Latest in Region Highlight
Latest in Region
Palestinian unity government will reject violence: Abbas
The new unity government he is set to head with the backing of Hamas would reject violence and recognise Israel and existing agreements, Abbas says
MERS death toll hits 81 in Saudi
Health minister sacked
Libyan charter panel elects liberal to lead constituent assembly
Ali Tarhuni, a liberal politician and former rebel minister, was elected to head Libya’s constituent assembly
Saudi sentences five to death over 2003 Qaeda attacks
Dozens of Saudis and expats were killed and wounded that year in car bombings
Jihadist group in Libya releases video of sobbing hostage
The hostage, Mohamed ben Sheikh, is shown crying during the five minute video as he calls on Tunisia’s president to help rescue him
Syria calls presidential elections for 3 June
AFP- Syria said Monday it will hold presidential elections expected to return President Bashar Al-Assad to office on 3 June, despite a civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people. Underlining the ongoing violence in the country, mortar fire hit near the parliament building shortly before the election date was announced, killing two people. …
Syria presidential vote on June 3: parliament speaker
Syria’s first presidential election will be held amid a devastating civil war
Israel, Palestinian peace meet postponed after killing
Israel’s army and police were still hunting for the suspected gunman on Wednesday, after carrying out extensive searches around Idhna.
Sudan’s president bans political party meetings
The decree comes just a week after Al-Bashir assured a meeting of party leaders they had freedom to operate in the run-up to a “national dialogue” he has promised to hold to address urgent demands for change in his 25-year regime.
Mortar fire on Syria schools kills child, hurts 40: Media
AFP – Mortar rounds fired on schools in the Syrian capital on Tuesday killed a child and wounded more than 40 people, among them more children, state media said. Rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Al-Assad hold some territory on the outskirts of Damascus from which they have regularly launched mortar and rocket attacks targeting …
Gunmen kidnap Jordan envoy to Libya, wound driver
A security official said the ambassador’s driver suffered gunshot wounds during the kidnapping.
Israel minister warns Kerry over ‘surrender’ to Iran
AFP- Israel’s intelligence minister Monday slammed as unacceptable comments by US Secretary of State John Kerry on negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme which he said indicated a “surrender” to Tehran. “The things Kerry said in the Congress are worrying, they are surprising and they are unacceptable,” Yuval Steinitz, who is also strategic affairs …
Hezbollah shifts tactics, narrative for Syria fight
Shedding its guerrilla tactics to fight alongside an army
71 killed, 124 injured in blasts at Nigeria bus station: police
In a twin blast
Libya PM quits, saying he was victim of attack
Thani quit less than a week after parliament tasked him on Tuesday with forming a new cabinet
Islamists boycott Algeria vote as North African tide turns
AFP – Algeria’s Islamists – once the country’s leading political force – are boycotting this month’s presidential election, chastened by recent poor performances at the polls and setbacks for ideological soulmates across North Africa. The three main moderate Islamist parties have forged an unlikely alliance with the fiercely secularist Rally for Culture and Democracy to …
Iran says not considering alternative UN pick
AFP- Iran signalled its defiance Saturday over America’s refusal to grant a visa to its chosen UN ambassador, saying it does not plan to pick an alternative envoy. Tehran also said it was examining its legal options over the row, which has undermined a cautious thaw in relations after decades of enmity following the storming …
Saudi end to girls’ sports ‘welcome’: HRW
AFP- Human Rights Watch welcomed Saturday a recommendation by Saudi Arabia’s consultative Shura Council to lift the ban on sports in girls’ state schools. On Tuesday, the council recommended that the longstanding ban, relaxed in private schools last year, be ended altogether, state media in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom reported. It is now up to …
Ailing president eyes fourth term in Algeria vote
AFP- Algerians will vote in a presidential election Thursday with Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has ruled the oil-rich North African nation for 15 years, the firm favourite for re-election despite chronic health problems. The 77-year-old president has been conspicuous by his absence from the campaign trail, looking frail on the rare occasions he has appeared in …
Jewish settlers attack Israel soldiers for second night
Rosenfeld said there had been no casualties but that two settlers had later been arrested.
Regime to blame for most Syria abuses: UN rights chief
AFP – Syria must be held accountable for abuses against its people and those responsible should be hauled before the International Criminal Court, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said Tuesday. “Criminal justice must be seized. The UN Security Council must be able to unite around the simple idea that terrible crimes have been committed …
Iraq attacks kill 12 as soldiers ambush militants
AFP- Attacks in Iraq left 12 people dead Tuesday while security forces said they killed 25 militants near Baghdad amid worries insurgents are encroaching on the capital weeks ahead of elections. The latest violence is part of a protracted surge in nationwide bloodshed that has left more than 2,400 people dead since the start of …
UN warns of drought crisis in Syria
Byrs said it was not clear how many more people would end up counting on food aid supplies because of the drought.
ISIL jihadists open new front in Baghdad push
Group inspired by Al-Qaeda
Election posters adorn Baghdad as campaigning begins
Posters went up around Baghdad and across the country as candidates vie for one of 328 parliamentary seats.
More than 150,000 killed in Syria conflict: NGO
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 150,344 people, 51,212 of them civilians, including nearly 7,985 children.
Syria rebels lick their wounds in Lebanon border town
Arsal too has suffered violence, including Syrian air strikes, incidents pitting Lebanon’s army against Lebanese and Syrian extremists, and on Saturday a car bomb that killed three soldiers.
Two Spanish journalists freed in Syria: colleagues
El Mundo correspondent Javier Espinosa, 49, and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, 42, were “freed and handed over to the Turkish military”, the Spanish newspaper said on its website.
Netanyahu slams UN rights council’s censure of Israel
The motions on the Palestinians were carried by 46 votes to one, with only the United States against, while the Golan resolution garnered 13 abstentions and a US “no” vote.
Two Spanish journalists freed in Syria: press
AFP – Two Spanish journalists taken hostage by an Al-Qaeda-linked group last year have been freed, the Spanish daily El Mundo reported Sunday. “At 21:27 (Spanish time 2027 GMT Saturday) veteran El Mundo Middle East correspondent Javier Espinosa called the paper’s newsroom and said they had been released and handed over to the Turkish military,” the …