Leaked German report says Turkey a hub for ‘Islamists’
BERLIN — On Wednesday, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere defended a leaked government report alleging Turkey was a hub for Islamist groups, a charge that has further strained tensions with Ankara, a key partner in efforts to stem mass migration. Turkey and Germany have had a series of disputes in recent months, just as the...Scottish soccer fans wave Palestinian flags against Israeli team
Celtic fans with Palestinian flags. ReutersGLASGOW, Scotland — At a UEFA Champions League playoff soccer game between Scotland's Glasgow Celtic and Israel’s Hapoel Beer Sheva, the home fans raised Palestinian flags, defying warnings by the European football governing body. A Facebook page named "Fly the flag for Palestine, for...France defends burkini ban on beaches
The bans have provoked strong criticism from Muslim groups. ReutersPARIS — The French government has defended municipal bans on body-covering Muslim burkini swimwear but called on mayors to try and cool tensions between communities.Three Mediterranean towns - Cannes, Villeneuve-Loubet and Sisco on the island of Corsica - have banned...Egyptian fighter refuses to shake Israeli’s hand at Olympics
RIO DE JANEIRO — Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby caused controversy after his first-round Olympics loss to Israel’s fifth-ranked Or Sasson on Friday, when he refused to shake his hand, in a major breach of judo etiquette. Sasson defeated El Shehaby with two throws for an automatic victory, with about a minute and a half remaining...U.S. approves $1.15 billion sale of tanks, equipment to Saudi Arabia
An Abrams main battle tank leaves Riga port March 9, 2015 - Photo by Reuters.RIYADH — The State Department has approved the potential sale of more than 130 Abrams battle tanks, 20 armored recovery vehicles and other equipment, worth about $1.15 billion, to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The approval for land force...Saudi-led coalition resumes attacks on Sanaa
SANAA — At least 13 people were killed on Tuesday in the first air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition on the Yemeni capital in five months, residents said, as the head of the U.N. expressed concern about the escalation in the fighting. Fighting has intensified since U.N.-sponsored peace talks between the Houthis, backed by forces...Thirteen premature babies killed in Baghdad hospital fire
BAGHDAD — Thirteen prematurely born babies were killed in a fire that broke out early on Wednesday in a maternity ward in a Baghdad hospital and was probably caused by an electrical fault, Iraqi authorities said. Eleven or 12 other babies and 29 women were rescued from the Yarmuk hospital's maternity ward and transferred to other...Putin and Erdogan move toward repairing ties amid tension with West
MOSCOW — Russia and Turkey took a big step toward normalizing relations on Tuesday, with their leaders announcing an acceleration in trade and energy ties at a time when both countries have troubled economies and strains with the West. President Vladimir Putin received his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in a Tsarist-era palace...Intensifying fight for Aleppo chokes civilian population
DAMASCUS — An upsurge of intense fighting around Aleppo has killed scores of Syrians in the past weeks, displaced thousands and cut water and power to up to two million people on both sides of the front line, worsening the already dire conditions faced by hundreds of thousands in the city. In a war already marked by a humanitarian...Suicide bomber kills at least 70 at Pakistan hospital
An injured man outside the hospital in Quetta, August 8A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed at least 70 people and wounded more than a hundred on Monday in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in Quetta, according to officials in the southwestern province of Baluchistan.The bomber struck as a crowd of mostly lawyers and...Lebanese Olympics team refuses to share bus with Israeli team
RIO - The Lebanese delegation to the Rio Olympics refused to let Israeli athletes board a bus the two teams were meant to take to the opening ceremony on Friday. According to Isreali coach Udi Gal, when the Lebanese team realized that it was slated to share the bus with Israeli athletes, it asked the driver to shut the...Israel legalizes imprisonment of ‘child terrorists’ as young as 12
JERUSALEM — Israeli lawmakers approved jailing children as young as 12 convicted of "terrorist offenses" in the wake of repeated attacks by young Palestinians, the parliament said on Wednesday. "The 'Youth Bill,' which will allow the authorities to imprison a minor convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or...Muslim woman detained at UK airport for reading Syrian art book
UNITED KINGDOM - A Muslim NHS worker was detained at a UK airport and questioned under terror laws after a cabin crew member spotted her reading a Syrian culture book on board her honeymoon flight. Faizah Shaheen, who helps prevent teenage mental health patients from becoming radicalized, was returning...Egyptian army says it killed ISIS leader in Sinai
CAIRO — Egypt's military said on Thursday it had killed Abu Duaa al-Ansari, whom it identified as the leader of the Sinai branch of ISIS, in a series of air strikes near the town of Arish. It said on its Facebook page that the strikes had also killed 45 other ISIS militants and destroyed arms and ammunition stores used by the...Hezbollah says partition a possible outcome in Iraq and Syria
BEIRUT — Hezbollah said the partition of Iraq and Syria was a possible outcome of sectarian fighting across the region and there was no prospect of any end to the war in Syria until after November's U.S. presidential election. Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy leader of the Iran-backed group, whose forces are fighting alongside President......
