WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will host a Board of Peace meeting on Thursday in Washington, where he will announce that member states have pledged more than $5 billion for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Gaza, the White House said. White
Feb 18 (Reuters) - The United States is imposing visa restrictions on 18 Iranian officials and telecommunications industry leaders, the State Department said on Wednesday, in the latest such move against Tehran. (Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones and Costas Pitas)
The director of the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday rejected accusations from more than 80 film industry figures that the festival had helped censor artists who oppose Israel's actions in Gaza. In an open letter published on Tuesday, Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and
By Feras Dalatey DAMASCUS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Fewer than 1,000 families remain at a camp where relatives of suspected Islamic State militants had been held in Syria's northeast, the camp's former director said on Wednesday, with thousands having fled last month as government
Moscow’s energy minister said Russia is currently building equipment for new units at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant.
The list of countries attending Thursday's inaugural meeting 'says less about confidence in the board itself and more about concern over where U.S. policy may go next,' one security expert says
The United States is building a major force of naval and air assets in the Middle East, potentially setting the stage for a sustained military campaign against Iran. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if ongoing talks do not reach a
Leila Shahid, the first woman diplomat representing Palestine abroad, died in southern France aged 76, her family said Wednesday. "She died today," her sister Zeina told AFP, without providing further details. Born in Lebanon in 1949, Shahid was the first woman to represent the
The UAE also has other significant investments in Somaliland, including around $442 million in funding from logistics company DP World to modernize the port of Berbera.
Satellite images reveal Iran is shielding a site hit by Israel and burying nuclear tunnel entrances bombed by the U.S. last year. The fortification of missile bases comes as Tehran and Washington remain deadlocked over a new nuclear deal.
By Parisa Hafezi DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Iranians have returned to the streets this week to mourn those killed by security forces during last month's anti-government demonstrations, sparking some new crackdowns in an echo of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought down the
Graham pushed back against what he called “false narratives” about the UAE leader, making the remarks after days of online rumors regarding the president’s health.
DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, the senator said in a post on X, where he also criticised what he called “false narratives” circulating about the UAE and its
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is also expected to attend the Board of Peace meeting, raising the prospect of the first face-to-face talks between top Turkish and Israeli diplomats since the war amid high-running tensions.
By Marine Delrue Feb 18 (Reuters) - Satellite images show that Iran has recently built a concrete shield over a new facility at a sensitive military site and covered it in soil, experts say, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel in 2024 amid tensions with the
By Mahmoud Issa GAZA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - As the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began in Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinians headed to the shattered ruins of mosques or to makeshift prayer spaces made of tarpaulins and wood, mourning their dead and their lost places of worship. In
By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Before Pakistan commits to sending troops to Gaza as part of the International Stabilization Force it wants assurances from the United States that it will be a peacekeeping mission rather than tasked with disarming Hamas, three
Kurdish fighters who have laid down their arms should be reintegrated into society, Turkish lawmakers urged in a key report released Wednesday, while ruling out an "amnesty". The recommendations of the cross-party parliamentary commission are meant to prepare the legal
The signatories – Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Indonesia and Pakistan – said the decision violates international law and constitutes a 'grave escalation aimed at accelerating illegal settlement activity, land confiscation, and
Kurdish fighters who have laid down their arms should be reintegrated into society, Turkish lawmakers urged in a key report released Wednesday, while avoiding any reference to an "amnesty". The recommendations of the cross-party parliamentary commission are meant to prepare the
Little Ramadan lanterns and string lights appeared on streets lined with collapsed buildings and piles of rubble in Gaza City, bringing joy and respite as Islam's holiest month began -- the first since October's ceasefire. In the Omari mosque, dozens of worshippers performed
ISTANBUL, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he is pleased to see steps taken in neighbouring Syria to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into state structures, after a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal late last month between the sides. In
ANKARA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will travel to Washington in lieu of President Tayyip Erdogan for the inaugural meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" on Thursday, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. A Turkish diplomatic
By Ece Toksabay ANKARA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - A Turkish parliamentary commission was set to vote on Wednesday on adopting a draft report to facilitate the disarmament of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which would advance a peace process meant to end a more than
By Jana Choukeir, Andrew Mills and Maha El Dahan DUBAI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The departure of the chief executive of Dubai port giant DP World is the biggest fallout in the Middle East from U.S. Department of Justice documents whichshowthat disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein
Feb 18 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday night about U.S.-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Geneva, as well as talks between the U.S. and Iran on their nuclear dispute, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Even without the human headline-generator of UN Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, the volume of published news on Israel and Palestine dwarfs other conflicts. Why is this – and will it ever end?
By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Vatican will not participate in U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called "Board of Peace" initiative, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, said on Tuesday while adding that efforts to handle crisis
Weeks after Hamdy Ibrahim left his village in Egypt's Nile Delta hoping to reach Europe, his brother's phone rang with a chilling message from Libya: pay now or the boy would die. A smuggler was on the line, demanding 190,000 pounds ($4,000) to secure the 18-year-old's place on
BERLIN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - More than 80 actors, directors and other artists who have taken part in the Berlin Film Festival, including Tilda Swinton and Javier Bardem, signed an open letter to the organisers published on Tuesday calling for them to take a clear stance on
By Matt Spetalnick, Olivia Le Poidevin and Parisa Hafezi WASHINGTON/GENEVA/DUBAI, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Even for a U.S. president long fixated on deal-making, Donald Trump’s assignment of his favorite envoys to juggle two sets of negotiations – the Iranian nuclear standoff and
With Iran seeking a partial deal to ease sanctions and quiet protests, and the U.S. zigzagging between talks and further military build-up, the IDF is bracing for the worst scenario: failed talks leading to America and Iran getting into a war that might well involve Israel
Qatar is moving to shore up ties with Venezuela as the US seeks greater control over the South American country’s oil revenues.
More than 80 film industry figures including Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton issued a statement on Tuesday slamming the Berlin Film Festival's "silence" on Gaza. The signatories to the open letter, sent to AFP, said they were "appalled" by the festival's