BEIRUT Syrian warplanes carried out air strikes in a besieged rebel-held district of Homs on Saturday that killed at least two people, adding to a death toll of more than 20 in nearly two weeks of air raids, an activist and monitors said. Al-Waer, the last rebel-held neighbourhood in the western city of Homs, had for months been spared much of the intense violence raging elsewhere in […]
By Laila Bassam and Angus McDowall | BEIRUT BEIRUT (Story corrects headline and paragraph 1 to show source said Hezbollah speeches aimed to draw “red lines” to prevent action against Lebanon, removes reference to hitting U.S. interests by targeting Israel which the source did not say.) The Hezbollah leader’s harsh words for Israel and U.S. President Donald Trump this week were aimed at drawing “red lines” to […]
Photo A scene from the documentary “The White Helmets.” Credit Shorts HD The Syrian stars of two Oscar-nominated films will travel to the Academy Awards after all, representatives said, now that President Trump’s travel ban has been lifted. Raed Saleh — the leader of a Syrian civilian rescue group and a subject of the documentary short that bears the group’s name, “The White Helmets” — will be […]
GENEVA The U.N. Syria envoy’s office declined to confirm on Friday that political transition will be discussed at peace talks in Geneva next week, potentially taking the issue of President Bashar al-Assad’s future off the agenda. “The negotiations will be entirely guided by (U.N.) Security Council Resolution 2254, which talks specifically about governance, a new constitution and elections in Syria,” Yara Sharif, a spokeswoman for U.N. envoy […]
By Tulay Karadeniz | ANKARA ANKARA Turkey’s military said on Friday it was close to taking the northern Syrian city of al-Bab from Islamic State, a victory that would deepen Turkish influence in an area where it has created a de facto buffer zone. Al-Bab, an Islamic State stronghold 30 km (20 miles) from the border, has been a key target in an offensive launched by Turkey […]
Saudi Arabia has broken up four ISIL cells suspected of providing shelter to wanted militants and recruiting fighters, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday, according to Saudi state television. Automatic weapons were seized from the four cells, which comprised 15 Saudis, two Yemenis and a Sudanese man, the ministry’s statement said. Security forces also seized more than 2 million riyals ($530,000) in cash. Among those helped to […]
Video Haley Says U.S. Backs Two-State Solution Nikki R. Haley, United States ambassador to the United Nations, said on Thursday that the administration supports a two-state solution in the Middle East. By UNTV. Photo by Mary Altaffer/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video » UNITED NATIONS — Twenty-four hours after President Trump swatted away at a broad international consensus on how to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, […]
By Dan Levine | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO U.S. President Donald Trump will replace his executive order suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries “in the near future,” according to a Justice Department court filing on Thursday. Given the upcoming executive order, the Justice Department said a federal appeals court should not reconsider a ruling that suspended Trump’s Jan. 27 order. “In so doing, the President will clear […]
By John Irish | BONN, Germany BONN, Germany France considers the U.S. position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “confused and worrying”, its foreign minister said on Thursday, reacting to U.S. President Trump’s dropping of the America’s commitment to a two-state solution. Jean-Marc Ayrault met Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at a G20 meeting of foreign ministers in Bonn where, he said, he got some reassurance about Washington’s stance […]
Ten years ago Vladimir Putin angrily declared that the post-cold war order was a sham. Standing before the western military and diplomatic establishment at the Munich Security Conference, the Russian president accused the US of plunging the world into chaos by warmongering, meddling in other countries’ affairs and disregarding international law. For many, it marked the moment that Mr Putin became an adversary. Now, as foreign policy […]
By Maria Tsvetkova and Humeyra Pamuk | ISTANBUL ISTANBUL Turkey has increased scrutiny of Russian-speaking Muslim communities in the past few months following a series of attacks blamed on Islamic State, a concrete example of the renewed relationship between the two countries. Turkish police have raided the homes of Russian-speaking immigrants in Istanbul, detained many and expelled others, according to interviews with Russian Muslims living in the […]
BEIRUT Syrian Islamist fighters have executed scores of insurgents in the west of the country in an increasingly bloody battle between different militant groups, the SITE Intelligence Group said. An offshoot of the Jund al-Aqsa group killed more than 150 members of rebel factions in the village of Khan Sheikhoun in southern Idlib province, the U.S.-based monitoring service reported on Wednesday. Dozens of those executed were members […]
