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The Egyptian President, accompanied by religious, military and international dignitaries, witnesses ceremony to inaugurate the Nativity of Christ Cathedral and Al-Fattah El-Alim17:43 US President Donald Trump tweeted, "Excited to see our friends in Egypt opening the biggest Cathedral in the Middle East. President El-Sisi is moving his country to a more inclusive future!" 17:40 In a short video message aired before the attendees, Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, congratulated the Egyptian people, government and president on the inauguration of the new cathedral.17:30 Following the moment of silence, the celebration on stage started with a live performance of Islamic chants and Christian hymns...

On its face, Trump’s announcement that he is pulling US forces out of Syria seems like an unfriendly act toward Israel. But it isn’t. On its face, President Donald Trump’s announcement that he is pulling US forces out of Syria seems like an unfriendly act towards Israel. But it isn’t. Trump’s decision to pull US forces out of Syria is of a piece with outgoing US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley’s address on Tuesday to the UN Security Council regarding the Palestinian conflict with Israel. Both statements reflect the depths of the administration’s friendship and support for the State...

US forces are reportedly evacuating their military base near al-Hasakah; The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) still press their operation against ISIS in the Hajin pocket.

A loud explosion was heard near the pyramids of Giza, as a blast hit tourist bus. Two dead and 12 injured, according to Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Two Vietnamese tourists were killed and 10 injured on Friday evening when an improvised explosive device detonated as a bus carrying 14 Vietnamese tourists traveled on El-Maryoutiya Street in Haram district in Giza, a statement by Egypt's Interior Ministry said... The explosion also injured the bus driver and representative of the tourism company, both Egyptians. The security services immediately moved to the site of the explosion to carry out investigations. More to follow

BEIRUT (AP) — Turkey is massing troops near a town in northern Syria held by a U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led force, a war monitor and Turkish media said Sunday. The buildup comes even though Turkey said it would delay a promised offensive in eastern Syria in the wake of U.S. decisions to withdraw its troops.

DURING Friday prayers the congregation of Muhammad Yousef, a young puritanical preacher in the Egyptian town of Mansoura, once spilled out into the alleys surrounding his mosque. Now Sheikh Muhammad counts it a good week if he fills half the place. In Cairo, 110km (68 miles) to the south, unveiled women sit in street cafés, traditionally a male preserve, smoking water-pipes. Some of the establishments serve alcohol, which Islam prohibits. “We’re in religious decline,” moans Sheikh Muhammad, whose despair is shared by clerics in many parts of the Arab world. According to Arab Barometer, a pollster, much of the region...

It is safe to say that there are now two main fronts in what we need to term the Islamist War Against the West. The first has been for many years now the Western liberal democracy of Israel surrounded by genocidal neighbors; the second is France, followed closely by other European countries, Australia, and America. During the week of December 11th, 2018, two sad things happened and this essay shall attempt to enlighten by placing them together. The first is the recent terrorist attack in Strasbourg France, and the second is the signing by most of the world (with the...

Full Title: 'If you go to another country, you must abide by its culture. If not, don't go': Egypt's president decries migrants heading to Europe and refusing to integrate instead of fixing their own countries. Egypt's President has told his people they should not expect the West to 'open their doors' to migrants who refuse to integrate. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that 'every country has the right to protect its people and their interests.' Speaking at a World Youth Forum in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, the country's leader told guests they had to 'completely abide by the laws, customs, traditions and culture'...

WASHINGTON, DC – President Donald Trump signed a law on Tuesday combatting genocide of Christians in the Middle East, legislation supported by the Knights of Columbus and a broad array of faith-based organizations. Christians are being systematically wiped out in Syria and Iraq, along with other religious minorities in parts of the Middle East. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and former Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) spearheaded the passage of H.R. 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018, which the president signed in an Oval Office ceremony. Both congressmen stood with the president as he signed the...

