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May 19, 2013

Egyptian police hold signs denoting that the gates are closed and demanding the return of their colleagues, as they gather at the Egyptian crossing point into the Gaza Strip (Mohamed el-Shahed/ AFP)
21:26 GMT
A video appeared online on Sunday which apparently shows the seven members of Egypt's security forces kidnapped last Thursday in the Sinai peninsula
Tunisian Police Special Unit agents fix a national flag on their vehicle in front of the Okba Ibn Nafaa mosque in the central Tunisian city of Kairouan. (Fethi Belaid/ AFP)
12:56 GMT
Clashes between police and protestors erupted in Tunis on Sunday, after the government banned a planned rally
A fuzzy picture shows Mohammad Heidari, one of the men accused of spying for Western intelligence agencies. He was hanged at dawn on Sunday. Picture courtesy of onenews.com
10:32 GMT
Two Iranian men accused of passing security information to the CIA and Mossad were hanged at dawn on Sunday after the Tehran Revolutionary Court and the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead.
Syrian troops celebrate as they take control of the village of Haydariyah, some seven kilometers outside the rebel-held town of Qusayr (AFP/ Joseph Eid)
10:24 GMT
Heavy shelling in the strategically vital town of Qusayr on Sunday morning - reports
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gives an interview to Argentinian newspaper Clarin(AFP/SANA)
09:44 GMT
Bashar al-Assad vowed to “face the storm” in an interview with Argentinian newspaper Clarin
Iran's internet is being stifled in the lead up to the national elections. This is the screen that appears when Iranian internet users try to visit websites blocked by the government. AFP Photo
09:02 GMT
As the Iranian presidential elections draw nearer, the government is closely monitoring and censoring the internet, even denying citizens to effectively check their emails.
Iraqi armed tribesmen pose for a picture in front of a truck in a road north of Ramadi (Azhar Shallal/AFP)
08:14 GMT
8 people were killed in sectarian violence in Iraq on Saturday, just hours after a wave of massive bombings shook Baghdad, leaving 60 people dead
Syrian troops celebrate as they take control of the village of Haydariyah, some seven kilometers outside the rebel-held city of Qusayr (AFP/ Joseph Eid)
08:03 GMT
Battles in Qusayr, Homs, have left at least 10 Hezbollah fighters dead. More Lebanese militants said to be heading to the the town
The Egyptian army is seeking to launch a military attack on the kidnappers in Sinai who seized policemen in Sinai on Thursday
07:43 GMT
Egyptian President has been urged by the Egyptian army to give them the green light that will allow them to launch an attack on the kidnappers that seized policemen in Sinai on Thursday. AFP Photo

May 18, 2013

An Egyptian protester carries a picture of late president Anwar al-Sadat during a demonstration against President Mohammed Morsi on Friday in Tahrir Square, Cairo. AFP photo
08:25 GMT
Supporters of a new petition that seeks to out Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi clashed in Cairo on Friday, with teenagers and security forces in Tahrir Square.
A view of a coffee shop near Fallujah, just west of Baghdad, destroyed in the bomb blasts that killed over 60 people on Friday. AFP Photo
07:39 GMT
Bombs exploded outside Sunni mosques and one targeted a funeral party in Baghdad and Madain, just south of the capital yesterday, killing some 60 Sunni Muslims in the latest wave of sectarian violence sweeping Iraq.
Morsi's looks won't be enough to win Saudi Arabia over.
05:00 GMT
Saudi Arabia keeps Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood at an arm's length in spite of its open support to Arab Islamist movements.
"Assad must go!". It's raining men and they're tough ones too!
05:00 GMT
US and Turkey sing in unison: Assad must step down.
First to fight, first to suffer. Where did the Syrian women's revolution go?
05:00 GMT
Calling a spade a spade, it's rape not a Holy War.

May 17, 2013

A lone chicken is seen in the rubble of the site where an Israeli airstrike struck Damascus earlier this month. AFP Image
10:29 GMT
An Israeli official has come forward to say that the Israeli government may attack Syria again so as to prevent the transfer of weapons to what he called "Islamist militants".
A screenshot from the video in which Al Nusra fighters execute men in rural Syria. Acts such as this have lead the US to call its leader Mohammad Al Golani a terrorist. AFP/YouTube image.
10:17 GMT
After adding sanctions to the Syrian government, including blacklisting several ministers and institutions that it says helped President Bashar Assad begin the civil war, as well as labelling Mohammad Al Golani, the leader of the Al Qaeda linked Al Nusra front a terrorist.

