At least 54 Egyptian police officers were killed in an ambush by militants near the Bahariya oasis in the country’s Western Desert, security and medical sources said Saturday, in a rare flare-up outside the Sinai Peninsula.The interior ministry said security forces hunting down militants in the region were attacked late Friday on a road to […]

Saudi Arabia and Iraq convened a new joint body to coordinate their fight against the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group and on rebuilding Iraqi territory wrested from the group, Saudi King Salman and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in Riyadh on Sunday. The rare senior meeting, signaling a thaw between states that have been […]

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swept to a resounding victory in a snap election on Sunday, winning a mandate to harden his already hawkish stance on North Korea and reenergize the world’s number-three economy. Abe’s conservative coalition was on track to win 311 seats in the 465-seat parliament, according to a projection published by private […]

US former president, Jimmy Carter, said he would be willing to travel to North Korea on behalf of the incumbent US administration to help diffuse rising tensions, The New York Times reported on its website on Sunday.“I would go, yes,” Carter, 93, told the Times when he was asked in an interview at his ranch […]

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has secured a big victory in Sunday’s election, boosting his push to reform the country’s pacifist constitution amid tensions with North Korea. At a news conference on Monday, Abe said that he would pursue “strong diplomacy” to pressure Pyongyang to halt its nuclear weapons programme. He also referred to Japanese […]

New players may participate in the seventh international Astana meeting on Syria, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov told reporters on Monday. “I don’t rule out such a possibility, everything depends on how the guarantor countries coordinate their activities,” he said when asked if new parties could join the Astana talks, according to TASS. According to […]

A senior Russian diplomat has criticized certain countries’ calls for the expansion of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspections to include Iranian military sites, saying the IAEA has no authority to carry out such inspection.   “I would like to say absolutely clear and directly that acquiring some false topicality [about] the theme of the IAEA work […]

TEHRAN, – Stephane Michel, Total’s president for Exploration and Production in the MENA region says that he is not worried about Trump’s anti-Iran measures.  “Total is committed to international regulations and will keep on abiding by,” said Stephane Michel, French oil major Total’s president for Exploration and Production in the Middle East and North Africa […]

TEHRAN  – Afghanistan’s election commission is not Independent and follows President Ashraf Ghani’s orders, senior Afghan lawmaker said. First Deputy of Afghanistan’s Parliament Speaker Homayoun Homayoun referred to the establishment of a commission by Ghani to provide the logistical support for the election process and said the move is “direct interference” in upcoming elections affairs. […]

HOMS –The Syrian Army, in cooperation with allied forces, on Sat. restored security and stability to al-Qaryateen city in the south-eastern countryside of Homs SANA reporter said. After the elimination of ISIL terrorist groups which earlier infiltrated into the city, the military engineering units, according to the reporter, removed the explosive devices and mines planted […]