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BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – by Sara HUSSEIN Syrian government forces advanced against rebels inside Aleppo on Thursday, making their biggest gains in the ravaged city in years just hours after announcing they would ease their air bombardment. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said loyalist fighters now controlled around half of the Bustan al-Basha district near the centre of the divided metropolis. “It’s the most important advance for the regime in Aleppo since 2013,” said […]
HEBRON, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – by Samih Shahin The Palestinian government delayed municipal elections for up to four months Tuesday with Fatah and Hamas so far unable to overcome divisions to organise their first competitive polls in a decade. The postponement came a day after the Palestinian high court ruled that the elections, initially scheduled for October 8, should be held only in the West Bank and not in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. A new […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) – by Carole LANDRY The UN Security Council on Monday was considering a draft UN resolution imposing a ceasefire in Aleppo and putting an end to all military flights over Syria’s war-battered city. The French-drafted text obtained by AFP on Monday was circulated to the Security Council at the weekend and a vote could take place this week, diplomats said. The measure was the latest bid to pile pressure on Russia […]
Airstrikes against hospitals in Syria are war crimes that make the resumption of peace talks in the country’s civil war impossible, Britain’s Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday (October 2). Johnson criticised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia for hitting civilian targets as he highlighted the tragic consequences of the Syrian crisis on the spiralling numbers of refugees. “it is the continuous savagery of the Assad regime against the people of Aleppo and the […]
OPEC agreed on Wednesday (September 28) to cut its oil output for the first time since 2008, with the group’s leader Saudi Arabia softening its stance on arch-rival Iran amid mounting pressure from low oil prices. Past attempts to reach an output deal have been complicated by political rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which are fighting several proxy-wars in the Middle East, including in Syria and Yemen. The agreement represents a strategy shift for […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – Numerous doctors and nurses and medical facilities have been hit or targeted by missiles or air strikes since the start of the conflict in Syria in March 2011. The latest case came when an air strike and artillery fire hit the two largest hospitals in rebel-held parts of Syria’s Aleppo overnight, in what rights groups said was a deliberate strategy of targeting civilian infrastructure. “Let us be clear. Those using ever […]
ALBUQUERQUE, United States (AFP) – by Thomas WATKINS The United States is sending about 600 extra troops to Iraq to train local forces for an upcoming offensive on the Islamic State group stronghold of Mosul, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Wednesday. IS seized Mosul along with other areas in June 2014, but the country’s forces have since regained significant ground from the jihadists and are readying for a drive to retake Iraq’s second largest city. “These […]
ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – by Karam al-Masri with Maya Gebeily in Beirut The United States threatened Wednesday to suspend its engagement with Russia over the conflict in Syria following escalating attacks on rebel-held parts of Aleppo city, including strikes on two hospitals. UN chief Ban Ki-moon denounced the attacks — which saw the two largest hospitals in Aleppo’s opposition-controlled east hit with air strikes and artillery fire — as “war crimes”. President Bashar al-Assad’s forces […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – by Stuart WILLIAMS Turkey said Wednesday that courts have placed 32,000 suspects under arrest on charges of links to a group run by the US-based preacher blamed for July’s failed coup, as the country braces for the most extensive trials in its history. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told NTV television that 70,000 people had been investigated after the attempted putsch on July 15, 32,000 of them remanded in custody. “This process […]
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) – The death toll from a migrant boat disaster off Egypt’s coast climbed to 133 on Friday as rescuers recovered more bodies from the Mediterranean. Survivors have said up to 450 migrants were on board the overcrowded fishing vessel that was heading to Italy from Egypt when it keeled over off the port city of Rosetta on Wednesday. “The death toll from the illegal migrant boat that capsized off the coast of Rosetta… […]
ROSETTA, Egypt (AFP) – by Haitham El-Tabei Rescuers brought more bodies to shore on Thursday a day after a boat crowded with migrants capsized off the coast of Egypt, drowning at least 51 people. Survivors said up to 450 migrants were on board the fishing vessel when it sank about 12 kilometres (eight miles) off the coast of Rosetta, an Egyptian Mediterranean port city, on Wednesday morning. The military has said 163 survivors have been […]
ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – by Karam al-Masri with Maya Gebeily in Beirut Huge blazes erupted in Syria’s Aleppo as the city was rocked by fighting and air strikes Thursday, ahead of last-ditch efforts by world powers to salvage a failed ceasefire. Key players in the Syrian peace process were to meet in New York later Thursday, with the clock ticking down as the UN warned undelivered aid for desperate civilians in Aleppo would expire in […]