BERLIN No country can solve the world’s problems on its own and governments can achieve more for their nations if they work together closely, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday. Germany holds the presidency of the G20 leading economies this year, a platform Merkel wants to use to safeguard multilateral cooperation after U.S. President Donald Trump questioned international alliances and obligations and insisted on putting “America […]
The Syrian civil war has left nearly half a million people dead, displaced millions more, and turned its largest city, Aleppo, into an open-air slaughterhouse. The war is destroying antiquity too. For just under a year, from May 2015 to March 2016, the so-called Islamic State held control of the ancient central city of Palmyra, a boomtown that became a Roman colony in the 3rd century A.D. […]
For the tattered Rashidiya neighborhood here, the recent battle never ended. It just shifted course along the river. Rashidiya was the last district in eastern Mosul declared liberated in late January, but army officers say Islamic State sleeper cells remain entrenched. Continue reading the main story And those are not the only troubles here. Even as American-backed Iraqi forces prepare an offensive against the Islamic State stronghold […]
By Steve Holland and Patricia Zengerle | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Senior Republicans issued their boldest challenge yet to U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, promising to get to the bottom of the relationship between his aides and Russia, and calling for ousted national security adviser Michael Flynn to testify before Congress. Trump, facing a deepening crisis less than a month into his presidency, sought to focus the attention […]
By Ayat Basma | NORTH OF MOSUL, Iraq NORTH OF MOSUL, Iraq Islamic State will put up a tough fight in the western side Mosul that remains under its control despite the losses the group suffered so far in the battle for the Iraqi, a U.S. commander said on Wednesday. “It is hard and hard every day here,” Colonel Patrick Work, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 82nd […]
ROME The agenda of Syrian peace talks due to begin in Geneva next week will be line with a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending the conflict and will not be changed, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Wednesday. De Mistura, speaking in Rome, said the U.N. resolution 2254 was based on three main points: establishing governance, coming up with a new constitution, and […]
BEIRUT The Syrian opposition wants face-to-face negotiations with the government about a political transition at peace talks that are due to begin in Geneva next week, a leading Syrian opposition politician said on Wednesday. Salim al-Muslit, spokesman for the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said there could be no role for President Bashar al-Assad in the transition, saying “the heavy price paid by the Syrian people” would have […]
Harrison Ford has near-miss with passenger liner Harrison Ford has had a close run-in with a passenger airliner at an airport in California in the United States. The actor, 74, was told to land his single-engine plane on a runway at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Southern California on Monday, but he mistakenly landed it on a parallel taxiway, passing over an American Airlines jet holding. […]
BEIRUT Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country sought good relations with its Gulf Arab neighbours as he began a one-day trip to Oman and Kuwait on Wednesday, his first since taking power in 2013. Relations between predominantly Shi’ite Iran and the mainly Sunni Arab countries of the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, remain strained over their support for opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen. […]
By Luke Baker | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday, their first meeting since the inauguration and one that promises to shape the contours of Middle East policy for the years ahead. On the agenda are some of the region’s most volatile issues: the war in Syria, the Iran nuclear file and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, […]
Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for February 15, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE. Want to see your event listed here? Email us with the details and contact information at [email protected] newslide Abu Dhabi Film screening Sign […]
By Colin Packham and Aaron Bunch | SYDNEY SYDNEY Officials at an Australian immigration centre in Papua New Guinea are increasing pressure on asylum seekers to return to their home countries voluntarily, including offering large sums of money, amid fears a deal for the United States to take refugees has fallen through. About a dozen Bangladeshi and Nepalese asylum seekers on Manus Island told Reuters they are […]
