The United Arab Emirates warned Qatar on Monday it could not belong to the Gulf Cooperation Council if it undermined regional security, calling for a “change of behaviour” but not “regime change”. Anwar Gargash, the UAE state minister for foreign affairs, also denied a Washington Post report saying that his country had been behind an … Read more
President Rodrigo Duterte offered self-rule to the Philippines’ Muslim minority on Monday in an attempt to defeat Islamist militants who seized a southern city in the gravest challenge to his year-old rule. Duterte hopes the promise of autonomy will persuade Filipino Muslims to reject the Islamic State group, whose followers still control parts of Marawi … Read more
Muslims heeded calls Monday not to enter a Jerusalem holy site and protested outside after Israeli authorities installed metal detectors at entrances to the ultra-sensitive compound following an attack that killed two policemen. The compound was largely empty on Monday apart from tourists and Jewish visitors, with Muslims again praying and protesting outside the site … Read more
A Jordanian soldier has been sentenced to life in prison with hard labour for killing three US military trainers last year. Marik al-Tuwayha, who pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder, attacked the men as their vehicles approached al-Jafr air base in November. One was killed at the base and two others died later in hospital. … Read more
A Jordanian court on Monday sentenced a soldier to life imprisonment over the killing of three American military trainers outside an army base last year. The military court in Amman found 39-year-old Maarik Al-Tawaiha guilty of shooting the trainers as they waited to enter the King Faisal base at Al-Jafr in southern Jordan on November … Read more
Malaysian authorities have arrested a Vietnamese man and seized a stash of elephant ivory worth almost $70,000, an official said Monday, highlighting the country’s role as a hub for the wildlife-smuggling trade. The man was detained Friday at Kuala Lumpur’s main international airport after flying into the country from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, said airport … Read more
The people of war-torn Afghanistan continue to bear the brunt of the grinding conflict with civilian deaths at their worst since records began, the United Nations said Monday. Deaths in the capital Kabul accounted for nearly 20 percent of the toll, according to the the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report, which covers the … Read more
India has defended shelling across a disputed border that allegedly killed four Pakistani soldiers, saying Monday it had the right to retaliate over “ceasefire violations” in the Kashmir region. The military heads of India and Pakistan spoke by phone after Islamabad accused New Delhi of bombing one of its military vehicles Sunday, killing four of … Read more
Civilian deaths in Afghanistan hit a new high in the first half of 2017 with 1,662 killed and more than 3,500 injured, the United Nations said Monday. Deaths in the capital Kabul accounted for nearly 20 percent of the toll, according to the report by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which has been … Read more
LAST week President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that Switzerland has agreed to assist Ghana to increase its cocoa production and as well add value to its raw cocoa beans locally. THAT announcement was made when the President of Switzerland, Ms. Doris Leuthard, called on President Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House—the seat of government—in Accra on … Read more
From communing with forest spirits to whipping up love potions, Thailand’s cave-dwelling hermits once conducted their supernatural endeavours with just ancient magic and ritual as their guide. But today’s sorcerers are more connected than ever: armed with smart phones, Facebook profiles and business-savvy, a new crop of mystics are harnessing tech to cultivate followings across … Read more
South Korea on Monday offered to hold rare military talks with the North, aiming to ease tensions after Pyongyang tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile. The offer of talks, the first since South Korea elected dovish President Moon Jae-In, came as the Red Cross in Seoul proposed a separate meeting to discuss reunions of families … Read more
Pakistan’s military on Sunday accused India of hitting a military vehicle and killing four soldiers in cross-border firing in the disputed Kashmir region. The latest incident between the nuclear-armed neighbours took place in Athmaqam in Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s scenic Neelum Valley, where military officials said they responded to the Indian “ceasefire violation”. “The vehicle fell into … Read more
More than 330,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since it started six years ago, around a third of them civilians, a monitor said on Sunday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it has documented the deaths of 331,765 people across Syria since the conflict erupted in mid-March 2011 with anti-government … Read more
Security forces have killed nine militants in the Sinai Peninsula and also destroyed 15 vehicles transporting weapons into Egypt across its western border, the military said in statements on Sunday. The “extremists” were killed in two separate incidents in the middle Sinai, but the military did not say when they took place. Both involved the … Read more
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian held talks with top officials in Kuwait on Sunday in a bid to bolster the emirate’s attempts to mediate in the Gulf crisis. Le Drian met with Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Kuwait’s foreign minister, state news agency KUNA said, for talks on a regional rift which … Read more
Five Yemeni soldiers were killed and three wounded Sunday when gunmen suspected of ties to Al-Qaeda opened fire on a military checkpoint, an army source said. The source said the gunmen managed to escape after the attack on the checkpoint in the northeast of Shabwa province, a southern stronghold of Yemen’s powerful Al-Qaeda in the … Read more
Israeli ministers gave initial approval Sunday to a bill aimed at making it more difficult for the government to hand the Palestinians parts of Jerusalem as part of a future peace deal. The bill, proposed by Shuli Moalem-Refaeli of the far-right Jewish Home, determines that any ceding of lands considered by Israel to be part … Read more
Four suspected Islamist extremists surrendered Sunday after a night-long standoff with Bangladeshi police in which they detonated explosives and opened fire outside the capital Dhaka, an official said. Police said the armed militants belonged to a new faction of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), an outlawed group blamed for a wave of attacks including the murder … Read more
Israel reopened an ultra-sensitive holy site Sunday closed after an attack that killed two policemen, but Muslim worshippers were refusing to enter due to new security measures including metal detectors and cameras. Crowds chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest) as a number of initial visitors entered Jerusalem’s Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the … Read more