TEHRAN  – Romania’s defense minister says the country will purchase Patriot missiles worth $3.9 billion from the United States in the first half of 2019. The comments from Defense Minister Mihai Fifor came after Romania’s Senate’s defense committee on Monday formally approved the acquisition of the missiles, which then needs to be approved by the […]

TEHRAN – The EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday hailed “extremely encouraging” talks with Aung San Suu Kyi on the Rohingya crisis, welcoming steps towards the repatriation of Muslims driven from Myanmar into Bangladesh. But her optimistic tone appeared sharply at odds with the realities on the ground in a crisis that has […]

Marathon talks on forming a coalition government in Germany have collapsed, plunging the eurozone’s largest economy into a political crisis and casting doubt on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s fourth term. Germany’s pro-business Free Democrats Party (FDP) unexpectedly called off more than four weeks of coalition talks with Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the left-leaning Greens as they […]

Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court has ruled Kurdistan’s controversial secession referendum as unconstitutional, saying the results of the vote are void. “The Federal Court issued the decision to consider the Kurdish region’s referendum unconstitutional and this ruling is final,” a court spokesman said on Monday. The tribunal is responsible for settling disputes between Iraq’s central government and […]

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has resisted mounting pressure to step down, telling the nation that he will preside over a ruling party congress next month. The 93-year-old Zimbabwean leader had been widely expected to announce his resignation as Zimbabwe’s head of state and government on Sunday, five days after a surprise military takeover in which […]

Lebanon’s foreign minister will not attend an extraordinary Arab League meeting on Sunday (Nov 19) called by Saudi Arabia to discuss what Riyadh claims “violations” committed by Iran. Arab foreign ministers will gather in Cairo on Sunday at the request of Riyadh, whose regional rivalry with Teheran has escalated in recent weeks. But Lebanon’s top […]

TEHRAN  – As US President Donald Trump remains entirely silent over a recent deadly earthquake in Western Iran, Sen. Bernie Sanders and four Democratic senators sent a letter to Rex Tillerson demanding that the White House waive certain sanctions on Iran and allow aid to reach those in need. “After earthquakes in 2003 and 2012, […]

TEHRAN- A manhunt was underway in western Pennsylvania early Saturday for a suspect in the fatal shooting of a police officer Friday night in a town outside Pittsburgh. Authorities have recovered a brown, older model Jeep Grand Cherokee wanted in connection with the slaying, Fox news reported. SWAT teams and police dogs were assisting local […]

TEHRAN  – Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar has tendered resignation from his post, media reports emerged on Saturday. After his resignation, the ministry would be held by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqa Abbasi while an advisory committee on economic affairs would be set up to assist Abbasi, the local media added, Daily Pakistan reported. […]

Negotiations to bolster the climate-saving Paris Agreement, crafted over two decades, closed in Bonn Saturday, deflated but not derailed by Donald Trump’s rejection of the treaty and defence of fossil fuels. The US President’s decision to yank the United States from the hard-fought global pact cast a long shadow over the talks, which ran deep […]