UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United Nations Security Council removed sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. The U.S.-drafted resolution on Thursday also lifted sanctions on Syrian Interior
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -An Israeli hostage who was released in October has told an Israeli television channel he was subjected to sexual violence during his two-year captivity in Gaza by Palestinian militants -- the first male hostage to publicly make such an accusation. Rom
The United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a US resolution on Thursday to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, ahead of his White House visit next week. "(The Council) decides that Ahmed al-Sharaa...and (Interior Minister) Anas Hasan Khattab are
By Jonathan Saul and Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) -Pirates boarded a Malta-flagged products tanker off Somalia on Thursday, but the crew took refuge in a fortified safe room and remain in control of the vessel, maritime security sources said. A burst of armed attacks on
The newly elected mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, is married to Rama Duwaji, a woman of Syrian descent. For many in Syria, that practically makes him family. That he's also a Muslim and a supporter of the Palestinian cause doesn't hurt either, and his election victory
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said that a new country would be announced on Thursday night as entering the Abraham Accords that have normalized relations between Israel and Muslim-majority nations. Witkoff told a business forum in Florida that he would
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United Nations Security Council on Thursday will start negotiations on a U.S.-drafted resolution to endorse President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, said a senior U.S. government official, and authorize a two-year mandate for a
The move comes days before Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is due to visit the White House.
BEIRUT (Reuters) -The Israeli military carried out heavy airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Thursday after issuing evacuation orders for several locations, saying Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was trying to rebuild its military capabilities there. The orders and strikes came
Iran is seeking to boost ties with Venezuela and has expressed solidarity following US strikes targeting drug smugglers off the country's coast, though their energy relationship has declined in recent years.
Friends Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry shared the lead in the Abu Dhabi Championship after they were paired together on Thursday and both shot eight-under-par opening rounds of 64. The pair shared the lead with New Zealander Kazuma Kobori, South African Richard Sterne and
More than 700 police deployed across the UK city of Birmingham Thursday for protests planned ahead of a football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa, with visiting Israeli fans barred. The UK government last month vowed to reverse the ban on Maccabi fans attending
Hezbollah’s response to President Joseph Aoun’s call for talks with Israel have further deepened divisions in the country.
In the span of 24 hours, passengers attacked drivers in nine separate incidents in Jerusalem earlier this week. Union data shows attacks have increased by 30 percent, with more than 100 incidents reported this year, but they say the police aren't doing enough to stop it
(Reuters) -Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces agreed to a proposal from the United States for a humanitarian ceasefire, they said on Thursday in a statement. The war erupted in April 2023 when the Sudanese army and the RSF, then partners in power, clashed over plans to
By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO (Reuters) -Hamas fighters holed up in the Israeli-held Rafah area of Gaza would surrender their arms in exchange for passage to other areas of the enclave under a proposal to resolve an issue seen as a risk to the month-old truce, according to two
According to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, the plants will use a combination of natural gas and solar energy.
By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) -A Greek prosecutor has extended charges to four more senior coast guard officers over one of the Mediterranean's deadliest accidents, a 2023 shipwreck in which hundreds drowned off the southwestern town of Pylos, legal sources said on
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -A Dutch appeals court on Thursday confirmed a decision to throw out a case brought by pro-Palestinian groups to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. The court said it was
How long is the drive from Nablus to Hebron? In the West Bank, the answer depends on the day, the hour, and the whim of IDF soldiers
By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Anwar Ibrahim, 25, is so frustrated with Iraq's sectarian politics that he is running for parliament, joining a wave of young Iraqis challenging an entrenched elite at elections next week. “I believe young people and technocrats should be
The airbase sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarized zone as part of a non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria. Trump will meet President al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, the first such visit by a Syrian head of state
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Timour Azhari AMMAN/DAMASCUS (Reuters) -The United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, six sources familiar with the
In his workshop near the Syrian capital, Ghassan Aama is at a loss following a recent decision to massively hike electricity prices, even as much of the country continues to face extensive outages. Last month, the energy ministry raised prices by at least 60 times compared to
Israel struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Thursday as the group rejected the prospect of direct political talks between the countries and vowed to defend itself. The Israeli military confirmed a new series of strikes had begun after warning civilians to evacuate
Hezbollah lashed out on Thursday against the prospect of any political negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, and insisted that it has a right to defend itself. A source close to Hezbollah's political leadership told AFP the declaration followed recent US and Egyptian
By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD/KABUL (Reuters) -Afghanistan and Pakistan will resume peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday, both nations said, after a previous round ended without agreeing a lasting truce. Militaries from the South Asian neighbours clashed last month, with dozens
A French-British investigation into alleged bribery at France-based defence giant Thales is examining a contract with Indonesia, an AFP investigation has showed. In November last year, Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said it had launched a joint investigation with its
BAGHDAD Reuters) -Masoud Barzani, the Iraqi Kurdish leader who first took up arms against Saddam Hussein as a teenage guerrilla, remains a towering figure in Kurdish politics as Iraq heads into its November 11 election. Though he no longer holds an official post, Barzani’s
(Reuters) -Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday that the group had "a legitimate right to resist (Israeli) occupation", adding that the group would support the Lebanese army. Hezbollah also said that, while Lebanon was bound by a ceasefire, it was not obligated to be drawn into
VIENNA (Reuters) -The total area of land in Afghanistan on which opium poppy is grown shrank 20% this year, according to a U.N. estimate issued on Thursday, a further drop since farming of the raw material for heroin collapsed in 2023 after the Taliban banned it. The United