Algerian Chief of Staff Inspects Warplanes on Visit to Russia

Algerian chief of staff Said Chengriha with Russian officials during his visit to the air base in Russia. (Algerian Defense Ministry)
Algerian chief of staff Said Chengriha with Russian officials during his visit to the air base in Russia. (Algerian Defense Ministry)
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Algerian Chief of Staff Inspects Warplanes on Visit to Russia

Algerian chief of staff Said Chengriha with Russian officials during his visit to the air base in Russia. (Algerian Defense Ministry)
Algerian chief of staff Said Chengriha with Russian officials during his visit to the air base in Russia. (Algerian Defense Ministry)

Algerian chief of staff Said Chengriha visited Zhukovsky Air Base on the outskirts of Moscow on the third day of his visit to Russia.

The Defense Ministry stated that the army commander was accompanied by Director of the Military Cooperation Service of the Russian Federation Dmitry Shugayev.

Chengriha inspected several types of military aircraft and was briefed on the latest equipment and technologies used in military aviation.

He visited the headquarters of the Aeronautical Technology Dynamics Company, where he examined the various latest equipment and technologies, including basic training for pilots and programs for simulation in the field of aviation.

According to the Russian press, Algeria wants to support its armed forces with modern Russian military equipment after increasing the military spending in the 2023 Algerian Budget Law.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Algeria ordered military equipment, including tanks, aircraft, and anti-aircraft defense systems, reported the Russian news agency Sputnik.

Sputnik reported that Chengriha's visit is part of the follow-up to the implementation of a military trade agreement, valued at $7 billion, concluded by the two countries in 2022, according to the press.

Chengriha's visit confirms Algeria's interest in purchasing Russian warplanes.

The Algerian Air Force is mainly equipped with Russian planes and fighters, some of which date back to the Soviet Union.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had visited Russia earlier this year.

The strong cooperation between the two states is evident in the intensity of joint military exercises they have held in recent years.

In October 2021, the Special Forces participated in military exercises in North Ossetia where 200 Russian and Algerian soldiers tested modern equipment and techniques to combat terrorism in mountainous areas.

The drills also included practicing modern combat techniques and new attack weapons.



Israel Army Says Striking Hezbollah Sites in Tyre Area of South Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Army Says Striking Hezbollah Sites in Tyre Area of South Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on May 15, 2026. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on May 15, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's military said Friday it was striking Hezbollah targets in the Tyre area of south Lebanon, as the two countries entered the second day of US-brokered talks in Washington.

"The military has begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement, hours after issuing evacuation warnings for five towns and villages.

An AFP correspondent saw strikes in the area.

In a separate statement, the military said "a number of explosive drones" had fallen in several areas of northern Israel, with no injuries reported.

The exchanges of fire come despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt the fighting.


Palestinian Authority Says Teen Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank

Palestinian boys from a local soccer academy run after the ball during a training session at the municipal stadium of the West Bank City of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian boys from a local soccer academy run after the ball during a training session at the municipal stadium of the West Bank City of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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Palestinian Authority Says Teen Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank

Palestinian boys from a local soccer academy run after the ball during a training session at the municipal stadium of the West Bank City of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian boys from a local soccer academy run after the ball during a training session at the municipal stadium of the West Bank City of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Palestinian Authority said Friday that a 15-year-old was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, while the Israeli army said he had been throwing stones at Israeli cars on a road.

The authority's health ministry said it had been informed of the killing of Fahd Zidan Oweis. He was "shot dead by the (Israeli) forces at dawn today in the town of Al-Lubban al-Sharqiyya in the Nablus governorate. His body has been withheld," it said.

The Israeli army told AFP it "eliminated a masked terrorist" who had "hurled rocks towards Israeli vehicles on a central road, endangering lives.”


Israel Threatens to Sue NYT Over Report on Sexual Abuse of Palestinian Inmates

The NYT report described "a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children -- by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards". (WAFA)
The NYT report described "a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children -- by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards". (WAFA)
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Israel Threatens to Sue NYT Over Report on Sexual Abuse of Palestinian Inmates

The NYT report described "a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children -- by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards". (WAFA)
The NYT report described "a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children -- by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards". (WAFA)

Israel on Thursday threatened to take The New York Times to court over a piece it published denouncing allegedly widespread sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar have ordered the "initiation of a defamation lawsuit against The New York Times", according to a joint statement issued by their offices.

The offices said that the piece by Nicholas Kristof, a prominent opinion columnist, was "one of the most hideous and distorted lies ever published against the State of Israel in the modern press, which also received the backing of the newspaper".

Kristof's investigation is based on testimonies gathered in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from 14 men and women who said that they had been sexually assaulted by Israeli settlers or members of the security forces.

The report described "a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children -- by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards".

The New York Times responded that any legal claim over the "deeply reported opinion column" lacked merit.

"This threat, similar to one made last year, is part of a well-worn political playbook that aims to undermine independent reporting and stifle journalism that does not fit a specific narrative," Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokesperson for the newspaper, said in a statement.

Kristof's piece said there was no evidence that Israeli leaders ordered rapes.

The Israeli foreign ministry alleged that Kristof had based his piece "on unverified sources tied to Hamas-linked networks".

It also accused the paper of deliberately timing the publication to "undermine" an independent Israeli report on Hamas sexual violence perpetrated during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which was published on the same day.

Israeli forces have detained thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank since Hamas's 2023 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The United States has high protections for journalistic expression, with libel suits needing to prove that information was purposefully untrue and with harmful intent.

President Donald Trump and his allies have nonetheless filed a number of lawsuits against media outlets, some of which have reached settlements rather than risk repercussions from his administration.