Syrian army and allies regain key Aleppo district
DAMASCUS — Syria's army and its allies have regained an important Aleppo district lost to rebels last month, state media and a war monitor said on Thursday, and were pressing an offensive south of the city to further squeeze the insurgents. If sustained, the advance in Ramousah would reverse nearly all gains rebels made in a push...Saudi airstrike kills civilians north of Sanaa
SANAA — At least nine civilians, including four children, were killed on Thursday in an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition on a residential building north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, residents said. At least five other people were injured in the attack, early on Thursday, on the apartment building in Amran city, north of Sanaa,...World’s largest cemetery grows bigger as war rages in Iraq
BAGHDAD — The world's largest cemetery, in Iraq's Shi'a holy city of Najaf, is expanding at double its usual rate as the nation's death rate increased with the war on ISIS. The Wadi al-Salam cemetery, Arabic for "Peace Valley", has a special place in the hearts of Shi'ite Muslims as it surrounds the Mausoleum of their first imam,...
Top Saudi cleric says Iran leaders not Muslims
September 7th, 20160 Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-SheikhMECCA — Saudi Arabia's top religious authority said Iran's leaders are not Muslims, drawing a rebuke from Tehran in an unusually harsh exchange between the regional rivals over the running of the annual Haj pilgrimage.Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a message...Car bomb kills nine in central Baghdad
The aftermath of the Karrada bombing in JulyBAGHDAD — At least nine people were killed in Baghdad late on Monday in a car bomb attack claimed by ISIS near a hospital in a central district, police and hospital sources said.A suicide bomber had targeted a gathering in the Karrada district, according to a statement circulated online by...Amnesty urges Bahrain to end ‘heightened crackdown’ on opposition
LONDON — Amnesty International urged Bahraini authorities Thursday to end a "heightened crackdown" on its opposition, after some 60 Shi'a clerics were summoned or arrested for participating in a protest. The clerics were among scores of other demonstrators detained after taking part in a sit-in protesting the stripping of top Shi'a...U.S. troops in Iraq increasingly active as Mosul battle nears
Defense Secretary Ash Carter talks to troops at the Baghdad International Airport, July 23.BAGHDAD — Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook a swath of northern Iraq late last month from ISIS and days later American forces appeared in the area, the latest sign of increasing U.S. military activity in the country. The U.S. troops, numbering...Egypt seeks tougher punishment for female genital mutilation
Cards used to educate women about FGM, Minia, 2006CAIRO — Women's rights activists hailed the Egyptian government on Monday for advocating increased prison sentences for perpetrators of female genital mutilation but warned that a new law could shroud the practice in greater secrecy. Egypt's cabinet on Sunday approved a bill, which...Air strike kills 16 members of Yemeni imam’s family
SANAA — At least 16 members of the extended family of a Yemeni mosque imam were killed on Wednesday in an air strike on their family home in northern Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition, a Reuters witness, a medic and a resident said. The coalition has been giving air support to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in his fight against the...Israel approves 284 new illegal West Bank housing units
JERUSALEM — Israel approved 284 new illegal housing units in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, drawing a U.S. accusation that its policies could expand settlements in a "potentially unlimited way." U.S. officials said the criticism from the U.S. State Department marked the first time it has suggested in...Austrian official ‘recommends’ Muslim kids don’t wear hijab to kindergarten
AUSTRALIA - An Austrian deputy mayor has urged parents to avoid sending their daughters to kindergarten wearing headscarves as the covering insinuates men look at them in a “lustful” way. She termed the comment a “recommendation” rather than an attempt to ban “something religious.” Parents should avoid covering their...ISIS suicide bomber kills 54 in Yemen attack
The compound after the attack (Reuters)ADEN — A suicide bomber killed at least 54 people when he drove a car bomb into a militia compound in Aden on Monday, the health ministry said, in one of the deadliest attacks claimed by ISIS in the southern Yemeni port city.The director general of Yemen's health ministry in Aden, al-Khader...U.N. says 10,000 killed in Yemen war
UNITED NATIONS — At least 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen's 18-month-old civil war, the United Nations on Tuesday, approaching double the estimates of more than 6,000 cited by officials and aid workers for much of 2016.The war pits the Houthi group and supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against President...Chinese hotels ordered block guests from five Muslim countries
Police have ordered some low-end hotels in the Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou not to allow guests from five Muslim-majority countries to stay, though China's foreign ministry said it had never heard of the policy.Three hotels with rooms costing about 150 yuan ($23) a night told Reuters that they had received police notices from as...Kerry tackles Yemen, Syrian conflicts in Saudi Arabia talks
JEDDA — Secretary of State John Kerry met Saudi Arabia's King Salman and the country's powerful deputy, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday to discuss ways to end conflict in Yemen and resume peace talks between the warring sides. Kerry arrived in Jeddah late on Wednesday from Nigeria for discussions with Saudi leaders and......
Report: Conflicts reduce life expectancy in Arab countries
The Arab Spring uprising and subsequent conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa have lowered life expectancy in countries such as Syria, Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt, jeopardizing two decades of health gains, experts said on Wednesday.Between 2010 and 2013, Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt lost some three months of the average person's life...U.N. calls for international probe into Yemen violations
Children at a camp for internally displaced people near Sanaa (Reuters)UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations has called for the creation of an independent international body to investigate a series of human violations in the ongoing war in Yemen.Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the U.N. human rights chief, said in a statement on Thursday......
French police make woman remove clothing on Nice beach
Nice is the latest French town to ban the burkini. Photo: Vantagenews.comNICE, France — French police confronted a woman on a beach and made her remove some of her clothing as part of a controversial ban on the burkini.Photographs of the incident sparked outrage.Authorities in several French towns have implemented bans on the burkini,...
Turkish troops launch first major push into Syria against ISIS
August 24th, 20160 Turkish army tanks make their way in the Syrian border town of Jarablus (Reuters)ANKARA — Turkish special forces, tanks and jets backed by planes from the U.S.-led coalition launched their first co-ordinated offensive into Syria on Wednesday to try to drive ISIS from the border and prevent further gains by Kurdish militia fighters.A...Iraq executes 36 ISIS militants for mass killing of soldiers
A soldier prays at a mass grave for soldiers from Camp Speicher (Reuters)BAGHDAD — Iraq said on Sunday it had hanged 36 ISIS militants sentenced to death over the mass killing of hundreds of soldiers at a camp north of Baghdad two years ago.It is the highest number of militants executed in one day by the Iraqi government since ISIS...Turkey blames child bomber for attack that killed 51
A suicide bomber aged between 12 and 14 carried out the attack on a wedding party in the Turkish city of Gaziantep on Saturday that killed at least 51 people, the president said. The attack was the deadliest in a series of bombings in Turkey this year, and President Tayyip Erdogan said Islamic State was likely behind it. "Initial......
U.N. warns of unprecedented ‘catastrophe’ in Aleppo
UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Tuesday of an unprecedented "humanitarian catastrophe" in Syria's Aleppo and urged Russia and the United States to quickly reach a deal on a ceasefire in the city and elsewhere in the country. Fighting for control of Aleppo, split between its government-held...Houthi shelling hits Saudi town, Yemenis die in airstrikes
Two children amid the rubble of a house destroyed by a Saudi-led air strike in Sanaa, Aug. 11.SANAA — Shells fired by Yemen's Houthi group killed seven civilians in southern Saudi Arabia, Saudi state television reported, while an air strike by an Arab coalition destroyed a house east of the Yemeni capital, killing nine family......
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......