AMMAN Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Russia on Sunday he was saddened by the crash of a Russian military plane on its way to Syria but the countries’ fight against Islamist militants would not be affected. In a condolence message sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad said the two countries were partners in the “fight to lay the foundations of stability, security and peace” in […]
A Russian military plane carrying 92 people, including dozens of Red Army Choir singers, dancers and orchestra members, crashed into the Black Sea shortly after takeoff from Sochi on its way to Syria on Sunday, killing everyone on board, Russian authorities said. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said one of its TU-154 Tupolev planes had disappeared from radar screens at 0525 MSK (9.25 p.m. ET), two minutes […]
By Philip Pullella | VATICAN CITY VATICAN CITY Pope Francis on Sunday offered a Christmas hope for peace in a world lacerated by war and terrorism, urging people to remember migrants, refugees and those hit by economic instability caused by “idolatry of money”. Francis, marking the fourth Christmas season since his election in 2013, also urged Palestinians and Israelis, facing renewed tension after a U.N. resolution condemning […]
MOSCOW — A Russian military aircraft carrying 92 people, including members of a famed military choir bound for Syria to entertain Russian forces there, crashed into the Black Sea on Sunday after takeoff from the resort town of Sochi, the Russian authorities said. Most of the wreckage was found in the sea about one mile from shore, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that the plane carried […]
TEHRAN: Iran’s capital might not seem like the most obvious pitstop for Santa Claus, but Iranians love the chintzy side of Christmas and it is also one of the safest places in the Middle East for Christians.The past month has seen shoppers flocking to the Armenian district of Somayeh — the biggest Christian area in the city — to pick up fake trees, and stock up on […]
Russian jets stepped up strikes on several towns in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province and rural Aleppo two days after the evacuation of rebels from their last pocket in the northern city of Aleppo, rebels and residents said on Saturday. They said at least eight strikes targeted Binish, Saraqeb and Jisr al Shaqour – main towns in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib. There were reports of several […]
The Turkish Army and police won, but victory brought an Aleppo-like landscape. Two dozen acres of the old city have been cleared of the rubble so far, leaving a featureless circular gash on aerial maps. The damage is mostly invisible from street level though, because alleyways leading up to the most devastated areas have been walled up where they intersect with streets that have reopened for business. […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for December 25, 2016, including Christmas attractions, food markets, art exhibitions, fitness events, performances, film screenings and family fun. Abu Dhabi Art exhibition See the exhibition Visions of the Future which features some of the most established artists in the UAE, as well as young talent, bringing a fresh character to Emirati art. Until January 5, […]
By Maher Chmaytelli | BARTELLA, Iraq BARTELLA, Iraq Several hundred Iraqi Christians flocked on Saturday to a northern town recently retaken from Islamic State, celebrating Christmas for the first time since 2013, their joy tainted with sadness over the desecration of their church. Once home to thousands of Assyrian Christians, Bartella emptied in August 2014 when it fell to Islamic State’s blitz across large parts of Iraq […]
ISTANBUL Turkey-backed rebels killed 68 Islamic State militants in clashes in northern Syria overnight, Turkish state media reported the military as saying on Saturday, as intense fighting around the town of al-Bab continued. Syrian rebels supported by Turkish troops have been laying siege to the Islamic State-held town for weeks, as part of the “Euphrates Shield” operation launched by Turkey nearly four months ago to sweep the […]
AJMAN//An arts and crafts market has proved a big hit with shoppers, with thousands of people picking up handicrafts and homemade food since it opened last month. The weekend Mosaic Market at Al Safia Park was set up to support small businesses and entrepreneurs with about 40 stalls selling everything from organic vegetables to clothes said Shaikha Al Nuaimi, corporate communication manager at the Abdulaziz bin Humaid […]
A hundred years ago, an arms race between the dominant global superpower the (British Empire) and a rising power (Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany) culminated in the mass slaughter of World War One. The deep mistrust between the United States and the People’s Republic of China has all the potential to spawn a traumatic chapter in international relations. Despite its “pivot” to Asia, the Obama White House was cautious […]