U.N. report on Yemen: Saudis, Houthis committed violations
UNITED NATIONS — Yemen's Houthi rebels used civilians as human shields, and ISIS militants in the country received an influx of cash, according to a confidential report by United Nations experts monitoring sanctions on Yemen. The 105-page report to the U.N. Security Council, seen by Reuters on Thursday, also said a military...U.S. strikes easing advance against ISIS in Sirte
TRIPOLI — U.S. air strikes are easing the passage of Libyan forces as they seek to clear ISIS from the militant group's former North African stronghold of Sirte, a senior field commander said on Wednesday. Mohamed Darat said the first strikes, which took place on Monday, had helped Libyan brigades under his command secure the Dollar......
Houthi-led bloc says to set up council to govern Yemen
SANAA — Yemen's dominant Houthi group and its allies in ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh's party said on Thursday they would establish a governing council to run the country, in a move the United Nations said threatens peace talks in Kuwait.Senior officials in President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government said the move...Netanyahu thanks Sisi for his “leadership”
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday praised warming relations with Egypt and its president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted a democratically elected government seen as hostile to ties between the neighbors.Egypt was the first of a handful of Arab countries to recognize Israel, in 1979, but the...Syria’s Nusra Front says ending link to al-Qaeda
DAMASCUS — Al-Qaeda's powerful Syrian branch announced on Thursday it was ending its relationship with the global terrorist network founded by Osama bin Laden and changing its name, to remove what it called a pretext used by world powers to attack Syrians.In the first known video statement ever to show his face, the leader...Syrian army texts residents to leave rebel-held Aleppo neighborhoods
The Syrian army sent text messages to residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo saying it will grant safe passage to people wishing to leave the area, which has been effectively besieged by pro-government forces, state media said on Tuesday.The army called on residents to push "mercenaries" out of the city -- a reference to rebel......
Elderly priest killed in French church, attack claimed by ISIS
Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed in the attackPARIS — A priest in his mid-80s was killed with a knife and another hostage seriously wounded on Tuesday in an attack on a church in northern France carried out by assailants linked to ISIS.Both attackers were shot dead by French police. Five people in all had been taken hostage. A...Knife attacker in Japan kills 19 in their sleep at disabled center
The facility after the attack, July 26SAGAMIHARA, Japan — A knife-wielding man broke into a facility for the disabled in a small town near Tokyo early on Tuesday and killed 19 patients as they slept, authorities said, Japan's worst mass killing in decades.At least 25 other residents were wounded in the attack at the Tsukui Yamayuri-En......
Former Saudi general visits Israel, meets officials
Eshki and members of his delegation, meeting with Israeli Knesset members, July 22TEL AVIV — Retired Saudi General Anwar Eshki visited Israel last week and met with foreign ministry officials, including Director-General Dore Gold Yoav Mordechai, Haaretz reported. Eshki, who headed a delegation of Saudi academics and business...Muslim woman befriends frightened passenger
A Muslim woman took to Facebook to describe her encounter with a woman who was too terrified to sit beside her on a plane after she texted the world ‘Allah’. Jiva Akbor’s post touched thousands on social media as Akbor described how she befriended a woman who complained to the air hostesses about her text......
