Egyptian terrorist group confirms leader’s death
CAIRO — Egyptian jihadist group Ajnad Misr confirmed Thursday the death of its leader, Hammam Mohamed Attiyah, who police said was shot dead in a gunfight in Cairo. On Sunday, the interior ministry announced that Attiyah was killed in a Cairo apartment when security forces raided it, without saying when. Police say Attiya previously...Saudi policeman killed during raid in Eastern province
RIYADH — A Saudi policeman was shot dead and three were wounded during a raid which devolved into a gun battle in the eastern Saudi city of Awamiya on Sunday, state news agency SPA said. "An exchange of fire led to the injury of Corporal Majid bin Turki al-Qahtani, and his death after being taken to hospital - may God have mercy on...Al-Qaeda in Syria vows to enforce Sharia law in Idlib
DAMASCUS — The al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front indicated on Wednesday that a Idlib, a Syrian city captured from the government in recent days would be ruled according to Islamic sharia law, but the group would not seek to monopolize power there. Nusra Front's leader, Abu Mohamad al-Golani, also said residents of the northwestern city of...Tunisia to restore diplomatic relations with Syria
TUNIS — Tunisia's foreign minister said the diplomatic relations with Syria will be restored at a consular level, following a long hiatus that began during the beginning of the Syrian uprising. Taieb Baccouche told journalists Thursday that Syria had responded positively to the suggestion to restore relations, which were cut in...Israel arrests Palestinian lawmaker
RAMALLAH — Israel arrested a Palestinian lawmaker from a left-wing militant group on Thursday for disobeying an Israeli order restricting her movements in the West Bank. The Israeli military said it arrested Khalida Jarrar, a senior political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in the West Bank city of...Bahraini activist arrested over tweets
Nabeel RajabMANAMA — Bahrain police arrested prominent democracy activist Nabeel Rajab on Thursday for comments he made on his Twitter account seen as "harmful" to civil peace, the kingdom's interior ministry said. Rajab took a leading role in mass demonstrations in Bahrain in 2011, which asked for reforms in the Gulf Arab state,...Yemen’s Houthis seize central Aden district, presidential site
A man stands by the wreckage of a van hit by an air strike in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, March 31.ADEN — Yemeni Houthi fighters and their allies seized a central Aden district on Thursday, striking a heavy blow against the Saudi-led coalition that has waged a week of air strikes to try to stem advances by the Iran-allied...Iraqi government recaptures Tikrit from “Islamic State”
The Iraqi government claimed victory over "Islamic State" insurgents in Tikrit on Wednesday after a month-long battle for the city supported by Shi'a militiamen and U.S.-led air strikes, saying that only small pockets of resistance remained. State television showed Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, accompanied by leaders of the army and...Aid groups: money pledged for syria in Kuwait disappointing
KUWAIT — Aid groups tackling the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria said they were disappointed that only $3.8 billion of a requested $8.4 billion had been pledged at a U.N. summit in Kuwait. Nearly 80 governments and dozens of aid agencies attended Tuesday's meeting, at which the United States promised $507 million, Kuwait $500...Gunmen kill 15 soldiers, two civilians in Egypt’s Sinai
CAIRO — Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked several military checkpoints in Egypt's Sinai on Thursday, killing 15 soldiers and two civilians, security sources said, defying one of the toughest security crackdowns in the country's history. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but militants who...Lebanon captures militant who beheaded soldier
Bilal Mikati (L), Omar Mikati.BEIRUT — Lebanon's army said on Tuesday that it had captured two militants, one of whom beheaded a Lebanese soldier who was held by hardline Islamist gunmen along with around two dozen servicemen still in captivity. A statement from the army said that Omar Mikati and Bilal Mikati were captured on Tuesday...“Islamic State” militants take on Libya’s rival government forces
TRIPOLI — Militants claiming allegiance to "Islamic State" fought forces loyal to Libya's two rival governments in the central city of Sirte and further east in Benghazi, state media and military officials said on Wednesday. In Sirte, ISIS militants killed five members of a force loyal to the government that controls Tripoli, a...Bardo museum symbolic reopening precedes march against terror
Children perform during the ceremonial reopening of the Bardo museum in Tunis, March 24.TUNIS — Tunisia's Bardo museum held a ceremonial reopening on Tuesday, a week after gunmen claiming alliance with "Islamic State" killed 20 foreign tourists in an attack aimed at wrecking the country's vital tourism industry. Several thousand...
Yemeni President Hadi leaves country as Saudi Arabia steps up air strikes
March 27th, 20150 People gather at the site of an air strike at a residential area near Sanaa Airport, March 26.SANAA — Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi left his refuge in Aden for Saudi Arabia on Thursday as Houthi rebels battled with his forces on the outskirts of the southern port city. Throughout the day, warplanes from Saudi Arabia and...Assad urges united front with Iraq against terrorism
DAMASCUS — On Tuesday during talks with Iraq's foreign minister in Damascus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called for a united front with Baghdad in tackling terrorism as the two countries battle "Islamic State" militants on their territory. The government in Baghdad, along with Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, has been an......
U.S. coalition joins Tikrit battle
Iraqi militants launch rockets against ISIS positions during clashes in Tikrit, March 24.BAGHDAD — Iraqi special forces advanced on central Tikrit on Thursday, backed by U.S.-led coalition planes in the largest offensive yet against "Islamic State" (ISIS) militants holding out in Saddam Hussein's home city. Coalition jets launched...ISIS recruited 400 children since January
DAMASCUS — "Islamic State" recruited at least 400 children in Syria in the past three months and given these so-called "Cubs of the Caliphate" military training and hardline indoctrination, a monitoring group said on Tuesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the children, all aged under 18, were recruited near schools,...Jordan signs $10 billion nuclear power plant deal with Russia
AMMAN — Jordan signed an agreement worth $10 million with Russia on Tuesday that sets the legal basis for building the kingdom's first nuclear power plant with a total capacity of 2,000 megawatts. Jordan imports nearly 98 percent of its energy from oil products and crude and is struggling to meet electricity demand which is growing by...
Saudi Arabia starts bombing campaign in Yemen
March 26th, 20150 Armed militants loyal to Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi ride a patrol truck in the country's southern port city of Aden March 25. Photo: Reuters.SANAA — Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday it had launched military operations in Yemen, carrying out air strikes in coordination with a 10-country coalition seeking to......
U.S. drone lost in Syria, government claims to have downed it
March 20th, 20150 The United States lost one of its Predator drone aircraft over northwest Syria on Tuesday, U.S. officials said, as Syrian state media reported its air defenses brought down the spy plane in the government-controlled Latakia province.If Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces took down the U.S. aircraft - something U.S. officials said...Abbas: Two-state solution not possible with Netanyahu
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.RAMALLAH — A two-state solution to the Middle East conflict will be impossible with an Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday. "Netanyahu's statements against a two-state solution and against a Palestinian state ... are......
Libyan government forces bomb Tripoli airport
TRIPOLI — Warplanes from Libya's internationally recognized government on Thursday bombed the only functioning commercial airport in the city, delaying the arrival of a delegation from a rival parliament for U.N. peace talks, officials said. The attack on Matiga airport, a military base used for commercial flights after the main...Egypt announces plans to build new capital city
A scale model of a planned new capital for Cairo is displayed at an investment conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday.CAIRO — Over the weekend, Egypt unveiled plans to build a wholly new capital. The new city would lie somewhere to Cairo's east, closer to the Red Sea. It would sprawl across some 150......