US President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Arabia’s powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday, for talks expected to focus on the economy and rolling back Iranian influence. Trump welcomed the young prince to the Oval Office, as both countries expect to improve ties that were frequently strained under Barack Obama’s … Read more
Dozens of women staged a sit-in outside UN offices in Yemen’s capital Tuesday demanding an end to the country’s war that has left millions displaced and at risk of famine. Girls and women of all ages carried the red, white and black Yemeni flag as they sang the national anthem, some with their babies wrapped … Read more
The battle against jihadists in Ben Guerdane a year ago was a “turning point” for Tunisia, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said on Tuesday during a visit to commemorate the anniversary. Jihadist groups mounted a coordinated assault on security installations in the town on the border with Libya last March 7, aiming to win over residents … Read more
At least 11 soldiers were killed in Mali on Sunday in an attack on an army base near the border with Burkina Faso, as rival armed factions surrounded the flashpoint city of Timbuktu. The jihadist attack on the border village of Boulekessi killed 11 troops and wounded five more, according to an official toll from … Read more
Senegal and The Gambia on Saturday affirmed a “new dynamic” between the two countries since the fall of former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, and vowed to strengthen economic and military co-operation. New President Adama Barrow has described French-speaking Senegal, which almost entirely surrounds his Anglophone nation, as The Gambia’s “best friend”, breaking with fractious years … Read more
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Kenya on Sunday for talks with leaders on regional issues, his spokesman said Friday, as South Sudan and Somalia face famine. Somalia is facing the threat of a famine while parts of northern South Sudan are already suffering from starvation. Kenya is a key player in peace efforts … Read more
A Jordanian army ambulance pulled up at a makeshift clinic a few hundred metres from a desert border camp where tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are trapped in no man’s land. A paramedic clambered out, carrying an emaciated boy around two years old. “Whose child is this?” he shouted as a border guard covered … Read more
US President Donald Trump’s attacks on Muslims and his support for strongman leaders are exacerbating an already dramatic rights decline in the Arab world, two Arab Spring champions said Thursday. Former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki told reporters in Geneva that the respect for human rights in Arab countries “has never been worse than now,” pointing … Read more
Gambian President Adama Barrow is expected in Senegal for a three-day official visit. It is Barrow’s first official visit outside of the Gambia since taking his oath in Senegal on January 20. The Minister of Communication at the Senegalese Presidency, Elhadji Hamidou Kassé, confirmed the visit on Wednesday. Barrow arrives on Thursday and departs on … Read more
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman called Thursday for a united fight against terrorism in a speech to Indonesia’s parliament during a landmark state visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. The king is making the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Indonesia in almost 50 years as part of a tour of Asia, accompanied … Read more
German Chancellor Angela Merkel starts a two-day trip to Egypt and Tunisia on Thursday, part of her push to limit migrant flows to Europe through North Africa, especially chaos-torn Libya. Since the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi, Libya has lacked a national government, which has made it the main gateway for African migrants heading for … Read more
Indonesia and Saudi Arabia Wednesday signed agreements in areas ranging from trade to aviation as the kingdom’s monarch visited the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country for the first time in almost half a century. King Salman was treated to an elaborate official welcome as he arrived in Jakarta, his latest stop on an Asian tour … Read more
King Salman Wednesday began the first visit by a Saudi monarch to Indonesia in almost 50 years, seeking to strengthen economic ties with the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country. The king — who is accompanied by about 1,000 people, including princes and ministers — disembarked from his official plane at a Jakarta airport and was … Read more
Seven people detained in a rebel-held part of Yemen for using recycled boxes originating in Saudi Arabia to distribute aid have been released, the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Thursday. “We are greatly relieved by the release of our staff members and the driver,” said Mutasim Hamdan, the organisation’s Yemen country director. “They are in … Read more
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Algeria from Monday to press efforts to get North African countries to reduce the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean into Europe. Merkel, who last week hosted Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed, is hoping for partnerships with Maghreb countries and Egypt to prevent a new wave of migrants making the … Read more
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is on a two-day visit to Algeria starting Monday. She is scheduled to hold talks with President Abdelaziz Boutef. The topics to be discussed at this meeting are mainly expected to be around security, immigration and economic relations. Merkel last visited Algeria in 2008. It is her first visit to Africa … Read more
Thousands celebrated Saturday as new Gambian President Adama Barrow retook his oath of office, a month after he was sworn in across the border in neighbouring Senegal during a tense power struggle. February 18 is also the anniversary of The Gambia’s independence from Britain, but many are also calling the day the birth of a … Read more
Shared fears over US President Donald Trump’s policies could bring Iran and Gulf Arab countries closer together, analysts said after a fence-mending regional tour by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani’s visit Wednesday to Oman and Kuwait follows years of rising tensions between Iran and its Gulf Arab neighbours, fuelled by the conflicts in Syria and … Read more
Juma Mohammed Abdullah al-Kaabi, centre, has died of wounds sustained in the Kandahar attack The ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Afghanistan died on Wednesday of wounds sustained in a bomb attack in Kandahar last month that also killed five Emirati aid workers, the UAE’s foreign ministry announced. “With great sadness and sorrow, we … Read more
Almost six years into a war that has devastated their country, Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon say they expect nothing of peace talks this month but still dream of going home. “I don’t think anything will come of the talks” this week in Kazakhstan and the next in Switzerland, says Ahmad al-Khabouri, 32, at … Read more