern Syria’s Idlib province, resulting in destroyed shelters, lost possessions, and at least two deaths, reports The National. The thousands of refugees living in these camps, having already survived mortar attacks, bombings, and other violence, have been unable to return […]

General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the Vice President of Afghanistan, was unharmed in a Taliban-led attack this weekend, reports The Associated Press. Multiple ambushes occurred on the evening of March 30, as General Dostum’s convoy was moving from northern Balkh to his home in the Zawzjan province. Dostum escaped unwounded, but not everyone was so lucky. […]

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is “not a country of all its citizens,” The Jerusalem Post reports. What prompted the prime minister’s comments were social media posts made by famous Israeli actress and television host Rotem Sela. In an Instagram post, Sela pointed out that Israel treats Arabs like second […]

The Trump White House has been extensively engaging with Evangelical leaders to discuss its Middle East peace plan, according to a new report from Axios. Earlier this week, a group of Evangelical leaders met with Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt. Pastor Paula White, Pastor Jentezen Franklin, Pastor John Hagee, and author Joel Rosenberg were […]

Has the United States and its allies defeated ISIS? The question is one well worth asking, especially since President Donald Trump has given conflicting answers on the topic. On December 19, shortly after announcing that he would be withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, Trump announced ISIS was defeated, fulfilling a campaign promise he made in […]

When the sources close to the Mueller investigation said that the prosecutor wasn’t close to finished, it seems that they meant that there was a whole second tier that would connect the Trump campaign to the Middle East with court filings which will start dropping as the calendar hits 2019. The Daily Beast says that […]

In his one term as president, the late George H.W. Bush took a tough stance on Israel. His policy helped bring the Middle East closer to a semblance of peace than any president ever did before or since. According to the Huffington Post, Bush helped orchestrate the first ever direct peace talks between Israel and […]

Invoking the spirits of our American ancestors on today’s celebration of Thanksgiving, Donald Trump has chosen to take his first moment of the morning to make it especially memorable for all by quietly reflecting on just how “mean and nasty” the world is. The subject was the focus of the president’s very first tweet of […]

Dozens of rockets flew into Israel from Gaza on Monday. According to reporting from the Jerusalem Post, the rockets are believed to have originated from Hamas. At least 70 rockets were reported to have flown over the border, during which sirens rang out nearby to warn residents about their approach. As of this reporting, there […]

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, recently made a rare official visit to Oman on Thursday, marking the first Israeli visit to the Sunni-majority state in over 20 years. The surprise meeting with Oman’s Sultan Qaboos was kept secret until the Israeli premier’s return home, after which Netanyahu’s office announced the visit. The two countries share […]

Patience is wearing thin for Donald Trump and Jared Kushner to unveil their plan for peace in the Middle East. And now one of the players is stepping forward to say that if the Trump-Kushner plan isn’t released soon, there are other ideas to be considered. French President Emmanuel Macron says that time is running […]

The Government of Canada announced October 12 via its official website that it would be allocating up to $50 million in aid to Palestinian refugees. In a statement, Minister of International Development Marie-Claude Bibeau said the following. “Canada’s new funding will contribute to improving the lives and protecting the human dignity of millions of Palestinian […]

Special courts set up to combat financial crimes in the Islamic Republic of Iran have sentenced three individuals to death, Reuters news agency reports. The announcement was made by Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on Iran’s state television. The three were sentenced to death after being convicted of “spreading corruption on earth,” which is a […]

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a Middle East peace plan is at hand and could be announced anywhere from two to four months, USA Today reported. Trump also confirmed longstanding U.S. support for a Palestinian state in brief comments ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the newspaper stated. The president […]

Iran president Hassan Rouhani blamed the United States and its Middle Eastern allies directly for the attack on a military parade which killed at least 25 people, including 12 members of the country’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, according to Reuters. Speaking shortly before leaving for New York where he is set to attend the […]

Former Secretary of State John Kerry has written a new memoir in which he addresses the complicated and sometimes fractured relationship that he had with Benjamin Netanyahu while attempting to forge a peace process in the Middle East with the Prime Minister of Israel. According to The Times of Israel, Kerry’s upcoming book Every Day […]

