Middle East Experience

The death toll froma suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar has risen to 56, a hospital official said.The Lady Reading Hospital, where most of the victims of Friday's explosion were brought, said in a statement that 194 people were also brought in wounded.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Peshawar police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when two armed attackers opened fire on police outside the mosque. One attacker and one policeman were killed in the gunfight, and another police official was wounded. The remaining attacker then inside the mosque and detonated a bomb.No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but both ISIS and a violent Pakistani Taliban organization have carried out similar attacks in the region, located near the border with neighboring Afghanistan.Shayan Haider, a witness, had been preparing to enter the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him to the street.“I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies everywhere,” he said.At the Lady Reading Hospital Emergency department, there was chaos as doctors struggled to move the many wounded into operating theaters.Hundreds of relatives gathered outside the emergency department, many of them wailing and beating their chests, pleading for information about their loved ones.Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the bombing.In majority Sunni Islam Pakistan, minority Shia Islam followers have come under repeated attacks.In recent months Pakistan has experienced a broad increase of violence. Dozens of military personnel have been killed in scores of attacks on army outposts along the border with Afghanistan. Much has been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, which analysts say have been emboldened by the Afghan Taliban’s return to power last August.Pakistan has urged Afghanistan’s new rulers to handover Pakistani Taliban insurgents who have been staging their attacks from Afghanistan.Afghanistan’s Taliban say their territory will not be used to stage attacks against anyone, but until now they have not handed over any Pakistani insurgents.Read more:Russian forces seize Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: Ukraine authoritiesIran, EU officials say nuclear deal not yet done as officials focus on ‘final’ stepsPakistan-Afghan border reopens days after deadly clash that left three dead
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Mosque bombed in northwest Pakistan, at least 56 killed

Documents released by Anonymous show that Russia is censoring the narrative regarding its role in its war with Ukraine.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Anonymous hacks Russian federal agency, releases 360,000 documents

In the oilfields of southern Iraq, billions of cubic feet of gas literally go up in smoke, burnt off on flare stacks for want of the infrastructure to capture and process it..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Will Iraq phase out gas flares and harness lost energy potential?

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has increased Iran's desire for nuclear weapons.

Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Meir Ben Shabbat to ‘Post’: Moderate Sunni Arabs see nuke deal as US bowing to Iran

Russian police on Friday searched the offices of the country’s most prominent rights group Memorial, which was ordered to close late last year, sparking international outcry.“Searches at Memorial are continuing at two locations,” the group wrote on the Telegram messenger app of the latest move against voices critical of the Kremlin after it invaded Ukraine last week.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.In two controversial rulings last year, Russia shuttered Memorial and its International structure, which chronicled Stalin-era purges and maintains extensive archives in Moscow.Friday’s searches are the latest in a series of moves to assert ever tighter controls on non-state institutions after the Ukraine invasion.Two prominent media outlets Dozhd and Ekho Moskvy closed earlier this week and lawmakers passed legislation on Friday to penalise the publication of fake information about the military with jail terms of up to 15 years.The Russian independent news website Znak announced Friday that it was also closing.“We are suspending our work due to the increasing number of restrictions that have recently appeared for the work of the media in Russia,” its editors said in a statement.Read more:Death toll from Russian air strikes on Chernihiv city rises to 47: Local authoritiesPutin: Ukraine operation ‘going to plan’, Middle East mercenaries fighting on groundRussia admits ‘killed’ troops in Ukraine, labels Ukrainian soldiers as ‘Nazis’
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Russian police search offices of banned rights group Memorial, sparking outcry  

Veteran American swingman KC Rivers brings savvy leadership to the Reds and has had an immediate on-court impact.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: A new river runs through Hapoel Jerusalem - interview with KC Rivers

He said he did not care whether US President Joe Biden misunderstood things about him and stressed that the US leader should be thinking about his own country’s interests..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Saudi Arabia, UAE point to changed world as they seek more balanced relations with US