CAIRO - Egypt’s Christians are optimistic following the first Coptic mass in Saudi Arabia. Dozens of Coptic Christians attended the mass at a tourist facility in Riyadh. The mass, Egypt’s Christians said, reflects the tremendous changes happening in Saudi Arabia. “It even portends more change in that great country in the future,” said Father Polis Halim, spokesman of the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church. “Saudi Arabia is showing an admirable degree of tolerance that gives us a lot of hope.” The story began in May when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz visited Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in...

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is now disclosing the nature of his resignation, and why he left Lebanon to spend time in Saudi Arabia. It appears the Saudi and regional partners provided evidence that Iran and Hezbollah were planning an assassination targeting Hariri and his family.

Russia has completed an elaborate air defense system in Syria that curbs the operational capabilities of both the United States and Israel, according to a report by the Washington- based Institute for the Study of War. The deployments throughout the conflict-ravaged country include variations of the advanced S-300 and S-400 systems in addition to other cutting-edge technologies. Moscow long ago exported such systems to Syria, however, they remained under the control of its own army. Only after the accidental downing in September by Syrian forces of a Russian reconnaissance plane, an incident the Kremlin blamed on Jerusalem which minutes earlier...

The IDF destroyed a Hezbollah tunnel that penetrated into Israeli territory south of the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit announced in a statement Tuesday.

Syrian reporter: In Syria there is atmosphere of eve of war Exclusive: In conversation in Damascus, senior Syrian journalist tells about sentiments in Syria ('as if there will be war any moment'); talks about military preparations in his country ('identifying your reinforcements in Golan Heights'); and estimates that Israeli pounding in Lebanon to intensify grassroots support of Nasrallah and his organization. Also in Syria, he says, Nasrallah more popular than ever Ali Waked As the conflict with Hizbullah in Lebanon escalates by the day, the question of Syria's involvement in the conflict becomes increasingly more relevant. "The atmosphere in Syria...

But Democrats view it as yet another expression of the prime minister’s overzealous backing for a despised U.S. president The Mossad’s Kidon unit, which foreign media describe as Israel’s official assassination squad, must be worried sick over the fallout from the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Alongside its many successful hits, some of which are surely still unknown, Kidon’s men (and presumably women) have also known notorious failures, including the mistaken 1970 killing of Moroccan waiter Ahmed Bouchiki in Lillehammer, Norway, the failed 1997 assassination of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Jordan and...

BERLIN — Denmark became the second European country to halt future arms exports to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, following a similar decision by neighboring Germany earlier this month. The Danish announcement comes the same week President Trump backed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite the CIA assessing that he ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Denmark’s ban includes goods that can be used both for military and civilian purposes but is still less expansive than the German measures, which also included sales that had already been approved. While the Nordic country is a tiny arms equipment exporter in...

At the height of the media storm over the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, otherwise known as MBS, met with a visiting delegation of evangelical Christians from the U.S. for two hours. One of the Saudi attendees was the General Secretary of the Saudi-based Muslim World League (MWL), Dr. Mohammad Al-‘Issa. The MWL was a major engine for the propagation and spread of Wahabist jihad throughout the Western world since it was formed by the Saudi regime in the 1960s. The MWL founded the...

I am already sick of Turkey.I suspect that many Americans feel this way, about the bird and the country. Yet a small group of Washington foreign policy hands — at State Department, at Pentagon and in congressional offices — continue to make the case for Turkey as a “strategically important” partner to the US. On paper, the country looks good: It sits at the center of many of Americas most pressing foreign policy concerns, it is a member of NATO, it's stable, and it can offer foreign partners access to its airbases and intelligence cooperation. I used to think of...

The 633-word statement of President Donald Trump on the Saudi royals' role in the grisly murder of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi is a remarkable document, not only for its ice-cold candor. The president re-raises a question that has roiled the nation since Jimmy Carter: To what degree should we allow idealistic values trump vital interests in determining foreign policy? On the matter of who ordered the killing of Khashoggi, Trump does not rule out the crown prince as prime suspect: "King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the...