Within hours of the United States assassination of Qassem Soleimani, a top general in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the country's Supreme Leader named a successor to head the elite Quds Force he had commanded. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's choice of Esmail Qaani, who served as Soleimani's deputy for more than two decades, was aimed at ensuring a smooth and swift transition in the strategic foreign unit's leadership at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, according to analysts. Soleimani's assassination in a US air strike in Baghdad on January 3 pushed the US and Iran to the brink of war, but fears of an all-out conflict eased when retaliatory Iranian strikes against US targets in Iraq on January 8 concluded without any fatalities. Under Soleimani, the Quds Force helped boost Iranian influence across the Middle East by building up a vast network of proxies.

The bodies of the 11 Ukrainian citizens who died when a passenger plane was accidentally shot down by Iran this month were brought back to Ukraine on Sunday in a solemn ceremony at Kiev airport. All 176 on board the Ukraine International Airlines flight from Tehran to Kiev were killed when the Boeing 737-800 was shot down on January 8, at a time when Iran was on high alert for a US attack. Most of those on board were Iranians or dual nationals. Canada had 57 citizens on board. Nine of the Ukrainian citizens were crew members. With President Volodymyr Zelenskiy looking on, coffins draped in the Ukrainian flag were carried one by one from a Ukrainian military plane to a waiting hearse at Kiev's

The bodies of the 11 Ukrainian citizens who died when a passenger plane was accidentally shot down by Iran this month have returned to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looked on on Sunday as coffins draped in the country's flag were carried from a Ukrainian military plane to a waiting hearse at Boryspil International Airport, east of the capital, Kyiv. More: 'World is watching': Countries mourning crash victims warn Iran Iran admits it shot down Ukrainian plane Second day of protests in Iran after plane shot down Relatives came to the airport carrying bunches of flowers while airline staff, some in tears, were waiting on the tarmac. Prime Minister Oleksiy Goncharuk and other officials also

Sonam Kapoor recently pulled out of the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) 2020.  Sonam was invited as the speaker at the global event, which has seen influential world leaders in attendance in the past. However, even though the actress was keen on being part of the forum, she could not make it to the event.  But then Deepika who had confirmed her participation in the event in November itself is attending it for sure and she left for the Switzerland location over the weekend. Karan Johar too left by the same flight. Interestingly the Indian delegation is being led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. “U.S. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, David Solomon and teenage climate

H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, has said that the UAE places family cohesion amongst its topmost priorities, as it seeks to be a global model for social cohesiveness and preserved identity. On Saturday, Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak called for the establishment of a unified family counselling portal in the UAE, to further improve social services provided in the country, and ensure the effective participation of the UAE community across its diverse social fabric. The move adds on to various other initiatives undertaken by the UAE government,

DUBAI: Rihanna and her Saudi beau Hassan Jameel have reportedly gone their separate ways, according to US media reports. US Weekly magazine and E! News reported on the split on Friday, but didn't shed light on the reasons behind the purported split. Rihanna gave no indication of an upcoming beak up in a sit down with Interview magazine in 2019, saying “I got into a new relationship, and it matters to me. It was like, 'I need to make time for this… I'll shut things down for two days, three days at a time. On my calendar we now have the infamous 'P,' which means personal days. This is a new thing. “Just like I nurture my businesses, I need to nurture this as well,” Rihanna said, alluding to her

Members of the Jordanian Parliament voted on Sunday to prohibit the import of gas from Israel following protests in the country's capital city of Amman. The vote follows protests by hundreds of Jordanians on Friday in downtown Amman, calling on the government to cancel an import agreement that saw Israel begin pumping natural gas to the Kingdom at the start of this year. Earlier this month, Jordan's National Electric Power Co., said gas pumping had started as part of a multi-billion-dollar deal with Texas-based Noble Energy, aimed at lowering the cost of power in the energy-poor Kingdom. Noble Energy and Israel's Delek Group are, among others, partners in the newly operational Leviathan gas field off Israel's Mediterranean coast.