Turkish Imam suspended after “pieces of cucumber” found in rectum
July 1st, 20160 TURKEY - A 39-year-old imam in Turkey has been suspended from his role after doctors reportedly found “pieces of cucumber” in his rectum during a checkup. The imam, who is from a Central Anatolian province, was admitted to hospital last week after suffering from severe abdominal pain and bleeding, Hurriyet Daily...Lebanese army foils further ISIS attacks
Lebanese army soldiers at the site of suicide bomb attacks in Qaa, June 27.BEIRUT — Lebanon's army said on Thursday it had foiled planned terrorist attacks by ISIS on a tourist site and a crowded area, days after multiple suicide bombers killed five people in the border village of Qaa. Five people involved in the two thwarted attacks,...
Suicide attack kills 28 at Istanbul airport
June 28th, 20160 Ataturk Airport following a blast, June 28ISTANBUL — Two suicide bombers opened fire before blowing themselves up at the entrance to the main international airport in Istanbul on Tuesday, killing at least 28 people and wounding many more, Turkish officials and witnesses said.Police fired shots to try to stop the attackers just before...
Bahraini activist to be tried for tweets
June 28th, 20160 Nabeel RajabMANAMA — Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been taken to hospital with heart problems after spending more than two weeks in solitary confinement, his family said. Rajab is a vocal critic of the Bahraini government and led protests during the Arab Spring.The activist has been placed in a...
Israel, Turkey restore ties
June 28th, 20160 Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoğanANKARA — Israel and Turkey announced on Monday they would normalize ties after a six-year rupture, a rare rapprochement in the divided Middle East driven by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as mutual fears over growing security risks.Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim...
Suicide bombers kill five Lebanese village
June 27th, 20160 Suicide bomb attacks took place in the village of Qaa, June 27BEIRUT — Four suicide bombers killed at least five people and wounded 19 more in a series of attacks in a Lebanese Christian village at the border with Syria on Monday, the latest violent spillover of the five-year-old Syrian war into Lebanon.There was no immediate claim of...
ISIS bombings kill 18 in southern Yemen
June 27th, 20160 ADEN — At least 18 people were killed in three coordinated ISIS bomb attacks on Yemeni government forces in the southern port city of Mukalla on Monday, medics and security sources said.They said dozens of other people were wounded in the bombings, which occurred just as soldiers were about to break their day-long fast during the...
U.S.-backed forces enter strategic ISIS stronghold in Syria
June 24th, 20160 DAMASCUS — The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces pushed into the outskirts of the ISIS stronghold of Manbij in northern Syria on Thursday and were advancing slowly to the center of town, an adviser to the predominantly Kurdish force and a monitoring group said. The town lies along the only ISIS supply line between the Turkish...
Yemeni Government: Nothing has been agreed in talks
June 24th, 20160 KUWAIT CITY — The Yemeni government said Thursday Houthi rebels must withdraw from all territory they have seized since 2014 and hand back control of state institutions ahead of any political settlement. It added that nothing has been agreed upon in two months of negotiations. The statement from the government delegation to...
Offensives against ISIS could displace 2.3 million Iraqis
June 23rd, 20160 BAGHDAD — Upcoming military offensives in Iraq against ISIS, including an assault on the northern city of Mosul, could displace at least 2.3 million people, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Iraq said on Thursday. The prediction of such a vast humanitarian emergency creates additional complications for the Iraqi...
Israeli troops kill Palestinian bystander
June 21st, 20160 Mahmoud BadranJERUSALEM — Israeli troops mistakenly killed a Palestinian bystander on Tuesday while responding with gunfire to a petrol bomb and rock attack on Israeli vehicles in the occupied West Bank, the military said.An earlier statement from the military had identified the Palestinian as an assailant. The mayor of his village...
Bahrain strips opposition imam of nationality
June 21st, 20160 Isa Qassim at a 2011 demonstration. Photo: ReutersMANAMA — Dozens of supporters of Ayatollah Isa Qassim, spiritual leader of Bahrain's Shi'a Muslim majority, gathered at his home on Tuesday to protest the revocation of his citizenship, with some men wearing white shrouds signaling their readiness to die.Protesters have been at the...
