Middle East News
Iran clashes over rial crisis
Iranian riot police have clashed with protesters in Tehran over sharp falls in the currency, the rial. Tear gas was used to disperse the demonstrators,...
IKEA Saudi catalogue removes women from its pages
IKEA has said it regrets that images of women are missing from the Saudi version of its catalogue. Women are clearly present in corresponding images...
Gaddafi killed by French secret serviceman on the express orders of Nicolas Sarkozy
A French secret serviceman acting on the express orders of President Nicolas Sarkozy is suspected of murdering Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, it was sensationally claimed...
Ancient Madina souk in Aleppo’s Old City burns as battles rage
A blaze has swept though ancient markets in Aleppo, activists say, as rebels and government forces seek to gain control of Syria's largest city. Reports...
Benjamin Netanyahu urges the world to draw a clear red line over Iran’s nuclear programme
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the world to draw a "clear red line" over Iran's nuclear programme. In a speech at the UN,...
Syrian refugees will be 700,000 by the end of the year
UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, has warned that as many as 700,000 people could have fled Syria by the end of the year, a...
Syria: four military guards killed in suicide attack on Damascus army HQ
Four Syrian military guards were killed after suicide attackers drove vehicle bombs into the military HQ in the heart of Damascus, officials say. State TV...
Barack Obama warns on Iran’s nuclear weapons at UN General Assembly in New York
Barack Obama is addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, where he is to say the US will "do what we must" to...
Ehud Olmert given suspended sentence for breaching the public’s trust
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been fined $19,170 and given a one-year suspended sentence for breaching the public's trust. Ehud Olmert was found...
Siemens denies Iran sabotage link
Siemens has denied allegations that it planted explosive devices inside nuclear equipment destined for Iran. The German engineering company said it has "no business ties...
Free Syrian Army moves its command centre from Turkey to liberated areas inside Syria
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) has announced that it has moved its command centre from Turkey to "liberated areas" inside Syria. A video posted...
Syrian warplane attacks gas station in Raqqa killing 30 people
A warplane has attacked a petrol station in the north-east of Syria, killing at least 30 people, opposition activists say. A rebel group said people...
Syria: heavy fighting in Damascus suburb and Aleppo
Further heavy fighting took place today in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo. Activists said government forces had stormed Hajar al-Aswad,...
Innocence of Muslims: Fresh protests erupt around Muslim world over anti-Islam video
Fresh protests are taking place around the Muslim world over amateur anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims, which was produced in the US. At least one...
Innocence of Muslims protests: Hezbollah urges for fresh protests in Lebanon
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shia Muslim militant group Hezbollah, has called for fresh protests in Lebanon on Monday over film Innocence...
Lebanon: Pope Benedict XVI appeals for peace at seafront Mass in Beirut
Hundreds of thousands of worshippers have attended a seafront Mass in Beirut on the concluding day of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Lebanon. Pope Benedict...
Libya makes arrests over US consulate attack in Benghazi
Libya has made several arrests in connection with the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens was killed. New Libyan...
Innocence of Muslims protests: US embassies across globe under siege
Protests against anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims made in the US are spreading across the Middle East and North Africa. In Yemen, demonstrators briefly stormed...
Yemen: Protesters storm US embassy in Sanaa
Yemeni protesters angered by an anti-Islam film made in the US have stormed the grounds of the US embassy in the country’s capital Sanaa. Police...
Said al-Shihri, second-in-command of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, killed in Yemen
Said al-Shihri, described as the second-in-command of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has been killed in an operation in southern Yemen, government officials...
Iraq: fugitive VP Tariq al-Hashemi sentenced to death in absentia
Iraq's fugitive vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi has been sentenced to death in absentia after a court found him guilty of running death squads. The court ruling...
Syria: at least 25 people killed in a warplane strike in Aleppo as UN envoy starts job
Violence is continuing in Syria, with opposition activists saying that a warplane may have killed as many as 25 people in a strike in...
Lakhdar Brahimi says Syria mission is “nearly impossible”
Lakhdar Brahimi, the new UN-Arab League envoy on Syria, has given a deeply pessimistic view of the task ahead of him, as he takes...
Iran NAM summit: Mohammed Mursi’s attack on oppressive Syria sparks walkout
Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi has told a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Iran that the Syrian uprising is a "revolution against an...
Bashar al-Assad says Syrian government needs more time to win the battle against rebels
President Bashar al-Assad has said Syrian government needs more time to "win the battle" against rebel forces. In an interview with pro-government al-Dunya TV, Bashar...
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