Author: Abdul Majeed al-Huq

Lebanon’s General Security Directorate on Wednesday resumed its registration service for Syrian refugees willing to return to their homeland, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. The directorate resumed the operation of a registration center in Arsal, a town in northern Bekaa Region, after suspending its operations on Oct. 6 of last year due to logistical reasons, NNA reported. Around 50 Syrian families who wish to return to their villages in Western Qalamoun mountains and Al Qusayr registered their names on Wednesday, it added. The directorate said it would continue to provide the service at the center three days a week.…

Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar on Thursday called on Türkiye to exchange information about the displaced Syrians returning home from Türkiye with Lebanese authorities. During his meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Baris Ulusoy, the Lebanese minister expressed his concern that the Syrian refugees returning home from Türkiye would be displaced again and pile into Lebanon, the National News Agency reported. “We fear that the Syrians returning from Türkiye to Syria will flee again to Lebanon if an agreement is reached between the Syrian and Turkish sides,” Hajjar said. Hajjar said he hopes that Türkiye will exchange information…

High jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim (L) of Qatar, pole vaulter Katie Moon (C) of the United States and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra of India attend a press conference for the 2023 Diamond League in Doha, Qatar, May 4, 2023. The event will kick off on May 5. (Photo by Nikku/Xinhua) Runners Dina Asher-Smith (L) of Britain, Fred Kerley (C) of the United States and Faith Kipyegon of Kenya pose after a press conference for the 2023 Diamond League in Doha, Qatar, May 4, 2023. The event will kick off on May 5. (Photo by Nikku/Xinhua) Runners Dina Asher-Smith (C) of…

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Tuesday called for Qatar’s support to overcome obstacles in the implementation of investment and development projects in Tunisia. During a meeting with visiting Qatari Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Saied said that many investment and development projects remain suspended in Tunisia and must find a way to implementation, according to a statement released by the Tunisian Presidency. Saied also extended congratulations to Qatar for the brilliant organization of the FIFA World Cup 2022 last year, adding that Qatar’s success in hosting the global event is a success…

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Saturday afternoon to demand a stop to endless U.S. wars and the “War Machine,” two days before the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The anti-war demonstration was the second of its kind in the American capital in less than a month. “It’s just a terrible mistake,” Claudia Lefko, a protester from Northampton, Massachusetts, told Xinhua when asked to comment on the Iraq War. “The country is a ruin. We’ve destroyed it … The Iraqis are still suffering the consequences.” “We started to attack a country…

Umarali Rakhmonaliev scored a winning penalty as hosts Uzbekistan beat Iraq 1-0 to lift the 2023 AFC U20 Asian Cup title here on Saturday. The home team broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute when Abbosbek Fayzullaev was tripped down in the box, and Rakhmonaliev converted the penalty with composure, earning Uzbekistan their first-ever title in the tournament. According to the regulations, the top four teams of the tournament, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Japan and South Korea, qualify for the 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia.

Two decades after the U.S. war began in Iraq, a review of Pew Research Center surveys on the war shows that support for U.S. military action was built, at least in part, on a foundation of falsehoods. In the months leading up to the war, majorities of between 55 percent and 68 percent said they favored taking military action to end Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq. No more than about a third opposed military action, according to the center in its report on Tuesday. However, as Americans looked back on the war four years ago, 62 percent said it was…

A helicopter crashed in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, killing all passengers onboard, the regional Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) said on Thursday. The Eurocopter AS350 helicopter crashed near a village in Duhok province at 8:40 p.m. (1740 GMT) on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the Kurdish CTS. “An explosion inside the helicopter caused the crash, and initial information indicates that seven people onboard were killed,” a Kurdish security source who asked to remain anonymous said. The source said that the helicopter crashed near an oil field, which was not affected by the incident. According to the Kurdish…

A total of 22 Islamic State militants, including some of the group’s leaders, were killed in an operation in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, the Iraqi military said on Sunday. Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, head of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service, said at a press conference that the operation was carried out in two phases by an airborne force on a rugged area north of the town of Rutba, some 400 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. All the killed militants were wearing explosive belts, and senior leaders were among the dead, said al-Saadi without revealing the exact date…

New footage aired by Iran’s state television on Friday revealed Iranian navy commandos boarding a U.S.-bound oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy confirmed that Iran seized the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, Advantage Sweet, in international waters within the Gulf of Oman last Thursday. This incident marks the latest in a series of seizures and attacks by Iranian forces on commercial vessels navigating the sensitive Gulf waters. The capture of the Advantage Sweet followed the U.S. confiscation of Iranian oil cargo aboard a separate tanker just days prior, according to sources. Iran’s military claimed that the Advantage Sweet had collided with an Iranian boat, causing injuries to…