Turkish troops kill 11 Syrians trying to cross border
June 20th, 20160 Turkish border guards shot dead at least 11 Syrians, mostly from one family, as they tried to cross into Turkey from northwestern Syria, activists and a monitoring group said on Sunday.At least two women and four children were among those killed in the shootings overnight as the refugees sought to cross into Turkey from the border...
Israel waging a “water war” on West Bank Palestinians
June 16th, 20160 RAMALLAH — Palestinians are decrying Israel’s practice of siphoning off water supplies from large areas of the occupied West Bank.In a statement issued on Thursday, the office of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah Israel is waging a water war against the Palestinians.“Israel wants to prevent Palestinians from leading a...
UN: ISIS committing genocide against Yazidis
June 16th, 20160 Yazidi refugees fleeing ISIS, Aug. 2015. Photo: ReutersGENEVA — ISIS is committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the religious community of 400,000 people through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes, United Nations investigators said on Thursday.Such a designation, rare under international law, would......
Saudi Arabia condemns the Orlando attack
June 14th, 20160 Abdullah Al-SaudWASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia condemned the terrorist attack in Orlando, which claimed 49 lives at a gay club.Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Abdullah Al-Saud said the kingdom sends its deepest condolences to the families of the victims."We stand with the American people at this tragic time," he said. "We pray for the...U.S. allies tighten grip around Islamic State stronghold in Syria
U.S.-backed militia drew within firing distance of the last road into an Islamic State stronghold in northern Syria on Thursday, part of a wave of new offensives putting unprecedented pressure on the self-declared caliphate.The effective encirclement of Manbij by a militia called the Syria Democratic Forces is part of an assault launched...
Falluja refugees say ISIS uses food to enlist fighters
June 9th, 20160 Civilians who fled their homes due to clashes gather at the Iraqi army's Camp Tariq, south Falluja, IraqFALLUJA —Iraqis who fled ISIS-held Falluja as government and allied forces advanced on the city said they had survived on stale dates and that militants were using food to enlist fighters whose relatives were going hungry. The...
Assad vows to fight on, says Aleppo to be Erdogan’s graveyard
June 9th, 20160 Syria's president Bashar al-Assad.DAMASCUS — President Bashar al-Assad vowed on Tuesday to fight on in what he called Syria's war against terrorism, showing no sign of compromise in his first major address since failed peace talks in April. Assad said he would win back "every inch" of Syria and said Aleppo would be a graveyard for......
Three Jordanian intelligence officers killed in attack in Palestinian camp
June 8th, 20160 AMMAN — Three Jordanian intelligence officers and two other security personnel were killed in an attack on their security office in a Palestinian refugee camp outside the Jordanian capital, Amman. One suspect was arrested, officials said on Monday, saying it appeared to be an "individual and isolated act." The incident at the Baqaa...
France to accept 400 refugees per month from Greece
June 3rd, 20160 PARIS — France will accept 400 refugees per month from Greece as part of the EU relocation deal it signed last year, the country's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Thursday. "This week, as part of the relocation, 97 additional refugees have arrived in France coming from Greece and Italy," Cazeneuve said in a statement. He......
20,000 children caught in crossfire in deadly fight for Isis-held city
June 2nd, 20160 IRAQ - As many as 20,000 children are trapped on the frontlines of the battle for control of Islamic State-held Fallujah, the UN has warned, as US-backed Iraqi government forces continue their assault on the city. Unicef has called on combatants in Fallujah to allow safe passage for the children and families...
Yemen warring parties ‘closer’ to agreement
May 27th, 20160 KUWAIT — The U.N. envoy said Wednesday the warring parties in Yemen were closer to agreement at peace talks in Kuwait as he headed to New York to brief the Security Council."We are moving towards a general understanding that encompasses the expectations and visions of the parties," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a......
