Iraq forces near Mosul mosque where Daesh declared ‘caliphate’
Author: Agence France PresseSat, 2017-03-18ID: 1489834117436190200MOSUL, Iraq: Elite Iraqi forces battled house by house in the Old City of Mosul on Saturday, inching toward the mosque where the Daesh group proclaimed its “caliphate” in 2014, a spokesman said.Commanders said that progress in the densely populated warren of alleyways was slow but that government forces had made new […]
Syrian rebels, families begin leaving Homs district in deal with government
Author: ReutersSat, 2017-03-18ID: 1489823446405621200BEIRUT, Lebanon: Opposition fighters and their families began leaving their last bastion in the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday, state media and a Reuters witness said, under an evacuation deal with the government that is expected to be the largest of its kind.The first two buses carrying rebels and their families left Al-Waer […]
26 Yemen soldiers killed in Houthi missile attack
Author: ARAB NEWSSat, 2017-03-18ID: 1489783579290567800ADEN: A Houthi missile attack Friday killed 26 members of pro-government forces in a camp east of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, hospital officials in the town of Al-Maarib said. The news agency of the internationally recognized government said the attack took place during Friday prayers in Al-Maarib province, eastern Yemen. The death toll […]
Coalition rejects Houthi claim it is behind attack on refugee boat that left 42 dead
Author: Arab NewsSat, 2017-03-18ID: 1489783579200566600JEDDAH/ADEN: A military vessel and a helicopter gunship Friday attacked a boat packed with Somali refugees off the coast of Yemen, killing at least 42 people, said Yemeni officials and a survivor who witnessed the attack.Maj. Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, dismissed Houthi accusations that the coalition carried out the […]
Israel blasted for blacklisting Palestinian fund
Author: Hani HazaimehSat, 2017-03-18ID: 1489783579230566900JEDDAH: A top Palestinian official has condemned an Israeli move to designate one of the territory’s national funds a “terrorist organization.”In statement to Arab News on Friday, Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), strongly rejected Israel’s blacklisting of the Palestinian National Fund, the PLO’s main financial body.The fund makes monthly […]
‘Exemplary’ refugee efforts by Tehran win UN praise
Author: AFPFri, 2017-03-17ID: 1489773456114225100 TEHRAN: While Iranians would bear the brunt of US President Donald Trump’s visa ban, if it ever comes into force, international officials say the country has quietly emerged as one of the most generous toward refugees. “The leadership demonstrated by the Iranian government has been exemplary in hosting refugees and keeping borders open,” […]
Iraq, US offer differing accounts of Mosul progress
Author: AP, REUTERSSat, 2017-03-18ID: 1489773456154225700MOSUL: Iraqi and US commanders offered conflicting accounts Thursday of progress in western Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi forces have been battling the Daesh group for nearly a month as they try to retake the remainder of the city.Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, the American commander of coalition ground forces in Iraq, said the troops […]
Doctors describe horrific conditions in war-torn Syria
Author: The Associated PressSat, 2017-03-18ID: 1489773456214226000WASHINGTON: Doctors who risked their lives working in Syrian hospitals described horrific conditions in the war-torn country and pleaded with US lawmakers to protect and save millions of people from an escalating humanitarian crisis.They testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the sixth anniversary of Syria’s bitter civil war, which has […]
UN agency head resigns after Israel ‘apartheid’ report
Author: Associated PressFri, 2017-03-17ID: 1489768222633442600 BEIRUT: The head of a Lebanon-based United Nations agency that promotes development in Arab countries has resigned, after refusing to withdraw a controversial report that concludes that Israel has established an “apartheid regime.” The report, which was published earlier this week by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, […]
Moroccan king names new PM to break political deadlock
Author: Associated PressFri, 2017-03-17ID: 1489767037213327700 RABAT: Morocco’s king named a new prime minister Friday, former top diplomat Saadeddine Othmani, after ousting his predecessor over five months of government deadlock. The royal palace said in a statement that Othmani, a former foreign minister, has been given the responsibility of forming a new government. Othmani’s Islamist party, the Party […]