May 16, 2013

The Afghan version of the Arab Spring: suicide bombings and violence. Photo for illustrative purposes only.
21:41 GMT
Surge in violence in Afghanistan: at least 15 victims in a car bomb attack in Kabul on Thursday.
The bodies of two Palestinian children get carried to the mosque by family members. This shot won Paul Hansen the 2012 World Press Photo award. Source: Tumblr.
14:18 GMT
The only fake thing about the 2012 World Press Photo of the Year proves to be the rumor around it.
Armed Yemeni tribesmen lead a blindfolded abductee to an unidentified place. (Photo PressTV)
14:01 GMT
Yemeni tribesmen released three kidnapped employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the humanitarian agency and a Yemeni security source said on Thursday.
No safe haven: there is a growing unrest around the Sinai area in Egypt. Photo for illustrative purposes only.
13:00 GMT
The manhunt has begun after seven officers were kidnapped by unknown assailants in North Sinai on Thursday.
The executioner in the video was from the al-Nusra front (image used for illustrative purposes)
10:57 GMT
A video uploaded to Youtube shows the al-Qaeda linked Al Nusra Front executing 11 men they accused of carrying out massacres against the Syrian people
Turkish women in distress at the site of bomb explosion on the Syria border (AFP)
08:54 GMT
Turkish police apprehended four suspects late Wednesday in connection with car bomb attacks in Reyhanli at the weekend
Best friends? Fatah and Hamas vow to set-up a united Palestinian government. Photo for illustrative purposes only.
05:00 GMT
Opposing Palestinian factions have reached an agreement to work on forming a unity government.

May 15, 2013

Syrian rebels in Aleppo try to free jailed regime opponents. Photo for illustrative purposes only.
14:18 GMT
Syrian rebels placed car bombs outside a prison in Aleppo in an attempt to free some of its 4,000 detainees.
Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (C) arrives with his daughter Fatemeh (C-R) to register his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013. (AFP)
11:13 GMT
Hard-line Iranian lawmakers are gunning for two contenders in next month's elections, a moderate former President and a the incumbent's protege
Poster from Saudi Arabia's first anti-domestic violence campaign
10:25 GMT
The ad is meant to define domestic violence in Saudi Arabia as being a social issue and divert attention from the government’s lack of laws that protect women, writes Mohamed Hemish about a new Saudi campaign on domestic violence.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks to the press (Ahmad Al-Rubaye / AFP)
09:42 GMT
Attacks on east Baghdad alcohol shops leave 12 dead
Palestinian protest for Nakba Day in Bethlehem
08:33 GMT
Nakba Day for Palestinians remembering their 'loss' 65 years on in the West Bank did not go unmarked- by violence and injuries resulting after Israelis opened fire on a rally in Bethlehem.
UN General Assembly
08:26 GMT
The UN General Assembly is set to vote on a draft resolution that would legitimize the Syrian National Coalition as party to a potential political transition

May 14, 2013

Putin will receive his Israeli counterpart on Tuesday to discuss the current issues in the Middle East. (AFP PHOTO/ POOL/ MAXIM SHIPENKOV)
16:57 GMT
Putin and Netanyahu are meeting on Tuesday to discuss both parties' involvement in the Syrian conflict. Israel might try to talk Russia out of selling missile systems to Syria.
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters greet their comrades as they arrive in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk on May 14, 2013, after leaving Turkey as part of a peace drive with Ankara. (Safin Hamed/AFP)
15:14 GMT
The Iraqi government said on Tuesday that the arrival of Kurds from Turkey was a violation of the country's sovereignty
A Saudi health ministry official visits patients infected with a new SARS-like virus at a hospital in the eastern Saudi province of al-Ahsaa on May 13, 2013 (AFP)
09:52 GMT
The four new cases have been confirmed in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province
A video which appears to show a Syrian rebel commander mutilating a corpse and eating its heart
09:20 GMT
The video, which can't be independently verified, appears to show a man mutilating the corpse of a uniformed man, pulling out organs and placing the heart in his mouth
Cameron and Obama during a press conference after their meeting in Washington on Monday. (AFP PHOTO/JIM WATSON)
05:00 GMT
United States and United Kingdom leaders came together in Washington on Monday to discuss the current situation in Syria and their respective positions on how to involve all parties, including Russia, in finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.