The Kremlin said Friday that fighters from Syria and the Middle East would be allowed to fight for Russia in Ukraine, after President Vladimir Putin backed a plan to send volunteers to battle there.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia’s defense minister had said that “most of those who want and who asked (to fight) are citizens of Middle East countries and Syrians.”Russia was a key partner to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when war broke out, rallying to his side in the conflict in 2015 and turning the tide of the fighting in the regime’s favor.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Peskov said the decision to send volunteer fighters to Ukraine was acceptable, claiming that the United States was backing measures to send mercenaries to fight alongside Kyiv’s army in Ukraine.Russia launched a massive military operation in Ukraine late last month, spurring an exodus of refugees in Europe and allegations of war crimes.“If the West is so enthusiastic about the arrival of mercenaries, then we also have volunteers who want to participate,” Peskov told journalists.Putin backed plans to allow volunteers - including from abroad - to fight in Ukraine earlier Friday and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said more than 16,000 mostly Middle Eastern volunteer had appealed to join the military action.Ukraine has announced the creation foreign volunteer contingents to be integrated into its armed forces to fight Russian forces on its territory.Read more:Kazakh, Turkish carriers suspend flights to Russia over Ukraine crisisBiden will announce Russia to be stripped of trade status: ReportsHome for disabled near Kharkiv hit by Russian strikes: Local official
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Syrians can volunteer to fight for Russia in Ukraine: Kremlin 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday said the alliance would not impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine after calls from Kyiv to help stop Russia’s bombardments.“The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukraine’s airspace, and then impose that no fly zone by shooting down Russian planes,” Stoltenberg said after an urgent meeting with NATO foreign ministers.“If we did that, we’ll end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe, involving many more countries and causing much more human suffering. So that’s the reason why we make this painful decision.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The stance by the US-led bloc comes despite appeals from Ukraine’s leadership to help halt indiscriminate bombing against cities around the country.Stoltenberg warned that “the days to come are likely to be worse, with more death, more suffering, and more destruction as Russian armed forces bring in heavier weaponry and continue their attacks across the country.”Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba addressed the alliance via videolink from Kyiv.He tweeted afterwards: “My message: act now before it’s too late. Don’t let (Russian President Vladimir) Putin turn Ukraine into Syria. We are ready to fight. We will continue fighting. But we need partners to help us with concrete, resolute and swift actions, now.”NATO members have rushed thousands of troops to eastern Europe to bolster the alliance’s flank closest to Russia and are sending weapons to help Ukraine defend itself.“We will continue to do what it takes to protect and defend every inch of NATO territory. NATO is a defensive alliance. Our core task is to keep our 30 nations safe,” Stoltenberg said.“We are not part of this conflict and we have a responsibility to ensure it does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine.”Kyiv has said that if NATO is not willing to shut Ukrainian airspace then the allies should supply warplanes and air defense systems to help stop Russian air attacks.European nations have so far said they will not deliver planes and most arms deliveries have focused on light weapons, and anti-tank and shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.Read more:Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant: Five facts to knowIAEA’s chief offers to travel to Chernobyl amid Ukraine crisisDeath toll from Russian air strikes on Chernihiv city rises to 47: Local authorities
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: NATO rejects calls for no-fly zone over Ukraine

Iran and world powers will pause talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal due to “external factors,” the European Union’s foreign policy chief said on Friday, after last-minute Russian demands threatened to torpedo otherwise largely completed talks.“A pause in #ViennaTalks is needed, due to external factors,” Josep Borrell said on Twitter. “A final text is essentially ready and on the table.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Tehran on Thursday suggested there were new obstacles to reviving the deal. Washington underlined that it had no intention of accommodating Russia’s demands, which it has said have nothing to do with the Iran talks. It added that a small number of outstanding and difficult issues were still yet to be resolved for a deal to be reached.Parties in the talks had been expecting to conclude by last Sunday a deal that would bring Iran back into compliance with restrictions on its rapidly advancing nuclear activities, and see the United States rejoining the accord. Nearly four years ago the then US President Donald Trump decided to leave the 2015 nuclear deal, and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.However, on Saturday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unexpectedly demanded sweeping guarantees that Russian trade with Iran would not be affected by sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine - a demand Western powers say is unacceptable and Washington has insisted it will not entertain.Russia’s demand initially angered Tehran and appeared to help it and Washington move towards agreement on the few remaining thorny issues, diplomats said, but a sudden volley of public comments by Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday suggested the wind had turned.“As coordinator, I will, with my team, continue to be in touch with all JCPOA participants and the US to overcome the current situation and to close the agreement,” Borrell said, referring to the full name of the accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.Read more:Iran says won’t let ‘foreign factors’ hurt its interests in nuclear talksIranian nuclear talks clouded by Russian demandsIran nuclear talks stumble over unresolved Russia demands
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: External factors force pause in Iran nuclear talks: EU’s Borrell