Yemeni hospital bombed, Saudi-led coalition denies responsibility
People move boxes from a damaged truck outside a building hit by a Saudi-led air strike in Sanaa, Oct. 25.A hospital in north Yemen run by the medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), was destroyed by a missile strike late Monday, MSF said.The Saudi-led Arab coalition involved in Yemen’s civil war denied that its planes hit...Saudi prince held in record Beirut airport drug bust
The five Saudi citizens were held in the airport to be questioned by Lebanon's customs authority A Saudi prince and has been detained in Lebanon in the largest drug bust in the history of Beirut airport, according to a security source. Prince Abdel Mohsen Bin Walid Bin Abdulaziz and four others were detained by airport security...One dead in suicide attack at Saudi mosque
The bombing took place in Najran, the capital of the region in southern Saudi ArabiaA suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shi'a mosque in Najran in southern Saudi Arabia on Monday. At least one person was killed and several others were wounded, the Saudi interior ministry said.The SPA news agency and Al Arabiya television delivered the...U.S. commando killed in raid to free ISIS hostages in Iraq
BAGHDAD — One member of a U.S. special operations force was killed during an overnight mission to rescue hostages held by ISIS militants in northern Iraq, the first American to die in ground combat with the militant group, U.S. officials said on Thursday. Sixty-nine hostages were rescued in the action, which targeted an ISIS prison...Assad visits Moscow; Putin says he is open to working with some rebels
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad had told him he was ready to talk to armed opposition groups if they are genuinely committed to dialogue and to combating ISIS. Speaking a day after Assad made a surprise visit to Moscow for talks with Putin -- underlining Moscow's new role as a...Situation turns “dire” in Taiz as Yemen war continues
Taiz, considered Yemen's cultural capital, has suffered huge destruction since becoming a main battleground in the warSANAA — At least 20 Houthi fighters were killed in heavy clashes in Yemen's third-largest city Taiz on Thursday, a day after they pounded it with rockets, forces loyal to the government said. Taiz, considered Yemen's...Israelis kill Jewish man, mistaking him for attacker
JERUSALEM — Israeli soldiers have shot dead a Jewish Israeli man mistaken for a Palestinian attacker less than a week after an Eritrean refugee - also mistaken for a Palestinian attacker - was murdered. A sense of paranoia has gripped Israel and the occupied territories in recent weeks amid renewed violence which has seen Israeli...UNESCO condemns Israel for limiting al-Aqsa mosque access
UNESCO condemned restrictions of freedom of worship at the al-Aqsa mosque Wednesday The United Nations cultural heritage body UNESCO condemned Israel on Wednesday for limiting Muslim access to Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound, a flashpoint in a recent wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence.The resolution approved by UNESCO's executive...Syrian army and Russian jets attack on several fronts
DAMASCUS — Syrian troops and their allies, backed by Russian jets, attacked rebel-held towns north of the city of Homs on Thursday, targeting a long-held and strategic enclave of opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. The offensive that began before dawn builds on more than a week of ground attacks launched with Russian air...Yemen Houthis fire missile in retaliation for Saudi “war crimes”
SANAA — Yemen's Houthi forces fired a ballistic missile on Thursday in retaliation for attacks by a Saudi-led coalition, a source in the Iranian-allied group said, and a Houthi-linked television station said a Scud missile had been fired at a Saudi air base. Al-Masirah television reported that the Scud, a powerful Cold War-era...Israeli man stabs fellow Israeli Jew after ‘mistaking him for Arab’
A bus window after an attack in Jerusalem Tuesday, Oct. 13/ReutersHAIFA, Israel – An Israeli man was stabbed Tuesday afternoon after another Israeli Jew mistook him for an Arab. The stabbing comes after a wave of attacks by Palestinians and amid increasing tension and violence in the country.The victim, who has not yet been...Israeli forces kill Palestinian youth in Jerusalem
Undercover Israeli security personnel (R) and Israeli soldiers detain a wounded Palestinian protester during clashes near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Bet El, Oct. 7.RAMALLAH — A Palestinian youth was shot dead by Israeli forces during a protest in Jerusalem, Palestinian medical sources said. Ahmad Bitawi, the director of...HRW urges release of Bahraini political prisoners
NEW YORK — Bahrain should immediately release two "unjustly imprisoned" regime opponents, Human Rights Watch said Thursday, urging the kingdom's allies London and Washington to intervene on their behalf. Ibrahim Sharif, an activist who spent four years in jail over his involvement in 2011 anti-government protests, has been on trial...Rocket attacks kill 22 at Yemeni wedding
SANAA — Three brothers waiting to get married were killed in a rocket attack alongside at least 22 other people in southwest Yemen on Thursday, residents and medics said. Local people told Reuters jets from a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen were probably to blame, but the coalition's spokesman said it had...Backed by Russia, Syria extends major offensive in west
DAMASCUS — Syrian troops and allied militia backed by a fresh wave of Russian air strikes and cruise missiles fired from warships attacked rebel forces on Thursday as the government extended an offensive to recapture territory in the west of the country. The assault focused on western areas where rebel advances earlier this year had......