According to CNN, President Trump ordered the State Department to revoke over $200 million in economic aid to Palestine on Friday following a department-wide review examining whether or not the funding was in the American taxpayers’ best interests. A senior official from the State Department claimed that the economic aid, that was later withdrawn, was […]

On Wednesday night, Israel launched more than 70 rockets towards the Gaza Strip in retaliation to some 150 rockets fired at its territory, reports The Telegraph. The air strikes left three Palestinians dead, including a pregnant mother and a toddler. The pregnant mother, 23-year-old Enas Khammash, and her 18-month-old daughter Bayan were killed after rockets […]

According to CNN, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iranian leaders of creating mass violence across the Middle East in order to profit economically. At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Sunday, Pompeo said, “The ideologues who forcibly came to power in 1979 and remain in power today are driven by a desire to […]

According to CNN, the Gaza militant factions Hamas and Islamic Jihad reached a ceasefire with Israel on Saturday after a 24 hour increase in violence. Within the past day, around 200 rockets and mortars were launched toward Israel. The Israel Defense Forces are calling the incident the largest bombing in Gaza since 2014. Fawzi Barhoum, […]

Free Syrian Army spokesman, Ibrahim Jabawi, reported to CNN on Friday that both Russia and Syrian rebel groups have agreed upon a temporary ceasefire in Daraa. According to Jabawi, this agreement “will allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians to return home.” After weeks of fighting a Syrian regime influenced and supported by Russia, who […]

Russian airstrikes that included mortar shells and regime barrel bombs broke a ceasefire agreement brokered with the U.S. and Jordan in 2017 when they struck southwest Syria Saturday night and into Sunday according to the Wall Street Journal. Russian forces united with Syrian president Bashar al-Asaad in this effort to take over one of the […]

Kicking off a three-day European tour, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday. The goal of his tour according to Reuters is to persuade leaders of Germany, France, and the UK that it’s in the best interest of their countries and the world to pull out of the multi-national Iranian […]

Multiple human rights groups for Israel’s Supreme Court to declare regulations that allow soldiers to open fire on unarmed protestors illegal, and on Monday, they began doing just that. Protestors have gathered along the Gaza border each of the last five Fridays with the goal of bringing attention to the Palestinian situation. The weekly demonstrations […]

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has had a few close calls in the past when Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Defense Ministry fired missiles on specific targets around the city. All of the projectiles were fortunately intercepted and destroyed before they had the chance to reach their targets. However, the latest attack has reportedly claimed the life of […]

Two African lions have been recently rescued from Syria and Iraq, nations whose atmospheres are plastered with war. The big cats are now dwelling in a South African fortress called Lion’s Rock. Christopher Torchia of the Associated Press was among the first to share the news. Torchia reveals that Lion’s Rock is a place that […]

A Saudi Arabian soccer player is facing legal trouble after dabbing during a King’s Cup match. The Al Nojoom player, whose identity still remains unknown, was offered a high-five by a teammate, but instead, chose to do a dab, BBC reported. The entire incident has been caught on camera and, reportedly, even the sports broadcaster […]

This Wednesday the Kurdish militias of the YPG, who form the vanguard of the US-led assault on the Islamic State stronghold in the town of Raqqa, 200 kilometers north of Aleppo, have warned that they may soon be attacked directly by Turkish troops. This comes after weeks of increasing tensions between the YPG and the […]

Just a few weeks ago, in June 5, the Persian Gulf region was thrown into a political crisis when Saudi Arabia and its allies decided to cut ties with the State of Qatar and enact a blockade to the small island nation after accusing it of financing extremists in the wider Middle East region. Today, […]

This Friday morning a spokesman from the Turkish Ministry of Education declared that from 2019 onward, the country’s schools will no longer be teaching the theory of evolution, according to the Telegraph. The topic is to be removed from biology textbooks meant for the ninth-grade under the pretext that it is too complicated for younger […]