DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Senior Taliban leaders, including one of the group’s founders, were to hold another round of talks Monday in Qatar with Washington’s special peace envoy as U.S. efforts intensify to find a negotiated solution to Afghanistan’s 17-year war, America’s longest.
The Taliban, some of whom arrived in Doha, Qatar’s capital, from Pakistan the previous night, raised expectations ahead of talks with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.
ANKARA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish parliament on Sunday elected ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker Mustafa Sentop as its new speaker, replacing Binali Yildirim who is AKP's Istanbul mayor candidate for upcoming local elections.
According to official news from the parliament, Sentop, a lawmaker from northwestern Tekirdag province, received 336 votes in the third round of voting by the Turkish National Assembly of 600 seats.
TEHRAN, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday that the West has turned the Middle East into a "powder keg" through arms sales to the Arab countries in the region, Press TV reported.
Over the past year alone, the West sold weapons worth 100 billion U.S. dollars to the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said Zarif.
"The weapons did not bring security to anyone," he added.
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Arab and European leaders stressed on Sunday the need to beef up efforts to face common challenges.
This came during the first League of Arab States (LAS)-European Union (EU) Summit which kicked off Sunday in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh city and will end on Monday.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the two-day summit, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said that terrorism is spreading like a "plague," urging leaders to stand together against it.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia appointed its first female ambassador early Sunday to serve as its top diplomat in the United States, pulling a son of King Salman back to the kingdom to serve as deputy defense minister amid deteriorating ties with America after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, a daughter of the kingdom’s longtime ambassador to Washington Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, faces a stark challenge in improving ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
KHARTOUM, 23 Feb 2019; AA: Sudanese president has appointed Minister of Defense Awad Ibn Oaf as first vice president of the country, a presidential decree said on Saturday.
According to a statement issued by the media office of the presidency, former Governor of Al-Gazeera state Mohamed Tahir Aila has also been appointed as new prime minister of the country.
KHARTOUM, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Friday declared a state of emergency in Sudan for one year in the wake of popular protests in the country.
"I declare the state of emergency all over Sudan for one year," said Bashir in a speech to the Sudanese people from the Republican Palace.
He also said to delay the procedures on a constitutional amendment that was supposed to allow him to run for a new term.
BEIRUT, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian said on Friday that China will continue supporting Lebanon's security and stability, according to a statement released by the Chinese Embassy in Lebanon.
"China will always support Lebanon's efforts to safeguard national independence, security and stability," Wang said during his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
Wang's visit came against the background of the formation of a new government in Lebanon.
22 Feb 2019; AFP: An unmanned rocket took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday night carrying Israel's Beresheet spacecraft, aiming to make history twice: as the first private-sector landing on the Moon, and the first from the Jewish state.
The 585-kilogram (1,290-pound) Beresheet, which means "Genesis" in Hebrew, lifted off at 8:45 pm (0145 GMT Friday) atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the private US-based SpaceX company of entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Tehran, Feb 21; AP/GANASHAKTI: Iran's navy says it will hold an annual drill in the strategic Strait of Hormuz as pressure mounts on the country months after the United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran, targeting its vital oil sector.
The strait is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and is crucial to global energy supplies, with about a third of all oil traded at sea passing through it.
Iranian Adm. Hossein Khanzadi told state TV on Thursday the 3-day maneuvers will start on Friday and extend as far as the Sea of Oman and the fringes of the Indian Ocean.
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