Under mounting pressure from their constituencies and faced with the agitation of the Iranian diaspora, Western governments are presenting themselves as in solidarity with the Iranian protesters who have been on the streets since September. The magnitu…
Pro-Palestine groups welcome Britain’s Israel embassy U-turn
Pro-Palestinian organisations in the UK have welcomed the British government’s announcement that it will not move its Israel embassy to Jerusalem, following exclusive confirmation from The New Arab of a U-turn. Rishi Sunak’s new government on Wednesday…
Half of Twitter employees to be let go after Musk takeover
Twitter said it will start laying off employees on Friday, according to a memo sent to staff, with several workers filing a lawsuit alleging the move by new owner billionaire Elon Musk violates US labor law. A company-wide email seen by AFP says Twitte…
Iraq parliament to ‘devalue dollar-dinar exchange rate’
Iraqi politicians and lawmakers are attempting to push the country’s central bank to raise the value of the national currency against the US dollar in a bid to curb the rising prices. Iraq’s central bank in December 2020 devalued the dinar, setting the…
Lebanese president snubs budget, delays new exchange rate
Lebanon is unable to put its new exchange rate into effect after its outgoing president declared the state budget unconstitutional and refused to sign off on it, officials said Thursday. The Finance Ministry in late September announced that Lebanon wou…
Pope urges respect for human rights during Gulf trip
Human rights should not be “violated”, Pope Francis said on Thursday after he arrived in the Gulf state of Bahrain, which has been criticised by rights groups for alleged abuses. Religious freedom should be “complete and not limited to freedom of worsh…
Jordan seeks Russian cooperation on ‘stability’ in Syria
Jordan and Russia have agreed to step up coordination in tackling instability in southern Syria, which Amman blames on Iran-linked militias and multi-billion dollar drug smuggling across its border, Jordan’s foreign minister said on Thursday. Ayman al …
Iranians defy crackdown as another teen reported killed
Iranians staged new protest actions Thursday in defiance of a crackdown by the authorities as a rights groups said an 18-year-old became the latest teen killed in clashes in the northwest. Iran has for over six weeks been gripped by protests sparked by…
Israel’s Netanyahu and extremist allies set to take power
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu held a nearly unassailable lead Thursday with vote counting almost complete following this week’s election, setting him up to form what may be the most right-wing government in Israeli history. With more than 90 percent of b…
Explainer: How Iran launched and expanded its drone program
In 1984, when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) began developing its first basic drones, no one could foresee the deployment of the latest generation of those UAVs in a military confrontation between world powers in the 2022 war in Ukrain…