10 Arab states sign communique supporting U.S. intervention against “Islamic State”
September 12th, 20140 RIYADH — The United States signed up Arab allies on Thursday to a "coordinated military campaign" against "Islamic State" fighters, a major step in building regional support for President Obama's plan to strike both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi frontier.After talks in Saudi Arabia's summer capital Jeddah, Secretary of State John Kerry...Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes
A trail of blood is seen in the courtyard of a UN School in the northern Beit Hanun district of the Gaza Strip on July 24.GAZA — Human Rights Watch accused Israel of committing war crimes by attacking three U.N.-run schools in the Gaza Strip in fighting in July and August, killing Palestinian civilians who had sheltered there.The New...Lebanon to set up two Syrian refugee camps
BEIRUT — Lebanon has decided to set up two camps for Syrian refugees for the first time along its border with war-torn Syria, Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said on Thursday, Sept. 11.The move comes despite longstanding reservations among many in Lebanon over establishing camps, for fear they will encourage Syrians to stay...U.N. peacekeepers freed in Golan Heights; 28 rebel leaders killed in Idlib
Fijian U.N. peacekeepers released by al-Qaeda-linked group Nusra Front in Syria on Thursday, gesture from inside a vehicle as they arrive in Israeli-held territory on the Golan heights, Sept. 11.DAMASCUS — Dozens of Fijian U.N. peacekeepers, released by al Qaeda-linked group Nusra Front in Syria, arrived in Israeli-held territory on...Yemen reaches deal with Houthi group
A protester sprays water at a Houthi anti-government protest during hot weather.SANAA — Yemen's president has offered to appoint a new prime minister within 48 hours, under a fresh accord with Houthi Shi'a rebels in return for ending their protests, a source close to the presidency said Thursday, Sept. 11.There was no immediate...Dozens join hunger strike for release of Egypt political prisoners
Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah (R) arrives with his wife and child to the public prosecutor's office in Cairo, March 26, 2013.CAIRO — Dozens of Egyptians have begun a hunger strike to demand the release of activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, a symbol of the 2011 uprising, and others they say are being unfairly detained in an effort to crush...Iraqi parliament approves new government headed by Haider al-Abadi
BAGHDAD — Iraq's parliament approved a new government headed by Haider al-Abadi as prime minister on Monday night, in a bid to rescue Iraq from collapse, with sectarianism and Arab-Kurdish tensions on the rise.Abadi, a Shi'a Islamist, included members of Iraq's Shi'ite majority and its Kurdish and Sunni minorities in his cabinet as he...Cuba sends six tons of medical supplies to Gaza
GAZA — Cuba has sent six tons of drugs and medical supplies to Gaza, devastated by Israel's seven-week military campaign that killed more than 2,100 people, official media reported Thursday.The government-run Cubadebate website said the humanitarian shipment was delivered by officials at Cuba's embassy in Cairo to the Palestinian...Israel seizes 1,000 acres of West Bank land
An Israeli settlement in the Etzion bloc, in the West Bank.WEST BANK — The United States has urged Israel to reverse its decision to seize nearly 1,000 acres of land in the occupied West Bank, a move anti-settlement activists dubbed the largest land grab in 30 years.Israel announced the massive land appropriation on Sunday, Aug. 31,...Syrian army ups campaign to retake Damascus suburb
DAMASCUS — Syrian forces carried out their fiercest assault on the rebel stronghold of Jobar in Damascus since the start of the three-year war, conducting at least 27 air strikes on Tuesday, according to activists and rights groups.The government is trying to retake Jobar after the capture of several rebel-held areas around the...Tunisian deputy survives assassination attempt
TUNIS — A deputy in Tunisia's transitional parliament survived an assassination attempt in the city of Kasserine, near the Algerian border, where security forces have been hunting Islamist militants for months.Mohamed Ali Nasri told reporters in hospital that about five gunmen attacked his house late on Monday, Sept. 1. He threw...Houthi protests continue in Sanaa despite government conssession
SANAA — Yemen's Houthi Shi'a activists are continuing to protest in the capital Sanaa, a day after the country's president reached out to them by dismissing the government and rolling back a disputed fuel price hike. On Wednesday, Sept. 3, Houthi supporters brandished arms and batons while using tires and cement blocks to divert...Egyptians militants kill 11 soldiers in Sinai attack
CAIRO — An attack on a convoy killed 11 members of the Egyptian security forces in the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, Sept. 3, security and medical sources said.Two were killed by a roadside bomb and the others were shot as they tried to flee, the security sources said. An Egyptian jihadist group behind some of the deadliest...
