Middle East News
Syrian government forces take full control of strategic district Salah al-Din in Aleppo
Syrian government forces have taken full control of strategic district Salah al-Din in the biggest city, Aleppo, after fierce fighting, state media say. However, rebel...
Egypt fires missiles on suspected Islamist militants in Sinai peninsula
Egyptian army helicopters have fired missiles on suspected Islamist militants in Sinai peninsula, security officials say. Twenty people were reported killed in Touma village, while...
Riyad Farid Hijab, Syria’s PM, defects to Jordan
Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Farid Hijab has defected from President Bashar al-Assad's government, the Jordanian government says. Riyad farid Hijab was appointed less than two...
Bomb attack on Syrian state TV
Syrian television reports that a bomb has exploded on the third floor of the state TV and radio building in the capital, Damascus. Three people...
Egypt: at least 13 policemen killed in attack at Israeli border
At least 13 Egyptian policemen have been killed by unidentified gunmen who attacked a checkpoint on the Egyptian-Israeli border, officials say. Israel said the attackers,...
Syrian troops massed around Aleppo for final assault
More than 20,000 Syrian troops are deployed around Aleppo, military sources say, as fighting rages for control of the country's second city. Fighter jets, helicopters...
Turkey: at least 19 people killed during clashes between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels
At least 19 people have died in southeast Turkey after Kurdish rebels launched an attack on a Turkish border post, according to local media. Rebels...
Yemen: more than 30 people killed by suicide bomb in Abyan province
More than 30 people have been killed in Yemen after a suspected suicide bomber has struck a village in the southern province of Abyan. Dozens...
Syria: 48 Iranian pilgrims kidnapped near Damascus
Forty eight Iranian pilgrims have been kidnapped from a bus in the vicinity of a shrine near the Syrian capital Damascus, reports say. Iranian diplomats...
UN General Assembly condemns Security Council for failing to end Syria unrest
The UN General Assembly has voted by a big majority to condemn its own Security Council for failing to end the unrest in Syria...
Kofi Annan resigns as UN Syria envoy
Kofi Annan is quitting as UN-Arab League envoy, the UN has announced. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Kofi Annan had decided not to renew...
Egypt’s new cabinet to be officially announced and sworn in by Mohammed Mursi
Egypt's new government is due to be officially announced and sworn in by President Mohammed Mursi, who took office last month. Media reports suggest Prime...
Syria: Aleppo fighting increased in the past few days
Fighting in Syria's embattled city of Aleppo has increased significantly in the past few days, the UN says. Sausan Ghosheh of the UN mission in...
Iraq: two car bomb explosions kill 19 people in Baghdad
At least 19 people have been killed in two car bomb explosions in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials say. The blasts happened within minutes of...
Iran: four people sentenced to death over $2.6 billion bank fraud
Four people have been sentenced to death in Iran for their roles in the country's biggest-ever bank fraud scandal. Two other defendants received life sentences,...
Syria: 200,000 people fled Aleppo battle in the past two days
United Nations announces that some 200,000 people have fled intense fighting in Syria's second city Aleppo in the past two days. UN humanitarian chief Baroness...
Yemen: Italian embassy worker kidnapped by gunmen in Sanaa
Gunmen have kidnapped a security agent working for the Italian embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa. The Italian man was taken to an unknown destination from...
Syrian army launches Aleppo attack as tanks move in
Syrian army has launched ground and air attacks against rebels in parts of Aleppo, activists say. Rebels with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) say they...
Bashar al-Assad’s fall is “only a matter of time”, says ex-UN observer Robert Mood
Robert Mood, the former head of the UN observer mission in Syria, says it is "only a matter of time" until President Bashar al-Assad's...
More Syrian diplomats defect as Aleppo fighting intensifies
Two more senior Syrian diplomats have defected amid mounting pressure on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the US has confirmed. Syria's representatives in the...
Arab League asks Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down
Arab League foreign ministers have called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, as rebels are encouraged by last week's assassinations in Damascus. The rebels...
Iraq: 82 people killed in Baghdad in a wave of bomb attacks and shootings
Waves of bomb attacks and shootings in north of Baghdad have killed at least 82 people, say security and medical officials. Many of those killed...
New clashes rock Syria’s main cities
New fighting is reported in Syria's two biggest cities - Damascus and Aleppo - as government forces seek to regain control of rebel-held areas. The...
Ali Wanis, Egypt Salafist ex-MP, convicted of violating public decency
Ali Wanis, an Egyptian radical Islamist politician, has been convicted in absentia of violating public decency after police found him fondling a woman in...
Hisham Ikhtiar, Syria’s national security chief, dies from wounds
Hisham Ikhtiar, Syria's national security chief, has died from injuries he received in a bomb attack in Damascus on Wednesday, state TV has announced. Hisham...
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