Israeli media: Drone strike targeted Samir Kuntar in Syria
July 30th, 20150 Samir Kuntar in Beirut, 2008 (AP)Several Israeli media outlets have reported that a drone strike on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights targeted Samir Kuntar, a former Lebanese guerrilla fighter who spent 29 years in Israeli prison before being released in a prisoner exchange in 2008.Kuntar, 53, was apprehended at age 16 while carrying...Iraqi militia leader says U.S. not serious about fighting ISIS
Qais al-KhazaliBAGHDAD - The head of one of Iraq's fiercest Shi'a militias called the U.S.-led coalition's campaign against ISIS ineffective and accused Washington of lacking the will to uproot extremists controlling large swathes of Iraq and Syria.Qais al-Khazali, leader of Iranian-backed paramilitary group Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said the...Another ceasefire fails in Yemen
A child injured in a Saudi-led air strike in Sanaa, July 25 (Reuters) SANAA - Yemen's Houthi group carried on fighting across Yemen on Monday despite a ceasefire announcement by its Saudi-led foes, and media controlled by the Iran-allied movement acknowledged that its forces had shelled targets inside Saudi Arabia.The violence prolongs...
Yemeni businessman competes in Hamtramck City Council race
July 23rd, 20150 HAMTRAMCK — Mohamed Alsomiri, a Yemeni American, is one of nine candidates competing in the race for Hamtramck City Council. He is also one of two Yemeni American candidates. The other is Saad Almasmari. The primary election will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 4. Only six candidates will compete in the general election this November for...The garbage scandal in Lebanon: Another catastrophe of a failed system
Lebanon is being hit by a "garbage storm" that is proving to be an embarrassment to the political establishment, which has demonstrated its incompetence and inability to address the country's issues once more. Trash is piling up in the streets of Beirut as the landfill of Naameh has stopped accepting the garbage of the...The Iran nuclear agreement: A chance for Arab-Iranian reconciliation
“The Americans have taken the Shi'a Muslim side in the Middle East’s sectarian war,” declared Robert Fisk in the 'Independent' newspaper on July 15, a day after the U.S. and five major world powers reached a landmark agreement with Iran about its nuclear programs.Fisk’s proclamation is quite cursory. Aside from the fact that he...Saudi arms shipment arrives in Aden airport
ADEN — A Saudi military plane loaded with arms for fighters loyal to Yemen's deposed president landed at Aden airport on Wednesday, an airport official said, the first flight to reach the embattled port city in four months. Saudi-backed militiamen meanwhile exchanged heavy artillery fire with their Houthi foes in the northern...Kurdish militants kill two Turkish police to avenge ISIS bombing
SURUC, Turkey — Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for the killing of two Turkish police officers on Wednesday in what they said was retaliation for a suspected ISIS suicide bombing, which killed 32 mostly young students. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said in a statement on one of its websites that the two police officers...Iraqis launch offensive near Anbar base as blasts kill 32
BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribal fighters launched an offensive on Tuesday to dislodge ISIS militants and secure a supply route in Anbar province, police and tribal sources said.In an other action, bomb attacks across the country killed at least 32 people.The deadliest was when a car packed with explosives was...Six Morsi supporters killed in Cairo clashes
CAIRO — Six supporters of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood were killed in clashes with police near the Giza pyramids in Cairo on July 17, security sources said, as Egyptians marked the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Security forces intervened and arrested 15 armed Brotherhood members, the state news agency MENA quoted an Interior...Dozens killed in tribal clashes in southern Libya
BENGHAZI — Dozens have been killed in clashes between two tribes in the biggest city in southern Libya, officials said on Tuesday, as a security vacuum grew in a remote corner of the oil producing nation. A power struggle between two governments fighting for control in the north of the desert nation has hit the poor south hard,...Man stabbed 15 times in busy Beirut street
A still image from a video that captured the incidentBEIRUT — The deadly stabbing of a man in broad daylight in one of Beirut’s busiest streets and in front of dozens of bystanders has shaken Lebanese society and raised questions about the perceived culture of impunity in the country.Scores of people took to the streets on Friday...Exiled Yemeni government ministers return to Aden
ADEN — Senior members of Yemen's exiled administration flew into Aden on Thursday to make preparations for the government's return, an official said, three months after being pushed out by the armed Houthi group. The visit by ministers and intelligence officials follows military setbacks for the Houthis at the hands of Saudi-backed...Syrian army, Hezbollah advance in Zabadani
BEIRUT — The Syrian army backed by Lebanese ally Hezbollah has advanced deeper into the besieged Syrian city of Zabadani two weeks into a campaign to capture it from insurgents, both rebels and the army said. The control of the city, about 30 miles northwest of the capital Damascus, is seen as crucial to consolidate government-held...
