Category: 3. Middle East

OTTAWA, May 20 (Reuters) – Israel’s treatment of detained Gaza flotilla activists is “abominable,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, using unusually harsh language to condemn a close ally.

Ottawa earlier said it would summon the…

By Phil Stewart and Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) – A U.S. military investigation into a strike at a girls’ school in Iran has been “complex” given that it was located on an active Iranian cruise missile base but the probe is…

SEOUL, May 20 (Reuters) – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday said Israel had arrested South Korean nationals in international waters, calling the action “way out of line”.

In a cabinet meeting, Lee said the South Korean…

JERUSALEM, May 20 (Reuters) – Israel moved closer on Wednesday to a snap election after lawmakers gave an initial nod to dissolve parliament, with opinion polls showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would lose the first national vote since…

ANKARA, May 20 (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. President Donald Trump in a call on Wednesday he welcomed the extension of a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, adding he believed contested issues between the sides could be…

CAIRO, May 20 (Reuters) – Iran is seeking to establish a mechanism with Oman to ensure sustainable security in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state TV on Wednesday.

He said Iran was ready to…

By Jana Choukeir and Humeyra Pamuk

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that negotiations with Iran were “in the final stages”, while warning of further attacks unless Tehran agrees to a peace deal.

Six…

By Tom Polansek and Julie Ingwersen

TULIA, Texas, May 20 (Reuters) – Scott Irlbeck crouched in a field of stunted wheat plants in a parched stretch of West Texas and slipped his hand into a crack wide enough to swallow it.

Last autumn, Irlbeck…

By Emily Rose

JERUSALEM, May 20 (Reuters) – Israeli police on Wednesday forced activists who were aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla to kneel on the ground in rows with their hands tied behind their backs while a minister looked on, drawing…

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Haseeb Alwazeer

GAZA/CAIRO, May 20 (Reuters) – In a tent in southern Gaza, Najia Abu Lehia mourns not only her husband but also their failure to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, together before he died a year ago…