Middle East
Latest stories
Louvre Abu Dhabi marks five years with major Impressionism show

A major exhibition of impressionist art opened Wednesday at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, featuring works from masters such as Cezanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Pissarro and Renoir.

Billed as one of the most significant exhibitions on the 19th century art movement ever held outside France, it features more than 150 works on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

W140 Full Story
Syria digs up 'rare' Roman mosaic in former rebel stronghold

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era, describing it Wednesday as the most important archaeological discovery since the country's conflict began 11 years ago.

Journalists were shown the mosaic in the central town of Rastan near Homs, Syria's third largest city.

W140 Full Story
Palestinians strike in east Jerusalem over police raids

Palestinian shops and businesses in east Jerusalem shut down on Wednesday to protest Israeli police raids in the area that have prompted fierce clashes between police and Palestinian protesters.

Israeli police have been operating in the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem's eastern sector to hunt for a suspect in a deadly shooting attack at a checkpoint on Sunday that killed a soldier.

W140 Full Story
Biden vows 'consequences' for Saudis after OPEC+ cuts output

President Joe Biden has said there will be "consequences" for Saudi Arabia as the Riyadh-led OPEC+ alliance moves to cut oil production and Democratic lawmakers call for a freeze on cooperation with the Saudis.

Biden suggested he would soon take action, as aides announced that the administration is reevaluating its relationship with the kingdom in light of the oil production cut that White House officials say will help another OPEC+ member, Russia, pad its coffers as it continues its nearly eight-month war in Ukraine.

W140 Full Story
Putin hosts United Arab Emirates leader for economic talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hailed a recent decision by OPEC, Russia and other oil producing nations to limit production as key to stabilizing the global energy market, as he met the leader of the United Arab Emirates for talks on fostering economic ties.

Speaking at the start of his talks in St. Petersburg with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the president of the United Arab Emirates, Putin hailed the ties between the two countries as important for regional and global stability.

W140 Full Story
Key Senate chair urges US to freeze cooperation with Saudis

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez has called for freezing all U.S. cooperation with Saudi Arabia, delivering one of the strongest expressions yet of U.S. anger over Saudi oil-production cuts that serve to boost Russia in its war in Ukraine.

In a statement, Menendez specifically called for cutting off all arms sales and security cooperation — one of the underpinnings of the more than 70-year U.S. strategic partnership with the oil kingdom — beyond the minimum necessary to defend Americans and American interests.

W140 Full Story
Iraq MPs to meet Thursday to elect president

Iraq's parliament will meet on Thursday to "elect the president", a press release from speaker Mohammed al-Halbussi's office said on Tuesday, after months of political impasse.

More than a year after the last general election in Iraq, Halbussi's office said Thursday's parliamentary session would have "a single item on the agenda, the election of the President of the Republic".

W140 Full Story
Empty shelves or unaffordable food: Tunisia's crisis deepens

Tunisians have been hit with soaring food prices and shortages of basic staples in recent weeks, threatening to turn simmering discontent in the North African country — the cradle of the Arab Spring protests — into larger turmoil.

Sugar, vegetable oil, rice and even bottled water periodically disappear from supermarkets and grocery stores. People stand in line for hours for these food essentials that have long been subsidized and are now increasingly available in rations only. When they do appear on the shelves, many people cannot afford to pay the staggering price for them.

W140 Full Story
Palestinian, 12, dies of gunshot wound from Israel army raid

A 12-year-old Palestinian boy has died after being shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers during a September army raid in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Mahmoud Samoudi was shot in the abdomen on Sept. 28 during an army raid in Jenin, a refugee camp and stronghold of armed Palestinians.

W140 Full Story
Israeli troops hunt for shooter in deadly Jerusalem attack

Israeli police arrested at least three Palestinian suspects Sunday in connection with a deadly shooting at a Jerusalem checkpoint, as security forces searched for the suspected gunman.

The shooter opened fire on a military checkpoint in east Jerusalem late Saturday, killing a female Israeli soldier and wounding three other soldiers, one of them seriously. The Israeli military identified the soldier as 18-year-old Noa Lazar.

W140 Full Story