Latest in Region Highlight
Latest in Region
Arab summit kicks off with calls to arm Syria rebels
The head of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmed Jarba, repeated calls on the international community to supply rebels with “sophisticated weapons”.
Syria opposition calls for ‘sophisticated’ arms
Addressing the Arab summit in Kuwait, National Coalition chief Ahmed Jarba urged Arabs to give Syria’s Arab League seat to the opposition and hand them Syria’s embassies in their countries.
Saudi says world has ‘betrayed’ Syria rebels
Saudi Arabia is one of the main backers of the rebellion against Assad that erupted three years ago and has become a full-fledged civil war after loyalists launched a crackdown against protesters seeking democratic reforms.
‘Al-Qaeda attack’ kills 20 Yemen soldiers
The assault came in the eastern province of Hadramawt were the security forces have suffered repeated losses which prompted President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to fire his interior minister earlier this month.
Syria rebels seize key area on Turkey border: NGO
The air raids come a day after a Syrian warplane was shot down by Ankara’s jets in an incident slammed as “flagrant aggression” by Damascus.
Gunmen attack, burn displaced camp in Darfur: UNAMID
The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has reported a series of attacks on villages in the region this month, but the Khor Abeche camp in South Darfur, assaulted on Saturday, was an unusual target.
Turkey downs Syria warplane on border: NGO
AFP – Turkish anti-aircraft fire shot down a Syrian warplane on Sunday as it bombed rebels fighting to seize control of a border post in northwestern Syria, an NGO said. “Turkish air defences targeted a Syrian fighter bomber as it struck areas of the northern province of Latakia. The plane caught fire and crashed in Syrian …
One dead as pro-, anti-Damascus gunmen clash in Beirut
AFP – A firefight between pro- and anti-Damascus factions in Beirut killed one gunman and wounded 13 Sunday, a security official said, in the latest spillover of the conflict in neighbouring Syria. The gun battle raged from 3am to 8.30am (0100 to 0630 GMT) in a poor Sunni Muslim district in the south of the …
Palestinians protest Jerusalem marathon
Police arrested four of them and dispersed the rest “with ease,” she said, adding that the race had “continued as normal”.
Three Palestinians killed in Israeli West Bank raid
The Palestinian sources said Israeli soldiers entered the camp in the northern West Bank city to arrest Hamza Abu Alheja, 20, a member of the military wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Obama urges Lebanon to stick to election timetable
Obama thanked Salam for hosting Syrian refugees, nearly one million of whom have fled to Lebanon.
24 killed as rebels fight to take Syria border post
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamists included the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front.
Israel bombs Syria army targets after Golan attack
The Syrian army said the air strikes killed one soldier and wounded seven, cautioning that the assault endangered “the security and stability of the region”.
Israel strikes kill one, ‘threaten region’s security’: Syria
AFP– Israeli air raids on Syria on Wednesday killed one person and injured seven, Syria’s army said, warning that the strikes endangered regional security and stability. In a statement, the army command warned that “these desperate attempts… endanger the security and stability of the region.”
Obama meets Abbas in bid to save US peace drive
Obama will meet Abbas after telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that tough decisions are looming ahead of an end of April deadline to agree on a framework for future negotiations.
Three suspected jihadists dead in Tunisia police raid: Ministry
AFP – Security forces killed three suspected jihadists in an anti-terrorist operation Monday in a region of northwest Tunisia where Islamist militants shot dead four people last month, the interior ministry said. The police surrounded a house in the Jendouba region straddling the Algerian border and killed “three terrorists,” ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said, …
Syria army in hot pursuit of rebels on Lebanon border
The capture on Sunday of Yabrud by Syrian troops and fighters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah marked a significant setback for the rebels as it severs their important supply lines from across the Lebanese border.
Car bomb in Libya’s Benghazi kills at least 5: hospital
AFP– A car bomb Monday targeting a military academy in Libya’s restive eastern city of Benghazi killed at least five soldiers and wounded more than 10, military and hospital sources said. The medical centre in Benghazi reported that “five bodies plus an indeterminate number of body parts” had arrived at the hospital, along with “more than 10 …
US Seals take control of rogue Libya oil ship: Pentagon
The Morning Glory “is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government’s National Oil Company.
Syria army advances in rebel town as war enters 4th year
A military source said “13 rebel chiefs leading operations are dead”, adding there were “many deaths among the insurgents”.
Abbas to meet Obama ahead of peace talks deadline
Current Palestinian leaders have opposed recognising Israel as a Jewish state, fearing this could threaten the rights of non-Jewish Arabs living in Israel, who make up some 20% of the population, as well as other religious minorities.
UN, NGOs urge effort to stop Syria war, aid refugees
Nearly three million people have fled Syria since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011, and aid groups say 5.5 million children have been affected.
Israel shells Lebanon after border blast
A Lebanese security source had said earlier that “10 Israeli rockets hit an uninhabited border area and that there were no casualties.”
No solutions in sight as Syria war enters fourth year
Peace talks in Geneva in January and February that for the first time brought representatives of the regime and the opposition to the table together failed to yield concrete results.
As Syria war enters fourth year, regime eyes victory
For now, neither side seems to have the means to win decisively a conflict that has cost more than 140,000 lives and displaced nearly half Syria’s population, many of them now refugees.
Cartoonist acquitted of mocking Algeria president: Lawyer
Ghanem was accused at the criminal court in Oran last month of insulting the president, with the prosecution demanding an 18-month prison sentence and a DZA 30,000 (€280) fine.
5.5 million children impacted by Syria conflict: UN
The report focuses on the immense damage caused to children affected by the conflict, including “the accounts of children whose lives have been devastated by the three year old war, and highlights the profound traumas many have experienced”.
Syria Islamists free nuns in rare prisoner swap
Jihadists seized the 13 nuns and three maids on 3 December from the famed Christian village of Maalula – where residents still speak the ancient Aramaic of Jesus Christ – and took them to the nearby town of Yabrud.
Canadian journalist killed in Syria: Activists
AFP – A Canadian photojournalist, Ali Mustafa, has been killed in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, activists said. An official in the Aleppo opposition provincial capital said Mustafa, a freelancer who sold pictures to the SIPA and EPA agencies, was killed in the city on Sunday. The opposition Aleppo Media Centre also reported the …
Saudi jails Islamist for 8 years for Twitter protest call
Security forces had previously arrested the accused on similar charges, but freed them after they signed a pledge not to take part in such activities again.