The Lebanese Constitutional Council yesterday announced that it has received appeals against the legality of the election of 40 MPs of the 128 appointed in the recent elections. Head of the Constitutional Council Issam Suleiman said in a press conference in Beirut that the appeal “does not invalidate the election result. The elected candidate is considered an MP and can ...

Jordan has received back into service the first of 12 Bell AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters that are being put through an extensive upgrade process. Northrop Grumman, which as a subcontractor to Science and Engineering Services (SES) is updating the avionics of the 1980s-vintage helicopters, announced on 7 June that the first have now been shipped from Huntsville, Alabama, to Jordan ...

The Islamic State group seized parts of a key town on the Syrian-Iraqi border today in a massive operation that further confirmed the jihadists remain a force on the ground. IS used at least 10 suicide bombers in its offensive on Albu Kamal, which lies in he Euphrates Valley in eastern Syria and swiftly took several neighbourhoods, the Syrian Observatory ...

Airstrikes on a village in rebel-held Syria have killed at least 44 civilians and injured a further 80, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has said, in the biggest attack in the area so far this year. The UK-based war monitor as well as the Syrian Civil Defence service said the attack on Zardana in Idlib province overnight on Thursday involved a ‘double ...

The world should stand up to Washington’s bullying behavior, Iran’s foreign minister was quoted as saying on Sunday by state media in a letter to counterparts, as the top diplomat intensifies efforts to save a nuclear deal after a U.S. exit. U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out last month from the 2015 accord between Iran and world powers that lifted ...

Iraq and Iran have begun exchanging crude oil, the Iranian oil ministry’s news agency SHANA said on Sunday, in a deal that will position Tehran to expand its interests in its most important Arab ally in the face of growing pressure from Washington. Crude from the Kirkuk field in northern Iraq is being shipped by truck to Iran. Tehran will ...

Hundreds of Jordanians took to the streets of the capital Amman on Sunday in a fourth day of nightly protests against IMF-backed price increases that have shaken the kingdom. Demonstrators who converged near the cabinet office chanted slogans calling for the sacking of Prime Minister Hani Mulki, vowing they would only disband if the government rescinded a tax bill it ...

Australia’s response to China’s continuing rise mixes anxiety, even a touch of paranoia, with anticipation of the riches that derive from the sale of vast quantities of commodities. Economic dependence on China is two-edged and potentially policy-distorting. To put this in perspective: Australian exports of goods and services to China in 2016-17 were worth $110.4 billion. That accounts for nearly 30 per ...

CAIRO – Mohamed Salah’s absence is affecting Egypt’s World Cup preparations, coach Hector Cuper said after the team played out a goalless draw with Colombia at the start of the weekend. “We are working to cover the absence of Salah. The players responded perfectly to our instructions, but Salah’s absence affects any team negatively,” Cuper said after Friday’s goallesss draw ...

The final stages of the Turnbull government’s plan to dramatically flatten Australia’s income tax scales will provide a multibillion-dollar boon to the top 20% of income earners, and they deserve further scrutiny by parliament, a progressive thinktank says. The Australia Institute has produced new modelling of the most expensive elements of the government’s income tax plan, saying the Senate needs ...