A Lebanese presidential decree to naturalize hundreds of foreigners, including Iraqi Vice President Iyad Allawi and other regional elites, has ignited a row over who deserves citizenship in this tiny Mediterranean country, where one in four people is a refugee and women married to foreigners cannot pass on their citizenship to their children. News of the decree, which was signed ...

Rarely are journalists lost for words. But how do you describe the destruction of entire mountains, the slashing down of tens of thousands of pine trees, the very shape of the landscape changed by more than 3,000 quarries which have ripped apart the geography of Lebanon and made a new map of its blessed and ancient land – the Massacre of the Mountains? ...

Jordan’s incoming prime minister defused his first political minefield after unions welcomed his plan to reconsider a proposed income tax increase that sparked widespread protests and brought down his predecessor. Prime Minister-designate Omar Al Razzaz told reporters in Amman that the tax bill would be withdrawn for review once his new cabinet is sworn in — as King Abdullah II ...

An Iraqi court on Sunday jailed a French woman for 20 years for belonging to the Islamic State (IS) group as her lawyers accused authorities in Paris of “interference” to prevent her returning to France. Melina Boughedir, a mother of four, was sentenced last February to seven months in prison for “illegal” entry into the country, and was set to ...

Egypt is re-testing a 63,000-tonne Russian wheat cargo for ergot, the common grain fungus, days after rejecting it for excessive levels, official and trade sources said. The samples were sent from the Red Sea port of Safaga to a central laboratory in Cairo. Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, said on Thursday the cargo, sold to state grain buyer GASC, ...

May 10 (Renewables Now) – China’s Golden Concord Ltd (GCL) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Egypt’s ministry of military production that outlines a plan to build a 5-GW solar panel factory, state-run news agency MENA said. The pact envisages building the photovoltaic (PV) production facility at a total cost of up to USD 2 billion (EUR ...

CAIRO – 25 April 2018: The Egyptian authorities allowed 24 Palestinian citizens stranded at the Cairo and Borg El Arab international airports to return to the Gaza Strip via three vehicles, Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Loh stated on Wednesday. Loh asserted that the Egyptian and Palestinian authorities are conducting ongoing efforts to open the Rafah border crossing from both ...

Hamas’ demonstrations have been taking place along the border fence for over a month now. The number of participants may have dropped, but the violence has intensified, with many Palestinians getting hurt and even killed. The Israeli military is currently investigating the death of a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead April 21. Nevertheless, there is almost universal consensus in Israel surrounding the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) ...

At least four people are dead and 10 others are injured after a bridge collapsed near Florida International University in Miami, officials say. Rescue teams were still searching the rubble on Thursday night for victims trapped beneath the buckled footbridge. The structure toppled over an eight-lane motorway on Thursday afternoon, crushing at least eight vehicles, according to police. It is ...

Iraq is considering the purchase of Russia’s potent S-400 air and missile defense system. However, there has been to firm decision in Baghdad to proceed with a purchase just yet. “There is no delegation in Moscow now to purchase S-400,” Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Haidar Mansour Hadi told reporters according to the Russian TASS newsagency.  “When the Iraqi government decides ...