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France’s highest court on Monday ruled that the government ban on Muslim dress abaya is legal. The Council of State said it had rejected an appeal by three organizations against the government ban announced last month on abaya – a loose-fitting and full-length robe – worn by some Muslim students …

A Saudi delegation is due to visit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah this week, a Palestinian official said, amid diplomatic efforts to secure an accord between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The delegation will be led by the non-resident Saudi envoy to the Palestinians, who was appointed last month, the …

North Korea will allow foreign nationals to enter the country from Monday, Chinese state media reported, after over three years of Covid-induced isolation. North Korea has been largely closed off from the outside world since early 2020, when it shut its borders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with even …

Egypt will hold a presidential vote on Dec. 10-12, the elections authority said on Monday, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi widely expected to win reelection despite an economic crisis including record inflation and foreign currency shortages. Sisi, 68, can stand for a third term due to constitutional amendments in 2019 …

Hungary is not in a hurry to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday, flagging a further delay in a process that has been stranded in parliament since July 2022. “I wonder if there is something urgent that would force us to ratify Sweden’s NATO …

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday was moved to a prison with better facilities near the national capital Islamabad after a court order, his lawyer said on Monday. His legal team and party had been pleading with several courts to issue orders for Khan to be shifted to …

The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons has apologised for praising an individual who served in a Nazi unit during World War II in a session attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Speaker Anthony Rota recognised Yaroslav Hunka, 98, as a “Ukrainian hero, a …

The latest talks over the mega dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile River’s main tributary have broken up without an agreement. The two-day talks between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ended on Sunday night in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Ethiopia’s chief …

Condemnations have poured in over the “provocative” incursions of al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, by Israeli settlers under the protection of the regime’s forces. In a statement on Sunday, Egypt’s foreign ministry said the incursions of al-Aqsa Mosque compound by settlers under the protection of Israeli forces are “a …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Monday that the first batch of Abrams tanks promised by the US have arrived in Ukraine. In a statement on Telegram, Zelenskky said: “Good news from (Defense) Minister (Rustam) Umerov. Abrams (tanks) are already in Ukraine, we are preparing to reinforce our brigades.” Zelenskyy …

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has “temporarily” stepped down from his influential position after a federal indictment alleging years of bribery alongside his wife. The bombshell indictment unsealed by Manhattan federal prosecutors on Friday accused Menendez, 69, of receiving hundreds of thousands of …

The United States has agreed to give Kiev missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers, further escalating the Ukraine war. The US media reported on Saturday that US President Joe Biden plans to give Ukraine advanced long-range missiles to fight the Russians. Sources familiar with the matter said …

The Pentagon has authorized a potential arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $500 million in order to help the kingdom sustain its arsenal of armored vehicles with spare parts and maintenance, according to the US State Department. “The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale …

Russia’s defense ministry has said that its military inflicted heavy damage on Kiev forces, killing a multitude of enemy forces while destroying their tanks, armored battle vehicles, drones and munitions depots. The Russian Defense Ministry told TASS news agency on Sunday Southern Military District chopper took out more than two …

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil says the United States intends to establish a military base on a disputed territory between Venezuela and Guyana called Essequibo, stressing that Washington seeks to take control of oil resources in the region. “We condemn the intention of the US government to militarize the situation …

US President Joe Biden has announced that the first US Abrams tanks allocated for Ukraine will arrive there next week. Making the announcement on Thursday during a White House meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Biden said his administration would continue to support the war against Russia. Biden said he had …

Head of US Air Mobility Command (AMC), General Mike Minihan, has defended writing an incendiary memo titled “War with China”, claiming he aimed to create a sense of urgency in the forces under his command. The memo, which was dated February 1 but started circling on social media several days earlier, …

Poland’s president says his country will fulfill existing arms supply agreements with Kiev but it may only send more of its older weapons to the country. President Andrzej Duda made the remarks to walk back his prime minister’s comments about not providing Kiev with more weapons. Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, said …

A legislator from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made Islamophobic remarks and used abusive language addressing a Muslim MP from the opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) inside the parliament. BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri on Thursday called Kunwar Danish Ali a “terrorist” and a “pimp” among other offending remarks …

Ukraine says dozens of Russian naval officers, including “senior” ones, have been killed in a missile attack against Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol. The Ukrainian army said in a statement Saturday that the Russian navy officers were killed a day earlier after it launched …