Syrian Army prepares ground assault on Yabroud: 175 rebels killed in ambush
February 28th, 20140 DAMASCUS - Syria's army is preparing to assault a key rebel bastion near Damascus, a pro-regime newspaper said Thursday, Feb. 27, as activists reported heavy shelling and fighting the area."The Syrian army is preparing to launch a new phase" on the town of Yabroud near the border with Lebanon in its offensive in the Qalamoun mountains,...Jordan Paliament votes to expel Israeli ambassador
AMMAN — A majority of the Jordanian Parliament voted on Wednesday, Feb. 26, to seek the expulsion of Israel's ambassador to the kingdom after the Jewish state's Knesset debated Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.Prominent lower house deputy Khalil Attieh told AFP that 86 out of 150 members of parliament voted...Police station comes under heavy gunfire in eastern Saudi Arabia
RIYADH - Unknown gunmen opened fire at a police station in a Shi'a village in eastern Saudi Arabia, wounding three policemen, the interior ministry said Tuesday, Feb. 25.The attack took place late Sunday in the flashpoint of Awamiya village, part of the predominantly Shiite eastern Province district of Qatif where protests erupted in...Yemen stops printing leading southern opposition newspaper
ADEN - Yemeni authorities have prevented a local newspaper linked to southern separatists from being printed at a government-owned press in Aden, editors said on Sunday, in a move that led to a protest in the port city.The Aden al-Ghad newspaper said officials at the 14 October Printing and Publishing house refused to print its Sunday...Beirut for the rich only: Average apartment costs $1 million
BEIRUT — A recent study on property prices produced by the real estate advisory agency, RAMCO, shows the average price of apartments in Beirut has risen to $1.091 million."Trade in property and real estate speculation raised the prices artificially until it became almost impossible for people working in this country to live in it,"...Official in pro-Syrian government party assassinated in north Lebanon
BEIRUT — A senior official in a Lebanese party supportive of the Syrian regime was shot dead Thursday, Feb. 20, in the northern city of Tripoli, sparking clashes in which two people were killed."Masked gunmen opened fire at 7:00 a.m. on Abdelrahman Diab," a senior official in the Arab Democratic Party, as he drove through...Four die during Saudi police raid on house in eastern town
RIYADH- Two Saudi security officers and two people they were trying to detain were killed in a gunfight on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the eastern town of al-Awamiya, the government said, an area where minority Shi'a have staged regular anti-government protests. Shi'a in the region complain of discrimination, a charge denied by the kingdom,...Lawyer: Sudan sentences rape victim to jail
KHARTOUM — A pregnant Ethiopian teenager who was gang-raped in Sudan, according to activists, received a one-month jail term for "indecent activities" after a video of the alleged rape spread on social media, on Thursday, Feb. 20.Her sentence was suspended because she is pregnant, but she was also fined 5,000 pounds ($625).A...Five killed at blast in Syrian refugee camp near Turkey
DAMASCUS- An explosion believed to have been caused by a car bomb tore through a Syrian refugee camp at a border post on the frontier with Turkey on Thursday, Feb. 20, killing five people, a monitoring group said.Ambulances ferried the injured from the refugee camp to the southern Turkish city of Kilis, where a state hospital official...Turkey offers residency to Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria
ANKARA — The Turkish government has agreed to grant residency permits to Palestinians who have fled Syria for Turkey, the Palestinian ambassador to Turkey said in a statement.Nabil Maroof said that the agreement means that any Palestinian refugee coming from Syria will be able to live, work, and study legally in Turkey. The decision...Nine dead, 14 troops seized after south Yemen clash
SANAA — Nine people were killed and 14 soldiers kidnapped on Tuesday, Feb. 18, after a clash between gunmen and Yemeni troops in the southern city of Dalea, a separatist stronghold, local residents and the defense ministry said. The incident occurred when gunmen attacked a truck carrying food supplies, the defense ministry said on its...Deadly mortar attacks kill 17 in crowded area south of Baghdad
BAGHDAD — Five mortar rounds struck the Mussayib area south of Baghdad on Thursday, Feb. 20, killing 17 people, police and a doctor said.The shelling, which hit an area of shops and restaurants that draws crowds at night, also wounded 70 people, the sources said.A car bomb also killed one person in Mussayib on Tuesday, one of 10 such...Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence announces candidacy for 14th Congressional District
SOUTHFIELD — Mayor Brenda Lawrence recently announced her candidacy for the 14th Congressional District, which stretches from Pontiac to southwest Detroit. Lawrence.In 2001, Lawrence became both the first female and African-American mayor of Southfield. She has served as mayor for more than a decade. In 2012, she unsuccessfulyy ran for...Iran, Britain resume diplomatic relations
Britain and Iran on Thursday, Feb. 20, officially resumed diplomatic relations which were severed by London after students stormed its Tehran embassy in November 2011."The UK has agreed with Iran that from today bilateral relations will be conducted directly through non-resident charge d'affaires and officials," a Foreign Office...
