Middle East

Baghdad flights disrupted after bullet hits flydubai jet
A bullet hit the fuselage of a flydubai airliner on its descent into Baghdad, prompting a suspension of flights by UAE carriers to the Iraqi capital on...
Not over yet: U.S. disputes Kurdish claims against Islamic State in Kobani
The United States said Monday the battle for control of the Syrian town of Kobani was continuing, despite claims by Kurdish leaders that their forces have...
Crossroads in Saudi: New second in line may give clues to future of rights
Saudi Arabia’s new Crown Prince Muqrin — seen as a relative progressive in the ruling family, with a grasp on the need for long-term reform —...
King Abdullah, who sought to modernize Saudi Arabia, dies at 90
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, the powerful U.S. ally who joined Washington’s fight against al-Qaeda and sought to modernize the ultraconservative...
Saudi Arabia ‘holds off flogging’ Raif Badawi for a second successive week
Saudi Arabia has postponed the flogging punishment of a blogger on health grounds for a second time, Amnesty International has said. The organisation...
Weakness of Yemen’s government undermines U.S. terror fight
As fighters from the Houthi group entered the presidential palace of the American-backed government in Yemen on Tuesday, U.S.
Yemen presidential palace under siege in apparent coup attempt
A top Yemen army commander warns that a full-fledged “coup” was underway and Houthi rebels have seized presidential palace in the capital of...
'Not welcome in Palestine': Protesters hurl eggs and shoes at Canadian convoy
Dozens of Palestinian protesters in Ramallah have hurled eggs and shoes at the convoy of Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, who travelled to the West...
Japan PM pledges billions for Mideast countries battling Islamic State
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged $2.5 billion in non-military aid for the Middle East as well as US$200 million in non-military assistance...
War crimes court opens probe into Palestinian territories
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court launched a preliminary probe Friday that could clear the way for a full-scale investigation into possible...
Syria militants execute woman for ‘adultery’: monitor
Al-Qaeda-linked militants have publicly executed a woman accused of adultery in northwestern Syria, a monitoring group said Wednesday.
Court orders retrial of case against former Egyptian President Mubarak
An Egyptian court on Tuesday overturned a three-year prison sentence against ousted president Hosni Mubarak on corruption charges and ordered a retrial. A...
Police defuse bomb found in Istanbul shopping mall
Turkish police on Saturday defused a bomb outside a shopping centre in Istanbul, with the city on a high security alert following a suicide bombing earlier...
Winter woe: Two Palestinian babies die in Gaza freeze
Two Palestinian babies have died due to cold weather in the Gaza Strip, an official said Saturday, as winter storms continued to lash the region.
Despite foreign outcry, Saudi blogger lashed in public for ‘insulting Islam’
Saudi Arabia on Friday publicly flogged a blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam, with Amnesty International condemning his punishment as...
Syrian refugees face chill in tents as winter storm brings snow to Middle East
Snow fell Wednesday across the Middle East as a powerful winter storm swept through the region, forcing Syrians who have fled their country’s civil...
At least 30 killed by car bomb outside Yemen police academy
A car bomb exploded outside a police college in Yemen’s capital Sanaa early on Wednesday, killing around 30 and wounding more than 50 others, police...
Dozens of Islamic State fighters killed as battle for Kobani rages on
Forty-one Islamic State militants were killed in the Syrian border town of Kobani on Tuesday as U.S.-led air strikes helped local forces push the group...
Suicide bombings, clashes kill 23 in Iraq’s Anbar
Two suicide bombings followed by clashes in Iraq’s Anbar province west of Baghdad killed 23 security personnel on Tuesday, officers and a doctor...
Lebanon imposes new limits at Syrian border, prompts U.N. concern
Overwhelmed by a massive influx of desperate refugees, Lebanon began imposing unprecedented visa restrictions on Syrians on Monday, including those fleeing...
Israel threatens more punitive steps against Palestinians
Israeli leaders on Sunday threatened to take tougher action against the Palestinians over their decision to join the International Criminal Court, a day...
Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya
Islamist militants have abducted 20 Egyptian Christians in Libya in recent days, a source close to the government said Saturday. The Ansar al-Sharia militia...
Israel freezes funds, weighs lawsuits against Palestinians
Israel will withhold critical tax revenue and seek ways to bring war crimes prosecutions against Palestinian leaders in retaliation for Palestinian moves...
Refugee rules tighten as IS reportedly seeks control of Lebanon villages
Lebanon is to impose visa restrictions on Syrians for the first time after being overwhelmed by an influx of more than 1.1 million refugees, according...
Amal Clooney reveals she risked arrest over Egyptian judicial report
British human rights lawyer Amal Clooney claimed in an interview published Saturday that she was threatened with arrest in Egypt after identifying flaws...
New hijab law rejected by Iranian lawmakers as ‘unconstitutional’
A draft law that would give greater powers to Iran’s police and volunteer militias to enforce women’s compulsory wearing of the veil has been...
As Nato war ends, Afghanistan faces economic time bomb
The Taliban insurgency may still be raging but the poor state of the economy could pose a bigger threat to Afghanistan’s long-term viability, and...
15,000 killed in deadliest year in Iraq since 2007
Violence in Iraq killed more than 15,000 civilians and security personnel in 2014, government figures have shown, making it one of the deadliest years...
Syrian Civil War claimed more than 76,000 lives in 2014 - half of them civilians
The conflict in Syria killed 76,021 people in 2014, just under half of them civilians, a group monitoring the war said on Thursday.
Israel PM Netanyahu romps to victory in party primary ahead of snap polls
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu easily won a primary vote to remain leader of the ruling rightwing Likud party ahead of a snap election, the...

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