Middle East

Video surfaces from IS leader who was thought to be dead
The Islamic State group has released an audio message purportedly from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has not been seen or heard from in months. The...
Islamic State battles Syrian army to take control of world heritage site in Palmyra
Islamic State militants were reported on Thursday to be advancing in a government held area near one of Syria’s world heritage sites, part of a major...
Five foreigners killed as Taliban gunmen storm party in Kabul hotel
Five people – including an American citizen and two Indians – have been killed after gunmen stormed a hotel and took more than 50 people hostage...
Iraq says airstrike targeted senior Islamic State commander
The second most senior member of Islamic State has been killed in a coalition airstrike, Iraq’s defence ministry has claimed.
ICC prepares to investigate crimes committed by Islamic State in Libya
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said that she is ready to investigate crimes committed by the Islamic State in Libya, where the...
Study shows five million Syrians at high risk of explosive weapons
About 5.1 million Syrians are living in areas at high risk from explosive weapons, some of which fail to detonate and so will pose a deadly threat for...
Saudi-led coalition pounds Yemen on eve of proposed truce
Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition pounded weapons depots on the edge of Yemen’s capital Monday, one day before a humanitarian cease-fire is due...
Saudis send tank ‘strike force’ to Yemen border after clashes with Houthis
Hours after Saudi Arabia forces and Houthi rebels traded heavy artillery fire, Saudi-owned media reported the country is sending a “strike force”...
Rebels in Yemen agree to five-day ceasefire proposed by Saudi Arabia
Rebels in Yemen have agreed to a ceasefire proposed by Saudi Arabia amid a mounting humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.
Saudi-led strikes in Yemen break international law: U.N.
Air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition on Saada city in Yemen, where many civilians are trapped, are in breach of international law, despite calls for civilians...
Dozens of prisoners killed and 40 escape in Iraqi jail break
At least six guards and 30 detainees were killed in a prison break north of Baghdad during which 40 inmates also escaped, an interior ministry spokesman...
Turkey, Saudi in pact to bring down Syria’s president Bashar Assad
Casting aside U.S. concerns about aiding extremist groups, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have converged on an aggressive new strategy to bring down Syrian President...
Al Qaeda says U.S. strike kills man who claimed Paris killings
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said on Thursday a U.S. air strike had killed the senior figure who issued the group’s claim of responsibility...
President Assad admits ‘setbacks’ in war against Syrian rebels
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has made his first public admission of defeat to rebel fighters, stating “ups and downs” were normal in a...
Afghan judge sentences four to death for mob killing of woman
An Afghan judge sentenced four men to death on Wednesday for the mob killing of 27-year-old woman accused of burning a Koran in Kabul, a case that sparked...
Syrian barrel bomb attacks force schools and hospitals underground
Syrian government forces are targeting civilians in barrel bomb attacks in Aleppo that have forced hospitals and schools to move underground, Amnesty International...
Protests highlight troubles of Ethiopian Jews in Israel
When Israel secretly airlifted waves of Ethiopian Jews in the 1980s and 1990s, saving them from war and famine in the Horn of Africa, it was celebrated...
Taliban and Afghans unable to agree ceasefire deal during peace talks in Qatar
Taliban representatives met with Afghan political figures for a second day in Qatar on Sunday, and one participant said the two sides discussed a possible...
Israeli Ethiopian protest against police brutality turns violent
Several thousand people from Israel’s Jewish Ethiopian minority protested in Tel Aviv against racism and police brutality on Sunday, shutting down...
49 Afghan men on trial for brutal mob killing of young woman
The trial of 49 suspects, including 19 police officers, on charges relating to the brutal mob killing of an Afghan woman began Saturday in Kabul.
Lawmaker: Islamic State kills some 25 captive Iraqi Yazidis
Islamic State group militants shot to death at least 25 captive Yazidis at a prison camp in northern Iraq, a Yazidi lawmaker said Saturday, the latest...
Police use tear gas on May Day protesters in Istanbul, Turkey
Turkish police on Friday used water cannon and tear gas to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul as tens of thousands of labour activists turned out...
Kobani still a ghost town, months after liberation from IS
The battle for the Syrian border town of Kobani was the Islamic State’s bloodiest defeat to date in Syria.
Police use tear gas on Turkey May Day protesters
Turkish police on Friday used water cannon and tear gas to disperse May Day protesters in Istanbul as tens of thousands of labour activists turned out...
Istanbul under lockdown to prevent May Day protests ahead of Turkish election
Istanbul went into a security lockdown on Friday as thousands of police manned barricades and closed streets to stop May Day rallies at Taksim Square,...
Saudi king resets succession to cope with turbulent times
Saudi King Salman appointed a nephew as new heir and made his young son second in line to rule on Wednesday, a major shift in power towards two princes...
New Saudi succession plan may mark sea change for kingdom’s future
Saudi King Salman has appointed a new heir, making his young son second in line to rule on Wednesday, a major shift in power within the ultra conservative...
Saudi-led planes bomb Sanaa airport to stop Iranian plane landing
Jets from a Saudi-led alliance destroyed the runway of Yemen’s Sanaa airport on Tuesday to prevent an Iranian plane from landing there, Saudi Arabia...
Iran forces Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship to Iranian port: US officials
Iranian naval ships fired across the bow of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, and forced it to head to Iranian...
Saudi Arabia arrests 93 Islamic State suspects
Saudi Arabia has arrested 93 people suspected of belonging to the Islamic State, including at least 65 Saudi nationals, the interior ministry said in a...

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