May 13, 2013

Bystanders and residents gather next to the wreckage of a car at the site of a car bomb that exploded in the parking lot of a Benghazi hospital in Libya on Monday. (AFP Photo)
17:39 GMT
Car bomb goes off near a hospital in Libya, triggering a massive demonstration. Conflicting reports from news agencies on the casualty figures, with claims of death toll between three and 17.
Part of the Al Haram Al Sharif in East Jerusalem. Getty images.
10:50 GMT
After the Jordanian delegate at the Arab League called for a meeting on Sunday following Wednesday's attacks by Israelis on the Al Haram Al Sharif, the League met yesterday and condemned Israeli behaviour.
Female protestors in Aleppo, Syria (AFP)
10:34 GMT
"Sustainable peace is impossible without deliberately engaging women" writes Leigh Cuen
Image of helicopter used for illustrative purposes
10:15 GMT
The Afghan Taliban says it will release four Turkish hostages, captured last month, soon
French Social Affairs and Health Minister Marisol Touraine visits the French Health Protection Agency (Institut de veille sanitaire, InVS) on May 12, 2013, in Saint-Maurice, outside Paris, after a man contracted a deadly new SARS-like virus after having come into contact with another man confirmed to have been infected. (Bertrand Langlois/AFP)
09:29 GMT
Respiratory virus has killed 15 people of the 24 that have contracted it in Saudi Arabia since it was identified in September 2012
Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto with other members of the Syrian opposition (AFP)
08:34 GMT
Moscow and Washington attempt to find a peaceful resolution to the Syrian conflict could be attended by Syrian opposition
A view of the Cairo skyline. On Saturday, a major Al Qaeda linked bomb plot against a Western embassy was foiled. Getty images.
05:00 GMT
According to Egyptian interior minister, three militants with ties to an Al Qaeda cell were arrested in Cairo on Saturday after attempting to blow up an unidentified Western embassy.

May 12, 2013

Two car bombs killed 46 people and wounded dozens more in a Turkish border town on Saturday. (Photo: AFP)
13:27 GMT
Syria has denied being responsible for two car bombs which killed 46 people and wounded dozens more in a Turkish border town on Saturday.
Palestinians demonstrate at Al Aqsa mosque following Friday prayers outside the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City on Friday, May 10. AFP Photo
12:35 GMT
In the aftermath of Israeli violations at Al Haram Al Sharif in East Jerusalem on Wednesday such as the obstruction of prayers and the arrest of the Grand Mufti, Jordan has taken immediate action to try and hold Israel responsible for its actions.
A Libyan man inpects one of the two police stations that were attacked on May 10, 2013 in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. Bomb attacks targeted two police stations in Benghazi causing extensive material damage but no casualties, a security official said. (Abdullah Doha/ AFP)
11:06 GMT
The attacks follow two similar bombings in the city on Friday
Abu Qatada, once described by a Spanish man as "Osama Bin Laden's right hand man".
10:43 GMT
Victory for the British government this week as Muslim Cleric Abu Qatada, Palestinian of Jordanian nationality, has said he will return to Jordan of his own volition if and when Jordan ratifies a treaty with the UK ensuring that he will have a fair trial in the country.
Iranian presidential elections are due to take place on June 14 (AFP photo)
10:35 GMT
686 individuals have signed up for the presidential race in Iran: they will now be vetted by the leadership
Iran Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi meets Syria President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on May 7(AFP/SANA)
10:00 GMT
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi made the remarks in an interview with German title Der Spiegel
Mubarak said the current president faces a tough job in running the country.
09:48 GMT
In what was billed as his first media interview since he was detained after his removal from power in 2011, former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak said it was too early to judge President Mohamed Morsi.
An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on May 08, 2013 reportedly shows a man reading a statement at an undisclosed location in Syria, behind four abducted Filipino UN peacekeepers. (AFP/ YouTube)
09:11 GMT
The four UN peacekeepers were captured by Syrian rebels last week in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights
The twin car bombings in Turkey on Saturday killed at least 43 people and left 140 wounded. (Photo: AFP)
06:18 GMT
Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler blames groups supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the twin car bombings in Turkey on Saturday, which killed at least 43 people and left 140 wounded.