Kurds gain ground against ISIS in Iraq
BAGHDAD — Kurdish forces said they drove ISIS militants out of villages near the oil city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on Wednesday, in an offensive backed by airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition. The assault consolidated their control over Kirkuk and brought the peshmerga, the military forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region,...Saudi-led forces retake Red Sea strait in Yemen
ADEN — On Thursday, Loyalist Yemeni troops and Gulf Arab forces seized control of the Arabian side of the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden from Houthi fighters, a spokesman for the Gulf-backed government said. Six months of war in Yemen has raised fears for the security of oil supplies through......
Russia bombs group trained by CIA in Syria, Iran to commit ground troops
DAMASCUS — Hundreds of Iranian troops arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive in support of President Bashar al-Assad's government, Lebanese sources said on Thursday, a sign the civil war is turning still more regional and global in scope. Russian warplanes, in a second day of strikes, bombed a camp run by rebels trained by...The Russian intervention in Syria: A turning point in international relations
October 1st, 20150 "Even Turkey, whose prime minister once compared Assad to Hitler, is backtracking its position on the Syrian president."The direct Russian intervention in Syria is the peak of an increasingly aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East that the Kremlin has been undertaking since Vladimir Putin's rise to power 15 years ago. Russia's...With peace prospects grim, Palestinians raise flag at U.N.
October 1st, 20150 The Palestinian flag flies at the UN Headquarters in New York after being raised by President Mahmoud Abbas UNITED NATIONS — With prospects for Middle East peace looking increasingly thin, Palestinian diplomats and officials cheered and applauded on Wednesday as their national flag flew for the first time at United Nations...Saudi airstrike kills at least 27 at Yemeni wedding
A resident said 12 women, eight children and seven men died in the attack. SANAA — A local official and residents said at least 27 people, mostly women or children, were killed on Monday in an air strike on a wedding party in southwest Yemen, but a Saudi-led coalition that has air supremacy over the country strongly denied any role.A......
ISIS suicide bomber kills 25 at Eid prayer in Sanaa
September 24th, 20150 Houthi militants inside the al-Balili mosque after a suicide bomber hit the mosque in Sanaa, Sept. 24. Photo: ReutersSANAA— A suicide bomber struck a mosque in Yemen's Houthi-held capital on Thursday, killing 25 worshippers during prayers for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The Yemen-based ISIS affiliate claimed responsibility...More than 717 pilgrims die in stampede in worst Hajj disaster in 25 years
September 24th, 20150 Medical staff carry an injured pilgrim after the stampede in Mina. Photo: ReutersAt least 717 pilgrims were killed on Thursday in a stampede outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi authorities said. It is the worst disaster to strike the annual Hajj pilgrimage in 25 years.At least 805 others were injured in the crush at Mina, a few......
UN experts call on Saudi Arabia to cancel execution of young activist
Ali al-Nimr is set to be beheaded and crucified UNITED NATIONS — France and a group of U.N. experts have joined rights groups in calling on Saudi Arabia to halt the execution of a an activist sentenced to death over his role in anti-government protests.Ali al-Nimr was given the death penalty in May after taking part in demonstrations...Egypt pardons Al Jazeera journalists
Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy before the verdict at a court in Cairo, Aug. 29CAIRO — Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned 100 prisoners including three Al Jazeera television journalists on Wednesday, a day before he plans to head to the annual United Nations summit of world leaders.Canadian Mohamed Fahmy, Egyptian......