Middle East

A top official in Afghanistan has come under fire for seeming to confirm for the first time that neighboring Iran has recruited thousands of Shi’ite Afghans and “warriors” from other regional countries to fight in Syria. Deputy Afghan Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq made the controversial statement during a trip last week to Tehran. His remarks

Syria’s main opposition group selected a new chief negotiator on Friday ahead of a new round of United Nations-backed peace negotiations with the Damascus government set to kick off next week. Nasr Hariri said the opposition was going to Geneva on Tuesday to hold direct talks and was ready to discuss “everything on the negotiating

By TOI staff Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will reportedly take over the Health Ministry if current Health Minister Yaakov Litzman on Sunday follows through on his promise to resign. According to a report Saturday night on Hadashot news (formerly Channel 2), Netanyahu is planning to hold on to the cabinet position, rather than appoint a

Three days of national mourning began in Egypt on Saturday after the deadliest militant attack in the country’s modern history. Assailants killed 235 people when they bombed a mosque in North Sinai during Friday prayers. More than 100 others were wounded. No group has claimed responsibility for the carnage at the Al Rawdah mosque in

A senior security official in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has sparked outrage after calling for the bombing of Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based media network. In a series of posts of Twitter on Friday, Dubai Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan launched a scathing attack against Al Jazeera blaming the network for a bomb and gun assault

By Rabbi Ben Kamin OCEANSIDE, California — It was a bit of heaven; now it is a chunk of hell.  Muslim extremists are killing each other in the wilderness where Moses received the Law; in Israel, hands are wringing and hearts are breaking. In a grisly familiar pattern, some 30 armed men entered the Rawdah

Jewish human rights groups are denouncing Israel’s plans to deport almost 40,000 African asylum seekers, defending refugees that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu calls ” infiltrators.” On Sunday, Netanyahu’s 28-member executive cabinet voted unanimously to give African asylum seekers three months to leave the country or face deportation to an undisclosed country. If they refuse to

By TOI staff The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Thursday threatened that any future war in the region will result in the annihilation of Israel. “It is a proven claim that today we say any new war will lead to the eradication of the Zionist regime,” Ali Jafari told Iranian reporters in Tehran according

By TOI staff Health Minister Yaakov Litzman on Friday informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is stepping down after the government signed a deal for ongoing infrastructure work on rail lines to continue this Shabbat. The government is now trying to reach a deal whereby Litzman, who leads the Hasidic faction within the ultra-Orthodox

Syria’s main opposition has again ruled out a role for President Bashar al-Assad in any UN-backed peace deal. The alliance made clear its stance at a meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh ahead of the next round of peace talks in Geneva. There had been widespread speculation it may soften its stance because of Assad’s