May 11, 2013

After one Mubarak fan hoisted his photo aloft a trumpet for May 11, the re-trial is once again postponed
20:29 GMT
Supporters of ousted president Hosni Mubarak rallied outside court in his support during his retrial.
Turkish women in distress at the site of bomb explosion on the Syria border
20:13 GMT
Two car bombs exploded outside government buildings in a Turkish border town Saturday, killing at least 40 people, the government said.
A rebel fighter of the Syrian Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) has a flower in his Russian made 'AK-47' kalashnikov gun as he holds a position in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood in the Syrian city of Aleppo. AFP Photo
11:48 GMT
The US charge d’affaires to Lebanon met with PM Mikati and expressed concern that Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria could drag the country into conflict.
 A Lebanese man uses a public phone near a poster featuring Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week in the southern Lebanese city of Naqura. AFP Photo
10:56 GMT
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said on Friday that the only way to protect the country against Israeli aggression is to place Hezbollah's arms under Army control
US Secretary of State John Kerry has spoken out against chemical weapon use in Syria
07:01 GMT
With the international community finally taking a more active stance on the Syrian crisis, US Secretary of State John Kerry said said Friday there was “strong evidence” that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons.

May 10, 2013

The old city, and within it sites such as Al Haram Al Sharif and the Wailing Wall, lie in East Jerusalem.
11:33 GMT
A new report, the first of its kind made by the UN, has provided insight on the ways in which Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem since the 1967 war has significantly decreased their standards of living, housing, health care and education.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah
06:43 GMT
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said that as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Damascus last weekend, the Shiite group would be provided with weapons he described as "game changing" by the Syrian regime.

May 9, 2013

Syria buying advanced Russian air-defense weapons
13:29 GMT
Syria has already began payments for a $900 million purchase of an advanced air defense system from Russia and an initial delivery was due within three months..
Israel has given the go-ahead to build nearly 300 homes in the settlement of Beit El near Ramallah.
10:52 GMT
Israel has given the go-ahead to build nearly 300 homes in the settlement of Beit El near Ramallah, a spokesman said, just two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly ordered a freeze on construction.
Syrian refugees at the Zaatari camp in north Jordan (AFP)
10:40 GMT
Jordan's Foreign Minister told John Kerry that Syrians could make up 40% of the Jordanian population by mid 2014
: US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks as the joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on May 7, 2013. (Photo: AFP / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV)
09:47 GMT
US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted on Thursday that President Bashar al-Assad cannot be part of a transitional government in Syria.
Reports of internet blackout in Syria began on Tuesday.
08:53 GMT
Syria's internet and phone services resumed on Wednesday afternoon following a two-day blackout that left much of the war-torn country cut off.
Yazigi and Ibrahim were kidnapped last month by armed men while they were on their way to Aleppo from the Turkish border.
06:13 GMT
Acting President of the Syrian National Coalition George Sabra says that the two Greek Orthodox archbishops kidnapped in Syria are being held in a small village northwest of Aleppo by a rebel group.