AJMAN // The sight of dozens of malnourished stray cats and kittens on the streets of Ajman was enough to convince Alia Alchamaa to make the 140-kilometre round trip from her home in Dubai each day to help them. The Syrian travels to the corniche and the Al Nuaimia 3, Al Bustan, Al Rashidiya and Mowaihat neighbourhoods feeding as many of the animals as she can, paying […]
ABU DHABI // The Sheikh Zayed Book Award has announced the 12 longlisted nominees for this year’s prize in literature. The nominees for the Arabic language book prize were chosen from 274 entries, with the majority coming from Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, UAE and Tunisia. There were also entries from The Netherlands, Canada, Norway, the UK, Eritrea, Sweden, Australia and Belgium, reported state […]
MOSCOW Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gave an update on the investigation into the killing of the Russian ambassador in Ankara in a phone conversation with President Vladimir Putin on Friday which also covered the Syrian crisis, the Kremlin said. The envoy, Andrei Karlov, was shot dead on Monday by an assassin who shouted “Allahu Akbar” and “Don’t forget Aleppo”. He was buried with military honours in Moscow […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin has written to Donald Trump to express his hope that Moscow and Washington improve relations after the US president-elect is inaugurated on January 20. “I hope . . . we will be able — by acting in a constructive and pragmatic manner — to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral co-operation in different areas as well as bring our level of collaboration on the […]
By Lisa Barrington and Angus McDowall | BEIRUT BEIRUT Syrian rebels shelled Aleppo and air strikes resumed around the city on Friday as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies said the insurgents’ withdrawal from the city could pave the way towards a political solution for the country. A day after the last rebels left their remaining pocket of territory in the city, the Syrian Observatory for […]
By Melissa Fares and Andrew Osborn | WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./MOSCOW WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./MOSCOW U.S. President-elect Donald Trump upped the stakes on Friday in a back-and-forth exchange with President Vladimir Putin over nuclear weapons that tested the Republican’s promises to improve relations with Russia. Offering a glimpse of how he might conduct diplomacy after taking office on Jan. 20, Trump reportedly welcomed a nuclear arms race […]
Panama City: From the Panama Papers to the impeachments of the presidents of Brazil and South Korea, 2016 was a year marked by corruption scandals, and by rising public outrage over graft. The question is, will that translate into a lasting demand for cleaner politics? “A new phenomenon” is being seen, said Jose Ugaz, a renowned Peruvian lawyer and the chairman of Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption […]
By Andrew Osborn and Vladimir Soldatkin | MOSCOW MOSCOW Russia’s Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was unfazed by President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to boost the U.S. nuclear arsenal, praising Trump for being in touch with U.S. public opinion while branding the Democrats sore election losers. Speaking at his annual news conference in Moscow, the Russian president said earlier comments he had made about his country’s own […]
DUBAI // Two policemen were among five people jailed for three months for fighting at a nightclub in which two men were stabbed. A 41-year-old Emirati officer was convicted of attempting to kill a Jordanian salesman, 30, and a Syrian marketing manager, 27, on February 19. He denied the charges in Dubai Criminal Court. He and an Emirati inspector, 35, were both convicted of assaulting the Jordanian […]
MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia, Iran, Turkey and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had all agreed that the Kazakh capital of Astana should be the venue for new Syrian peace talks. Russia, Iran and Turkey held talks in Moscow on Tuesday after which they said they were ready to help broker a Syrian peace deal. Putin has proposed holding the negotiations in Kazakhstan, a […]
Good morning. A media A-list’s favorite books of 2016 Jake Tapper, the CNN reporter-show host, needed far less time than even a hyperactive wire service rewrite guy to answer a question about his favorite book this year: “‘Moonglow’ by Michael Chabon.” Bam, that didn’t take long. But it’s why amid a Trump- and-terrorism-centric moment, I asked busy and smart journalists to go high when so many others […]
From the Panama Papers to the impeachments of presidents of Brazil and South Korea, 2016 was a year marked by corruption scandals, and by rising public outrage over graft. The question is, will that translate into a lasting demand for cleaner politics? “A new phenomenon” is being seen, said Jose Ugaz, a renowned Peruvian lawyer and the chairman of Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog, who expressed […]
