Syria's ongoing major civil war, which has pitted the country's population against each other, has apparently not affected the popularity of President Bashar al-Assad, apparently. Assad has been reelected as President of Syria in an overwhelming electoral victory, with nearly 90% of Syrian voters choosing him for another term. Elections took place for Assad's
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton sharply criticized US President Barack H. Obama's decision to release five Taliban terrorists in return for US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Speaking to Arutz Sheva this week, Bolton said that “I believe that under no circumstances should we be conducting negotiations with terrorists. The release of these
Secretary of State John Kerry defended Wednesday a US decision to work with the new Palestinian Authority "unity government", despite Israeli criticism, claiming that it does not include any Hamas ministers. The United States, like Israel and the European Union, consider the Islamist group Hamas a terrorist organisation. Speaking to reporters in Beirut,
The Taliban on Wednesday released dramatic footage of their handover of army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl to U.S. forces after five years in captivity. "Don't come to Afghanistan again. Next time, nobody will release you," one of the gun-toting militants is heard telling Bergdahl in the 17-minute video. {youtube}H6u5dhpF8OM{/youtube} It shows a U.S.
Saudi authorities have banned the sale of books by two Islamist authors known to be sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Arabiya reports, citing the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat. The Saudi-owned paper said it has confirmed information that books authored by Saudi cleric Salman al-Odah and his Kuwaiti counterpart Tariq al-Suwaidan were ordered to
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed on Tuesday the formation of the new Palestinian “unity government” which includes the Hamas terrorist group. In a statement, Ban expressed hope that new opportunities for progress towards a two-State solution with Israel will emerge soon, saying the UN had received assurances that the Hamas-Fatah deal would be
Egypt’s former defense minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi was officially declared Egypt’s new president on Tuesday, as final results from last week’s vote found him winning more than 96 percent of the vote. Gulf News reported that the Egyptian election commission said that Sisi had gained 23.7 million, or 96.1 percent of the valid votes
Polling stations in Syria opened for presidential elections Tuesday, as political analysts predict that President Bashar Assad will win for a third consecutive presidential term against the backdrop of a bloody civil war. Six other candidates have now announced their intentions to run against Assad, including the first female presidential candidate; this is the
Israel has officially imposed additional sanctions on the Palestinian Authority (PA), Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reports Tuesday. Senior Palestinian Arab officials told the daily that Israel has decided to cancel the VIP cards allowing entry into Israel for all PA officials except PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, as backlash for Monday's official declaration of the Hamas-Fatah
Israel said on Monday it was "deeply disappointed" by the United States’ readiness to work with a new Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government. "We are deeply disappointed by the comments of the (U.S.) State Department regarding working with the Palestinian unity government," a government official told AFP. "This Palestinian government is a government