Even orphans are victims of terrorism in Lebanon
February 21st, 20140 Children at al-Majad Center in a state of shock and sorrow after the twin suicide bombings in South Beirut, Wednesday, Feb. 19. BEIRUT — The twin suicide bombings Wednesday in Bir Hassan, south of Beirut, were rightfully described as "an attack on the Islamic orphanage." In fact, the two blasts shook the neighborhood containing......
Egypt adjourns Al Jazeera journalists’ trial
CAIRO- The trial of three Al Jazeera English journalists in Egypt has been adjourned until March 5 after they appeared in court in Cairo, on Thursday, Feb. 20, and pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste and Baher Mohammed are accused of joining, or aiding and abetting a terrorist...Syria talks approaching “failure,”mediator seeks U.S. and Russian help
GENEVA - Warning that "failure" was staring him in the face, the Syria peace talks mediator said on Thursday, Feb. 13, that the United States and Russia had promised renewed support to keep rival Syrian allies talking.U.N. diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi met senior diplomats from Washington and Moscow in Geneva, hoping the co-sponsors of the...Algerian military plane crashes into mountain, 77 killed
ALGIERS - A military transport plane carrying members of the Algerian armed forces and their relatives crashed into a mountain on Tuesday, Feb. 11, killing 77 people, the worst air disaster in the North African country in a decade.State television showed footage of the wreckage of the plane near the village of Ouled Gacem in eastern...Qatar seeks to improve tarnished image over migrant workers treatment
DOHA - Qatar revealed on Tuesday, Feb. 11, a set of guidelines aimed at protecting the rights of thousands of expatriate workers employed on construction projects, as the emirate prepares to host the 2022 football World Cup. The gas-rich Gulf state, which is under mounting criticism from rights groups over the conditions of migrants......
Fifteen pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia hotel fire
MEDINA, Saudi Arabia - Fifteen people died and around 130 were injured when a fire broke out in a hotel packed with Muslim pilgrims in the Saudi Arabian city of Medina on Saturday, Feb. 8, the state news agency said.All 15 were Egyptians and the blaze was started by an electrical short circuit, according to a separate report on Egypt's...Lebanese army seizes top al-Qaeda-linked militant
A car found with explosives is being taken away in the Corniche al-Mazraa neighborhood as the Lebanese army investigates the scene. PHOTO: Marwan Tahtah/Al-AkhbarBEIRUT - Lebanon's army arrested on Wednesday, Feb. 12, a senior al- Qaeda-linked militant described by officials as a "mastermind of car bombs" targeting mostly......
Egypt negotiates arms deal with Russia as Putin backs Sisi presidential bid
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday, Feb. 13, his support for a presidential bid by Egyptian Army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, voicing his hope to strengthen the ties between the two countries.Russia is looking to take advantage of strains between Cairo and Washington, which has withheld some of...Islamist insurgents seize parts of northern Iraqi town
BAGHDAD - Islamist extremist militants took over parts of a town in northern Iraq on Thursday, Feb. 13, local officials said.The mayor of Sulaiman Pek said the militants belonged to the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a fundamentalist group that was involved in the takeover of the city of Falluja last month and is also active......
