Iranian media report a former deputy foreign minister and close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been arrested on financial corruption charges. The reports say Mohammed Sharif Malekzadeh was taken into custody on Thursday. Malekzadeh resigned this week, just three days after he was named deputy foreign minister. The ex-deputy foreign minister quit as his […]
US Lawmakers to Vote on Curbing Libya Operations
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 9:55 pm (UTC-5)
The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives says lawmakers will vote Friday on a resolution to cut off funding for U. S. drone attacks and airstrikes in Libya. John Boehner said Thursday the measure orders the removal of U.S. forces except for those engaged in non-hostile operations. The bill would allow the military to […]
US Imposes Sanctions on Iran Air and Shipping Companies
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 7:55 pm (UTC-5)
The United States is imposing new sanctions against Iran, targeting its national airline and a major Iranian port company. The Treasury Department announced the moves Thursday against Iran Air and Tidewater Middle East Company and three other firms. The Obama administration says the entities are targeted because of illegal shipping activity and weapons movements. The […]
Syrian Forces Overrun Border Town as Hundreds Flee
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 7:20 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning Syria to pull its troops back from the border with Turkey, saying their presence is worsening an already bad situation for refugees and risks sparking border clashes with the Turks. Clinton told reporters in Washington Thursday that the U.S. sees the situation as worrisome and that the […]
Baghdad Bomb Blasts Kill 23, Scores Wounded
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 3:55 pm (UTC-5)
Iraqi security officials say three bombs ripped through a Shi’ite neighborhood in the capital, Baghdad, late Thursday, killing at least 23 people and wounding 107 others. Sources at three local hospitals say at least 34 people died. Interior Ministry officials say the explosions occurred in quick succession in southwestern Baghdad. One targeted a Shi’ite mosque […]
US Slaps Sanctions on Iran Air and Shipping Concerns
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 2:35 pm (UTC-5)
The United States is imposing new sanctions against Iran, targeting its national airline and a major Iranian port company. The U.S. Treasury Department announced the moves on Thursday against Iran Air and Tidewater Middle East Company and three other firms. The Obama administration says the entities are targeted because of illegal shipping activity and weapons […]
Bomb Blasts Target Baghdad Market, At Least 17 Dead
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 1:15 pm (UTC-5)
A series of bomb blasts has ripped through a Baghdad neighborhood, killing at least 17 people. An official with Iraq’s Interior Ministry says the explosions rocked a market in a Shi’ite section of southwestern Baghdad late Thursday. Officials say at least another 34 people were wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Iraq has […]
International Criminal Court to Issue Gadhafi Warrant Decision
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 12:10 pm (UTC-5)
International Criminal Court judges are scheduled to decide next week whether Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi will face arrest for crimes against humanity. The court announced on Thursday that a hearing will take place in The Hague on Monday. An ICC prosecutor has asked for arrest warrants for Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and the head […]
Syrian Military Push Forces Hundreds More into Turkey
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 11:05 am (UTC-5)
Hundreds more refugees are pouring from Syria into Turkey as they try to escape advancing Syrian troops trying to crush a 3-month long political uprising. The Turkish Red Crescent says at least 600 new refugees fled from the Syrian border town of Khirbet al-Jouz early Thursday after Syrian tanks rolled into the area backed up […]
US Envoy Demands ‘Immediate’ Power Transfer in Yemen
Posted June 23rd, 2011 at 10:40 am (UTC-5)
A U.S. envoy Thursday called for an “immediate” power transfer in Yemen U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, visited top Yemeni officials in the capital, Sana’a, to try to broker an end to Yemen’s political crisis. Feltman later told reporters that beleaguered President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is recovering in […]
