Main headlines

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.

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

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