WASHINGTON: The US and Israel has launched what one US official described as the allies’ most significant joint military exercise to date, involving thousands of forces, a dozen ships and 142 aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers.

The “Juniper Oak” drills, which will run through Friday, are meant to demonstrate and deepen integration between the US and Israeli militaries, the senior US defense official said, and come at a time of growing tension over Iran’s nuclear program.

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the US and the EU to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the demolition of Al-Khan Al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem, and the forced displacement of its residents.

Al-Khan Al-Ahmar has provoked an international crisis as the small village is strategically significant, connecting the north of the West Bank with the south.

DUBAI: Promotion of the values of human fraternity must extend to the empowerment of women, according to Epsy Campbell Barr, a former vice president of Costa Rica and member of the judging panel for this year’s Zayed Award for Human Fraternity.

“We need more understanding between the sexes in order to build a better world,” she told Arab News in the lead-up to this year’s award ceremony on Feb. 4. “It is impossible to do so without the inclusion of women.

AMMAN: Jordanian advocate Hadeel Abdel Aziz was awarded the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law on Sunday, the Jordan News Agency reported.

The prize honors human rights defenders around the world who work every day, often under dangerous conditions, to protect and strengthen human rights.

The ministers of foreign affairs of Germany and France have awarded one of the prizes this year to Abdel Aziz, who, as executive director of the Justice Center for Legal Aid,  provides access to justice to Jordan’s most vulnerable citizens.

WASHINGTON: American forces have captured two Daesh members during an air and ground assault in eastern Syria, the US military’s Central Command said in a statement released on Sunday.
The raid happened on Saturday, according to Col. Joe Buccino, a Central Command spokesperson, adding that one civilian received “minor injuries” during the attack and was treated at a nearby medical facility before being released back to his family.