Lebanese cabinet rules out negotiating with militants after soldier beheaded
September 5th, 20140 BEIRUT — The Lebanese cabinet gave the army the permission to use force at its own discretion to free hostages held by "Islamic State" and Nusra Front militants in east Lebanon, rejecting the kidnappers demands to exchange the captives from the Lebanese armed forces with Islamist prisoners. The cabinet meeting on Thursday, Sept....Gaza reconstruction to cost $7.8 billion
GAZA — Rebuilding Gaza will cost $7.8 billion, the Palestinian Authority said on Thursday, Sept. 4, in the most comprehensive assessment yet of damage from the seven-week Israeli assault during which whole neighborhoods and vital infrastructure were flattened.The cost of rebuilding 17,000 Gazan homes razed by Israeli bombings would......
Israel sentences former MP to jail for visiting Syria
Israel sentenced a former member of parliament to 18 months in prison on Thursday, Sept. 4, for traveling to Syria and making contact with a "foreign agent," the justice ministry said.Said Naffa travelled in 2007 to Syria, with which Israel is technically still at war, as part of a delegation of 300 Druze religious leaders, the charge...Saudi court jails 24 for “terrorism”
RIYADH — A Saudi court on Wednesday, Sept. 3, sentenced 22 Saudi citizens, an American and a Yemeni to jail terms of between two and 27 years on terrorism charges, according to the official news agency SPA.The court said charges ranged from "the establishment of a terrorist cell planning to targeting oil pipelines", having......
Jordan to sign $15 Bil deal with Israel
AMMAN — Israel will sign a deal to supply natural gas from its Leviathan field to Jordan for 15 years, Israeli Energy Minister Silvan Shalom said on Wednesday, Sept. 3.Shalom said the agreement comes after many meetings with Jordanian officials but gave no other details.An industry official who asked not to be identified said the deal...Saudi Arabia beheads three for murder
RIYADH — Saudi authorities beheaded three citizens, on Wednesday, Aug. 27, after they were convicted of murder in separate cases, the Interior Ministry announced, bringing the number of executions in the kingdom to 41 this year.Nawaf al-Mutairi was executed in the western city of Medina for the machine-gun killing of fellow Saudi Adel...Libya’s old parliament elects new prime minister as chaos spreads
Smoke is seen rising from the Brigade Qaqaa headquarters. TRIPOLI — The Libyan parliament that was replaced in an election in June reconvened on Monday and chose an Islamist-backed deputy as the new prime minister, leaving the chaotic country with two rival leaders and assemblies, each backed by armed factions.As political unrest...Two Americans die fighting for “Islamic State” in Syria
Douglas McAuthur McCain.DAMASCUS — On Wednesday, a day after news broke that Douglas McAuthur McCain, a 33-year-old man reared in Minnesota, died fighting for the "Islamic State," a coalition of Syrian opposition groups announced that its forces had killed another American in battle.The second American was identified Abdirahmaan......
Egypt queries Morsi over documents “leaked” to Al Jazeera
Ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi is seen behind bars during his trial at a court in Cairo May 8.CAIRO — Egypt is investigating jailed ex-president Mohamed Morsi in connection with documents that judicial investigators say were leaked to the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite news channel, security sources said on...Saudi Arabia, Iran hold “constructive” talks
RIYADH — Iran's deputy foreign minister said he held "positive and constructive" talks with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Tuesday, where Islamist militancy in Iraq was one of the topics discussed.Hossein Amir Abdollahian was in Jeddah for the first high-level bilateral talks between the two countries since Hassan Rouhani was......
Clashes erupt between army and militants in east Lebanon
BEIRUT — Gunmen opened fire on a Lebanese army position at the border with Syria on Thursday near a town seized by "Islamic State" insurgents earlier this month, triggering an exchange of fire, a security source said.The fighting, which erupted before dawn, was still raging in late afternoon, with troops shelling the gunmen who had...
Lebanese Army Chief Jean Kahwaji: We defeated terror and changed the course of history
August 22nd, 20140 BEIRUT — The Lebanese town of Arsal was little-known to the outside world prior to the start of the civil war in Syria. But after thousands of Syrian refugees and militants linked to Syrian rebels flooded the town since the end of 2011, Arsal started making regional and international headlines. Two weeks ago, Arsal became the......