May 8, 2013

Jerusalem Mufti Mohamed Hussein (r) at the al-Aqsa mosque
14:37 GMT
Israeli police say they released Mohamed Hussein, the top Muslim cleric in the Holy Land, on Tuesday
Egged on by communal acceptance, mob killings of alleged criminals have been spreading across rural areas of Egypt amid a chronic security vacuum and a surging crime rate. (Photo: Earth Zebra) - Photo used for illustrative purposes -
13:49 GMT
Videos of brutal public executions have become increasingly common in Egypt. Experts say lynching phenomenon could spread to major cities.
Israeli border guards stand guard outside the al-Aqsa mosque on Tuesday. (Photo: AFP / AHMAD GHARABLI)
12:56 GMT
Jordan’s Parliament votes to expel Israel’s ambassador from the Kingdom in retaliation for Israeli measures against Al-Aqsa mosque.
Palestinian Muslim woman argues with an Israeli policeman as security forces stand guard outside the al-Aqsa mosque (Ahmad Gharbali/AFP)
11:01 GMT
Jerusalem Mufti Mohammed Hussein was taken from his home in the city for questioning in relation to the disturbances
Hosni Mubarak waves from his hospital bed in court (AFP)
10:48 GMT
Hosni Mubarak's going nowhere fast as Egypt's Illicit Gains Authority extend his detention for another two weeks
Syrian rebel fighter (AFP PHOTO/ MIGUEL MEDINA)
09:58 GMT
Reports on Tuesday said that rebel pressure in both areas have pushed government forces into negotiations
Reports of internet blackout in Syria began on Tuesday
09:23 GMT
Syria has "largely disappeared" from the internet according to reports on Wednesday
The town is strategic in that it is likely to allow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to regain control of the transit route.
08:09 GMT
A strategic southern town in Syria has been captured by regime forces from rebel fighters.
 Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and the US Secretary of State John Kerry take their seats prior their talks in Kremlin in Moscow. (AFP PHOTO/POOL/MLADEN ANTONOV)
06:19 GMT
Russia and the US say they have agreed to work towards holding an international conference to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria.

May 7, 2013

Syrian rebels in Aleppo (AFP image used for illustrative purposes)
17:26 GMT
The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade said it was holding the peacekeepers for their own safety
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a freeze on publishing tenders for new West Bank settler homes to avoid hampering US efforts to renew peace talks.
15:09 GMT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a freeze on publishing tenders for new West Bank settler homes to avoid hampering US efforts to renew peace talks.
President Mohamed Morsi hails from the Brotherhood, which the opposition accuses of seeking to tighten its hold on power.
11:28 GMT
Nine ministers have been replaced in the Egyptian government headed by Prime Minister Hesham Qandil.
Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is unable to stand in the upcoming election (Kenzo Tribouillard /AFP
10:31 GMT
Candidates have until Saturday to register for the elections that will be held next month
Israeli infantry soldiers of the Golani brigade take part in exercises during their deployment in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights. (Photo: AFP / Menahem Kahana)
09:38 GMT
A mortar shell fired from Syria explodes in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, hitting an open field without causing any casualties or damage.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Syria. (Photo: AFP)
08:26 GMT
US Secretary of State John Kerry is holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss the crisis in Syria.
US President Barack Obama recently met with the Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu (AFP)
07:55 GMT
Deal was reached after meeting between officials in Jerusalem, with a final announcement expected soon
Carla del Ponte speaking at a press conference in February 2013 (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP).
06:11 GMT
U.N. war crimes investigators have reached no conclusions on whether any side in the Syrian war has used chemical weapons, the inquiry commission said on Monday.

May 6, 2013

Photo allegedly shows damage after Israeli airstrikes in Damascus (AFP/SANA Handout)
21:52 GMT
Single shell that landed in the Golan Heights on Monday was probably an accidental over spill from the Syrian conflict, according to the Israeli military
An Israeli Merkava tank is positioned for deployment during a drill in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria on May 5, 2013. (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
10:56 GMT
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least 15 soldiers were killed in the Damascus attack, adding that dozens more remain unaccounted for
Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil
10:29 GMT
Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's convoy was shot at in Cairo late on Sunday night
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah with Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
10:21 GMT
A nuclear ambitious Iran surely won't stand alone against a possible US-Israeli strike
Carla del Ponte speaking at a press conference in February 2013 (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)
09:14 GMT
UN independent commission member says there's strong evidence that Syrian rebels have used the nerve agent during the conflict
Libyan protesters hold placards and banners during a demonstration in support of the "political isolation law" in Libya's landmark Martyrs Square on May 5, 2013 in Tripoli, Libya. (Photo: AFP / Mahmud Turkia)
09:08 GMT
Libya's parliament passed a law on Sunday banning officials from the Gaddafi era from holding political office.
Israel carried out a pre-dawn air strike near Damascus on May 5, targeting Iranian missiles destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah. (AFP PHOTO / SANA /HO)
06:27 GMT
Alleged attacks "open the door to all possibilities", Syria's information minister says, as Arab League urges UN action.