Middle East Monitor

Lebanon’s top Christian cleric said on Sunday the nation faced “multiple dangers” that would be hard to weather without a government, speaking after the prime minister-designate quit and dealt a blow to France’s bid to lift the country out of crisis, Reuters reports. Muslim religious figures also said Lebanese needed to unite […]

At least 15 people died when rubber boats carrying irregular migrants sank Saturday in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Anadolu Agency reported. Libyan Coast Guard teams detected the boats carrying 120 irregular migrants, the IOM said on social media. At least 105 of the […]

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Sunday he is not a candidate to form a new government, Anadolu Agency reports. “Hariri is not a candidate to form a new government,” his office said in a statement. The denial came one day after Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib resigned on Saturday after failing […]

Qatar Airways received a 7.3 billion riyal ($1.95 billion) lifeline from the Qatar government after losing 7 billion riyal in the year to March 31, the state-owned group disclosed on Sunday, Reuters reports. Several countries, including the United States, have stepped in to help airlines hammered by the coronavirus crisis that brought […]

A video showing a Turkish man, described as a lookalike for German communist philosopher Karl Marx, taking to the dance floor at a wedding in Turkey has gone viral on social media. The clip surfaced on Twitter and became one of the top trending in the country on Tuesday, with […]

A prominent Emirati poet said Sunday she was barred from travel over her opposition to her country’s decision to normalise relations with Israel, Anadolu Agency reports. Dhabiya Khamis said she was banned from boarding a Cairo-bound flight from the Dubai Airport. “The ban is probably because of my announced opinion against […]

Iraq’s foreign minister arrived in Tehran on Saturday morning for a two-day visit of wide-ranging talks in the wake of the US warning it might close its Baghdad embassy due to threats, including from Iranian-backed militias, Anadolu Agency reports. Iraq’s Fuad Hussein and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif discussed bilateral relations, including […]

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the United Nations on Friday that his country has “no intention” of harming Sudan and Egypt with a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile that has caused a bitter water dispute between the three countries, Reuters reports. Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan failed to strike a deal on […]

The Yemeni government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels agreed to exchange more than 1,000 prisoners and detainees Saturday, according to government sources, Anadolu Agency reports. Representatives from both sides met in Geneva to discuss the exchange of 1,008 prisoners and detainees. Saudi Arabian soldiers will reportedly be included in the exchange but no […]

In a new blow to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Court of Appeal in Paris rejected most complaints he filed challenging the eight-year investigation into the Libyan funds he is accused of receiving from late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2017 election campaign. The court decision allows examining […]

Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in Tunisia Khalifa Atwan apologised to President of the Republic Kais Saied and his cabinet for not inviting them to the celebration of the Day of Atonement, known as Yom Kippur, and to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. The rabbi attributed the decision […]

The Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala announced on Friday that his country will communicate with Greece and Malta to negotiate the demarcation of maritime borders, in a way that does not harm Libya’s interests. This came during his meeting with the President of the Board of Directors of the Libyan […]

The Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir announced that the port of Alexandria will receive a new batch of passenger railroad cars from Russia, consisting of 22 vehicles. Al-Wazir pointed out that 103 passenger cars have arrived so far, as part of a deal to manufacture and supply 1,300 new […]

Sudan has recently witnessed a heinous rape crime sparking widespread anger across the country, as an eight-year-old girl was gang-raped by 14 people. After her parents divorced, Zainab Yasser lived with her mother, later residing with her father. It was during the time that she was living with her father […]

The State of Qatar refused to assume the presidency of the 154th regular session of the Arab League at the ministerial level instead of Palestine, which has recently resigned from the position. Qatar announced in a statement on Thursday evening: “We apologise for completing the aforementioned session, which the State […]

Egyptian naval forces have shot dead two Palestinian fishermen, and wounded and arrested a third on Friday after they allegedly crossed into Egyptian territorial waters, Anadolu Agency reported. According to Nizar Ayyash, head of Gaza’s fishermen union, the Egyptian navy followed the fishermen’s boat and opened fire on them after […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies have threatened to impose emergency regulations to prevent anti-Netanyahu protests, after failing to pass restrictions on coronavirus law. Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported on Friday that the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee dispersed on Friday at 2 a.m. without approving changes on coronavirus […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the construction of 5,000 new settlement units in an Israeli Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported on Friday. According to the news website of Israeli TV Channel 7, Netanyahu has called for the Israeli High Council of Planning and […]

The US Army has sent 70 trucks to Syria through the Al-Waleed border crossing with Iraq, local sources said Friday, Anadolu Agency reports. The convoy, including 12 armoured vehicles, trucks with essential supplies, and several fuel tankers, went to US bases in Syria’s Hasakah, Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zour provinces on […]

Three people were killed by police during anti-regime protests in Al-Jiza, according to Egyptian opponent activists and media outlets late Friday, Anadolu Agency reports. “Despite peaceful demonstrations, the Interior Ministry killed three people in Al-Iyad [in Al-Jiza],” Egyptian businessman and dissident Mohamed Ali, who lives in self-exile in Spain, said on […]

The Kuwaiti Prime Minister reaffirmed his country’s principled and firm position in supporting the choices of the Palestinian people to obtain their legitimate rights, Anadolu Agency reports. “The Palestinian cause still occupies a central historical and pivotal position in Arab and Islamic worlds,” Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah told the 75th […]

A Muslim scholar has linked recent normalization deals between the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Israel to a campaign aimed at undermining Islam and monopolising the Islamic countries, Anadolu Agency reports. Ali Al-Qaradaghi, the Secretary-General of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), said there are many tools being used […]

Turkey’s foreign minister extended condolences Friday to Ukraine for a military plane crash that killed 22 people,  Anadolu Agency reports. “I share the sorrow of the families of those who lost their lives in a deadly plane crash in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter. He extended his condolences […]

Palestinian professor Abdul-Halim Al-Ashqar, originally from the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, narrates his suffering inside US jails during his 15-year detention. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Al-Ashqar, who ran for Palestinian presidential elections in 2005, disclosed that he spent a total of about 15 years inside US prisons over […]