Syrian forces push for Aleppo ahead of Swiss talks
DAMASCUS — Syria's military backed by Russian warplanes have killed more than 150 people in eastern Aleppo this week say rescue workers, part of a renewed bombardment supporting an offensive to seize the city's shattered rebel-held sector.As air strikes and shelling of the city's east intensified since Tuesday after a brief period of...Turkey warns assault on Mosul would trigger refugee wave
ANKARA — Any mistake in a planned U.S.-backed operation to drive ISIS from the Iraqi city of Mosul could result in hundreds of thousands of refugees, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Thursday.Turkey is locked in an escalating row with Iraq over who should take part in the Mosul assault and Kalin voiced...Over 140 killed from Saudi airstrikes in Yemen
YEMEN - Saudi-led warplanes struck a funeral at a community hall in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the country's Houthi-run administration said on Saturday, but the coalition denied any role in the attack. More than 140 mourners were killed, according to local health officials cited by the United Nations, in an attack that prompted a strong...New famine fears loom in Yemen
An eight-year-old malnourished boy at a hospital in Sanaa, Sept. 27.SANAA — Intensive care wards in Yemen's hospitals are filled with emaciated children hooked up to monitors and drips - victims of food shortages that could get even worse due to a reorganization of the central bank that is worrying importers. With food ships finding...Iraq requests U.N. emergency meeting on Turkish troops in north
BAGHDAD — Iraq has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the presence of Turkish troops on its territory as a dispute with Ankara escalates. Turkey's parliament voted last week to extend the deployment of an estimated 2,000 troops across northern Iraq by a year to combat "terrorist...U.N. envoy offers to escort rebels out of Aleppo
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Special Envoy for Syria offered on Thursday to go to eastern Aleppo and escort up to 1,000 Islamist rebel fighters out of the city to try to bring an end to bombardment by Russian and Syrian forces. Staffan de Mistura said history would judge Syria and Russia if they used the presence of about 900 former...Rebels close in on Dabiq, bomb kills dozens in northern Syria
ANKARA — A bomb claimed by ISIS at a Syria-Turkey border crossing killed at least 25 people, most of them foreign-backed Syrian rebels, and wounded dozens more on Thursday, witnesses said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group put the death toll at least 21. The attack targeted rebels from factions...American chess player leads boycott against wearing hijab at Iran tournament
IRAN - The world’s top female chess players have reportedly been told they must wear hijabs if they wish to compete in next year’s world championships in Iran. The next Women’s World Championships are due to be held in Tehran in March 2017 but several players have threatened to boycott the tournament if females are...U.N. fails to set international probe on Yemen war crimes
Smoke rises from the site of Saudi-led air strikes in Sanaa, Aug. 31 - Photo by ReutersGENEVA — The U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday declined to set up an independent inquiry into abuses in Yemen, instead calling on a national inquiry to investigate by violations by all sides, including the killing of civilians and attacks on...Moscow vows to continue Syria offensive, accuses U.S. of supporting terror
DAMASCUS — The Kremlin vowed on Thursday to press on with its assault in Syria, while U.S. officials searched for a tougher response to Russia's decision to ignore the peace process and seek military victory on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow and Damascus launched an assault to recapture the rebel-held sector of Aleppo...Jordanians protest writer’s assassination
AMMAN — Protesters in Jordan demanded that the government resign on Monday for its failure to protect a Christian writer shot dead outside a court where he was to stand trial after sharing on social media a cartoon image seen as insulting Islam. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the rime minister's office after writer Nahed...Iraq PM tells Kurds not to use Mosul battle to expand territory
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani not to exploit the war on ISIS to expand the Kurds' territory, according to a government statement published after their meeting on Thursday in Baghdad. The meeting discussed the preparation for the battle to dislodge ISIS from Mosul, the largest...Machete-happy Iraqi grandma kills ISIS militants
IRAQ - A machete and gun-wielding Iraqi grandmother has reportedly boasted about beheading ISIS fighters and cooking their bodies. Wahida Mohamed Al-Jumaily, 39, has been bragging about it on her Facebook, adding that “she is more wanted than the Prime Minister" by the terrorist group.She reportedly leads a force of 70...Saudi man arrested for “seducing” American woman on social media
SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Arabia has arrested a 19-year-old man on charges of “unethical behavior” after appearing in an online video where he chats with an American blogger. Police claimed the videos shared on YouNow by Abu Sin and Christina Crockett, 21, who lives in California, were “enticing” and...Shimon Peres, Israel’s former prime minister and founding statesman, dies at 93
Shimon PeresTEL AVIV – Former Israeli prime minister and founding statesman, Shimon Peres died in Tel Aviv on Wednesday aged 93, Israel Radio said.Peres was hospitalized following a stroke two weeks ago and had made some progress before a sudden deterioration in his condition on Tuesday.An official announcement of the death......
Jordanian writer shot dead while facing trial for cartoon mocking ISIS
JORDAN - A Jordanian writer who was arrested for posting a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam has been shot dead. Nahed Hattar was assassinated in front the Supreme Court in Amman with local media reporting he was shot three times in the head. The shooter has reportedly been arrested by security forces. Mr Hatter had turned himself...Iraqi army captures key town south of Mosul
BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces backed by air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition gained complete control of the northern district of Shirqat on Thursday, bringing the military a step closer to a main push on Mosul later this year. Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the military's joint operations command, said in a statement...Syria ceasefire collapses
DAMASCUS — Warplanes mounted the heaviest air strikes in months against rebel-held districts of the city of Aleppo overnight, rebel officials and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the Syrian military on the reports, or mention of Aleppo air strikes on state media. U.S....Dozens killed in Yemen airstrike
SANAA — The death toll from a Saudi-led air strike which hit a house in a residential area in western Yemen has risen to 26 people, medics and residents in the Houthi-held area said on Thursday, and the alliance said it was looking into the report. Warplanes of the Saudi-led alliance launched missiles on Wednesday at a residential......
Boats carrying 600 migrants capsized near Egypt, scores dead
CAIRO — A boat carrying hundreds of migrants capsized off the coast of Egypt on Wednesday. At least 52 people died. Police arrested four members of the boat's crew. Security sources said it had been loaded with almost 600 migrants. The boat sank early on Wednesday off Burg Rashed, a village in Egypt's northern Beheira province...Syria ceasefire deal in balance
DAMASCUS — Russia and a war monitor said the Syrian army had begun to withdraw from a road into Aleppo on Thursday, a prerequisite for pressing ahead with international peacemaking efforts as the government and rebels accused each other of violating a truce.However, insurgent groups present in Aleppo said they still had not seen......
Less than half of world’s refugee children are in school
UNITED NATIONS — The majority of the world's some six million refugee children are not in school, making them five times less likely to get an education than the global average, the U.N. warned Thursday.A full 3.7 million school-aged refugee children have no school to go to, the UN refugee agency said in a report."This...U.S., Israel sign $38 billion military aid package
WASHINGTON — The United States will give Israel $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade, the largest such aid package in U.S. history, under a landmark agreement signed on Wednesday.The deal, will allow Washington's chief Middle East ally to upgrade most of its fighter aircraft, improve its ground forces'......