In an announcement in late July, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced that Iraq would hold its next parliamentary elections a year earlier than the one planned in June 2021. This announcement comes after months of anti-government protest late last year, which saw hundreds of protestors killed and injured by […]
On Saturday the 18th of July, it was widely reported that Libya’s internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) had moved fighters closer to the city of Sirte, currently occupied by the Libyan National Army (LNA). GNA military commanders and witnesses have said that a column of approximately 200 vehicles has […]
On Monday the 6th of July, the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on a number of individuals accused of human rights abuses, including 25 Russian and 20 Saudi nationals. This is the first time that the United Kingdom has been able to impose asset freezes and visa bans independently – previously, […]
Tensions between the United States and Iran have consistently escalated over the past few years, culminating in the American assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in January this year. However, a report from Al Jazeera on Saturday June 20th reveals that behind-the-scenes, Iran and the United States can cooperate […]
On the 5th of June, France announced a major success in its anti-terror campaign in northern Africa. French forces, working with local partners, successfully launched an operation which killed Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), as well as a number of the members of his […]
On the 30th of May, a joint statement was released by France, Britain, and Germany which condemned the United States’ decision to end three of four Iranian sanctions waivers. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that ongoing nuclear proliferation efforts by Iran provided justification for the American decision. The […]
On Saturday the 16th of May, Nour news agency, which is linked closely to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned of repercussions should the United States attempt to prevent an Iranian fuel shipment to Venezuela. The agency said that “If the United States, just like pirates, intends to create […]
On Saturday, 9 May, the Ethiopian armed forces admitted that they were responsible for the downing of a privately-owned Kenyan plane in Somalia earlier in the week. The Kenyan plane was shot down on Monday over the town of Bardale in southwest Somalia as it attempted to land. All six […]
The ongoing rivalry between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates flared up once more this week as the two sides engaged in a war of words over the ongoing crisis in Libya. On Thursday 30 April, the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed concern over Turkish interference […]
Late on Monday the 20th of April, South Korea-based website Daily NK reported that Kim Jong Un was recovering from a cardiovascular operation. Since then, rumours have been swirling about his condition. Various media organisations throughout the world have reported a multitude of possibilities, with some sources even claiming that […]
On 9 April 2020, a two-week ceasefire came into effect in Yemen. The ceasefire, declared by the Saudi-UAE coalition which has been fighting Yemen’s Houthi rebels, came shortly after the United Nations called for a halt in fighting amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Saudi media, the ceasefire came into […]
On Thursday the 2nd of April, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Middle Eastern governments that they must at quickly to limit the spread of COVID-19. On March 26, when the global number of COVID-19 cases passed one million, the total number of cases in the Middle East and North […]
On Saturday 21 March, while the rest of the world sought to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea continued in its attempts to project strength to the world. The rogue state fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, drawing […]
On Friday the 13th of March, the Iraqi government condemned a series of overnight American air strikes. The Iraqi military stated that the latest strikes killed six people, including a civilian worker, and described them as a violation of sovereignty and a targeted aggression against the regular armed forces of […]
On Wednesday the 19th of February, United Nations Humanitarian Chief Mark Lowcock addressed the UN Security Council, warning them of an “unfolding humanitarian catastrophe” in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province. He noted that the crisis had already overwhelmed aid efforts, and is only likely to get worse. In the Idlib region, […]
On the 8th of March, the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen warned that the nation was at a crossroads. Heavy fighting between the Houthi rebels and government troops has broken out once again, displacing tens of thousands of people over the course of February and early March. An already-dreadful […]
On 15 February 2020, representatives from the United States took to the stage at the 2020 Munich Security Conference to deride America’s rivals and to reinforce the nation’s commitment to Western Europe. U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper used his address to condemn China, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo […]
The first round of peace talks between representatives of Libya’s internationally-recognized government, and the military commander Khalifa Haftar, came to an unsuccessful conclusion on the 9th of February. The talks, facilitated by the United Nations and held in the Swiss city of Geneva, had been organized as part of an […]
On Friday the 31st of January, the Trump Administration rolled back restrictions on American military use of anti-personnel land mines. These policies, set in place during the Obama Administration, ensured that the United States would no longer produce or acquire anti-personnel land mines, with the long-term aim of replacing U.S. […]
On the 8th of January, a Boeing 737-800 jet flying for the carrier Ukraine International Airlines took off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. The 176 passengers and crew on board had no clue what was about to occur. Videos posted to Twitter by Iranian users show that shortly after […]
