The main Bahraini opposition group, al-Wefaq, has censured a Saudi proposal to create a closer union between Riyadh and Manama. The group said in a statement issued on Wednesday that no country has the right to undermine Bahrain’s sovereignty and independence. Saudi Arabia is seeking to initially create a closer union with Bahrain in line with plans to unify the six Arab member states of the [Persian] Gulf ...

The US senate is to consider approving a new package of oil and economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear energy program, ahead of the upcoming talks between Tehran and the six major world powers (P5+1) in Baghdad. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid will ask the senate on Thursday to endorse the sanctions bill, which was revised from a version passed in February by the senate banking committee. The ...

The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council says the upcoming talks between Tehran and the P5+1 must revolve around cooperation based on the inalienable rights of the Iranian nation. “Talks for cooperation, based on the alienable rights of the Iranian nation, must be put on the table in Baghdad,” Saeed Jalili said in Tehran on Thursday. He expressed Iran's readiness for talks on cooperation, r ...

One person has been killed and five others wounded in clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, a security official says. ...

BEIRUT: Regime troops shot dead at least five people in a new assault on the flashpoint town of Khan Sheikhun and opened fire on a refugee camp in southern Syria on Wednesday, monitors said. A child, another civilian and three armed militants were killed by machinegun fire in Khan Sheikhun, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Four others died of wounds suffered on Tuesday when regime troops "massa ...

ATHENS: Greece put a senior judge in charge of an emergency government on Wednesday to lead it to new elections on June 17 and bankers sought to calm public fears after the president said political chaos risked causing panic and a run on deposits. Greeks have been withdrawing hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) from banks in recent days as the prospect of the country being forced out of the European Uni ...

PARIS: French President Francois Hollande is to unveil his government on Wednesday, likely to opt for moderate social democrats in the key posts offinance and foreign affairs and put a more old school Socialist in charge of a new super ministry for youth and education. The cabinet, due to be announced in early afternoon, is expected to respect gender parity and reflect Hollande's pledge to make schools and ...

PAKTIYA: Nine insurgents involved in planting an improvised explosive device (IED) were killed by Afghan National Security (ANSF) and NATO forces during an operation in Jaji district in Paktiya province. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed in a statement that the nine insurgents were killed and their remains handed over to local authorities. The exact date of the strike was not ment ...

Former inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency Robert Kelley says the IAEA includes rumors in its reports about Iran’s nuclear energy program. Kelley said that the November report of the IAEA and its appendix on the alleged military aspect of Iran’s nuclear energy program was shocking since it was full of outdated information. He said that anyone who followed Iran’s nuclear energy program and th ...

If Bush, the Bush administration, didn’t like somebody, they’d kidnap them and send them to torture chambers. If the Obama administration decides they don’t like somebody, they murder them, so you don’t have to have torture chambers all over.”   American scholar Noam Chomsky Noam Chomsky has slammed US drone strikes and said while the Bush administration kidnapped and tortured, present-day White House ...