A Saudi court handed a sheikh a 12-year jail sentence after he led prayers on the grounds of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul several years ago, a human rights monitor said on Thursday. Saudi imam and Quran reciter Abdullah Basfar was tried and sentenced o…
IMF chief to meet with Egyptian, Tunisian delegations
International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said she would meet on Saturday with delegations from Egypt and Tunisia and was confident the global lender would be “backing them up.” Georgieva said the IMF had provided about $90 billion to 16 c…
Afghanistan: Taliban shut women out of university classes
The Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on the subjects available to women at some public universities, in yet another move to limit the educational opportunities available to Afghan girls. In Nangarhar University, the second largest education i…
First Russian soldiers arrive in Belarus for joint force
The first Russian soldiers to take part in a new joint force with Belarusian troops have arrived in Belarus, Minsk’s defence ministry said on Saturday. “The first convoys of Russian servicemen from the regional force group have arrived in Belarus,” the…
Egypt: IS attack kills one soldier, two tribal fighters
One Egyptian soldier and two tribal fighters assisting the Egyptian army were killed in an attack by an Islamic State-affiliated group in the restive Sinai Peninsula on Friday. An unspecified number of dead and wounded military personnel and civilians …
Iraq’s Sadrist camp refuses to join new government
Iraqi firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr’s movement on Saturday announced its refusal to join a new government being formed by prime minister-designate Mohammad Shia al-Sudani. The announcement came two days after lawmakers elected Abdul Latif Rashid as Ira…
UK apologises to pregnant woman for Rwanda removal threat
The UK Home Office has apologised to a pregnant rape survivor threatened with deportation to Rwanda, according to reports on Friday. The 28-year-old Eritrean, who travelled to the UK via a small boat in July, was originally told by the British governme…
Palestinian refugee camp reels from Israeli crackdown
A line of cars snaked through the garbage-strewn streets of the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, as Palestinians waited to pass an Israeli checkpoint. Alaa Gharab was sunk down behind the steering wheel at an intersection that resembled a ragged…
Iran bans filmmaker from travel over protest support
An Iranian filmmaker said the Islamic republic barred him from travelling to the London Film Festival over his support for the protest movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini that he called a “great moment in history”. “I was prevented by the Iran…
Iran rejected allegations of weapon provision to Russia
Iran has once again rejected allegations that it has supplied Russia with weapons “to be used in the war in Ukraine”, its foreign ministry said Saturday. Kyiv and many of its Western allies have accused Moscow of using Iranian-made drones in attacks on…