UAE executes woman for killing American teacher
July 16th, 20150 Ibolya Ryan with her twins.DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates executed a UAE woman convicted of terrorism early on Monday, after the militant-inspired killing of an American kindergarten teacher in December 2014, the state news agency WAM reported. Ala'a Badr Abdullah al-Hashemi, 31, was sentenced to death on June 29 for stabbing......
UAE executes woman for killing American teacher
Ibolya Ryan with her twinsDUBAI — The United Arab Emirates executed a UAE woman convicted of terrorism early on Monday after the militant-inspired killing of an American kindergarten teacher in December 2014, the state news agency WAM reported.Ala'a Badr Abdullah al-Hashemi, 31, was sentenced to death on June 29 for stabbing...Egyptian terrorism bill a “deadly blow to human rights”
CAIRO — A draft law in Egypt that would make it a crime to contradict the official version of terrorist attacks should be scrapped, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, calling the bill a "strike at the very heart of basic freedoms." The law, which also sets up new courts for dealing with terrorism suspects, was proposed after a......
Humanitarian truce in Yemen fails
A girl cries after her father was killed by a Saudi-led air strike in Sanaa, July 13United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is "very much disappointed" that a humanitarian pause in fighting in Yemen didn't take hold, his spokesman said on Monday, after Saudi Arabia did not recognize the truce and continued air strikes.A Saudi-led...Warring sides in Yemen agree to a humanitarian truce
SANAA — Yemen's warring factions confirmed their agreement on Thursday to a temporary humanitarian ceasefire set to begin on Friday night, United Nations envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said. The pause in the fighting will last about a week until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and aims to allow the delivery of assistance...Emir: Kuwait foiled bid to sow sectarianism after bombing
Imam Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait City, June 26, after a bomb killed 27 during Friday prayers.KUWAIT CITY — The emir of Kuwait said on Thursday his country had thwarted attempts to sow sectarian divisions after last month's suicide bombing but warned that the world needs to do more to confront the "satanic" behavior of Islamist extremist...Israeli blockade makes Gaza recovery “impossible”
Destruction in the Gaza Strip after the 2014 warGAZA — Israel's blockade of building materials for Gaza has created one of the highest levels of unemployment in the world and made it impossible for the small coastal enclave to recover from the war a year ago, aid agencies said on Wednesday.Less than one percent of the materials needed......
Aoun’s party rallies against prime minister in Lebanon
Supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement during a protest in Beirut, July 9BEIRUT — Hundreds of supporters of a Lebanese Christian politician protested in Beirut on Thursday against the prime minister they say is marginalising Christian influence, stirring tensions in a country already in crisis over war in neighbouring...Netanyahu: Two Israelis are held by Hamas
Tel AVIV — Two Israeli citizens are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, a situation that could lead to demands for a prisoner exchange between Israel and the militant group.Hamas declined to confirm or deny it had the captives."We are working for the return of the two Israelis......
Former Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal dies
RIYADH — Former Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal died Thursday, two Saudi sources said, two months after he was replaced following 40 years on the job.Prince Saud, who was appointed in 1975, was the world's longest serving foreign minister when he was replaced on April 29 by Adel al-Jubeir, the then ambassador to...Red Cross: Real risk of famine in Yemen
Conflict-ridden Yemen, where more than 3,000 people have been killed and one million displaced since war broke out in March, is at risk of famine, aid chiefs said on Tuesday, the day after the conflict's highest one-day death toll was recorded.The situation is "clearly deteriorating by the day," said Antoine Grand, head of the......