Middle east

Iran has made progress in its efforts to enrich uranium metal (Reuters), the UN nuclear watchdog reported, despite warnings from the…

President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan (Economist) yesterday as Taliban leaders broadcast a victory message from the presidential palace in Kabul. Ghani’s departure…

Turkish Police Arrest Dozens for Attacks on Syrians Authorities in the capital of Ankara said they arrested seventy-six people (Euronews) in connection…

The UN special envoy for Syria called for an end (Al-Monitor) to the “near siege-like situation” in the Daraa al-Balad district, where…

The Taliban gained control of Afghanistan’s second- and third-largest cities by early Friday, as fears mounted of a total takeover…

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi invited the leaders of France, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia to a…

New President Ebrahim Raisi pledged at his swearing-in ceremony (Al Jazeera) yesterday to pursue diplomacy and international engagement. A U.S. State Department…

The Taliban claimed it was behind (Reuters) the assassination of Dawa Khan Menapal, the Afghan government’s top media official, in Kabul. The…

U.S. forces have increased air strikes (Reuters) against the Taliban in recent days and are prepared to maintain the heightened level of…

Tunisian President Kais Saied fired Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended parliament (Reuters), causing one of the country’s biggest crises since…

Authorities in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus said they will reopen part of a town (Reuters) abandoned since Cyprus was split after a Turkish…

A suicide-bomb attack at a Baghdad market killed at least thirty-five people and injured more than sixty, security and hospital…

Afghanistan withdrew its ambassador and senior diplomats (Dawn) from Pakistan after the ambassador’s daughter was abducted in Islamabad, the Afghan foreign ministry…

A joint investigation by seventeen media organizations found that spyware sold to governments by Israeli firm NSO Group was used to…

Lebanese Prime Minister–designate Saad Hariri resigned (Al Jazeera) after failing to reach an agreement with President Michel Aoun over the makeup of…

Lebanese Prime Minister–designate Saad Hariri presented what appears to be his final attempt at a cabinet proposal (Al Jazeera) to President Michel…

The United Arab Emirates opened a new embassy (Haaretz) in Tel Aviv, following the inauguration of Israel’s embassy in the UAE last…

A delegation of prominent Afghan politicians, including High Council for National Reconciliation Chair Abdullah Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai,…

The Beijing-controlled electoral commission in Macau banned twenty-one candidates (Guardian), including fifteen from pro-democracy groups, from running in September elections. Like…

At least sixty-four people died in a fire (CNN) in the COVID-19 isolation ward of a hospital in the city of Nasiriyah…