Israel, after eight days of cross-border attacks with Gaza, on Tuesday unilaterally accepted an Egyptian-proposed truce, despite earlier rejections by Palestinian armed groups. “The (security) Cabinet has decided to answer positively to the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire starting today at 9 am (0600 GMT),” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office …
Read More »UNSC calls for Gaza ceasefire
The United Nations Security Council called for “de-escalation” on Saturday evening, in the latest wave of the militarised conflict playing out in the Gaza Strip. The council “expressed serious concern regarding the crisis related to Gaza and the protection and welfare of civilians on both sides”. It called for a …
Read More »Egypt Declares Emergency State On Rafah Border With Gaza
Egypt declared an emergency state on the border with Gaza on Wednesday following Israeli airstrikes on the strip, a security source told Aswat Masriya. The source added that army forces have stepped up caution in the Sinai Peninsula which falls on the border of Israel. Egypt’s presidential office said on …
Read More »Egyptian FM to visit Iraq
Egyptian President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi directed his Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry on Thursday to head to the Iraqi capital and convey Egypt’s stance in support of Iraq. The current Iraqi crisis comes as the forefront of priorities for consultations on ways to restore national reconciliation between all parties involved in Iraq, …
Read More »Kurdish forces take over two oil fields in Iraq
Kurdish peshmerga forces took control of production facilities at two northern Iraqi oil fields Friday, replacing Arab workers with Kurdish personnel. The national oil ministry in Baghdad condemned the takeover at the Kirkuk and Bai Hassan fields and called on the Kurds to withdraw immediately to avoid “dire consequences.”
Read More »Pro-Russian Separatists left Slaviansk for Kramatorsk
Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have left the eastern town of Slaviansk and moved to Kramatorsk. Ukrainian defense Minister Valeriy Heletey and the chief of military staff of Ukraine, Viktor Muzhenko, informed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday that the national flag had been raised over the city council building. Slaviansk was seized in April …
Read More »Russian FM visits Sofia
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is meeting his counterpart Kristian Vigenin on July 7, during his official visit to Bulgaria. He is to mark the 135th anniversary since diplomatic relations were established between Bulgaria and Russia, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia said in a statement to the media.
Read More »Ukrainian president blames Russia, separatists for rejecting ceasefire efforts
Amid growing calls for a fresh ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, the country’s president told U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden on Thursday that both Russia and the separatists were rejecting his efforts in this regard. In a phone conversation with Biden, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he had suggested a number …
Read More »Syrian rebels attack defense minister’s village
Syrian activists say rebels have attacked the village of the country’s defense minister and captured parts of it. Activists say the attack began Friday with a suicide bombing that targeted a checkpoint in the village of Rahjan in the central province of Hama.
Read More »Turkey blasts ban on Crimean Tatar Leader
Turkey condemned the five year entrance ban to Crimea which was made to the head of the National Assembly of the Crimean Tatar People. Refat Chubarov was slapped with a five-year entrance ban by the peninsula’s pro-Russian administration.
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