Tag: Region Middle East

Israeli forces shot a two-year-old girl in the head in her West Bank home on Saturday while she was eating dinner with her family, according to health officials and family members. The Palestinian Health Ministry says Laila Muhammad Al-Khatib was shot dead during an Israeli military raid on the village of Ash-Shuhada, just south of Jenin. “They started to shoot at us through the windows without any warning,” Ghada Asous, the toddler’s grandmother, said. “All of a sudden, the special forces raided…

While fighting in the air may have stopped in Gaza, danger remains for Palestinians returning to parts of the war-torn territory due to unexploded bombs on the ground. They blend in with the mounds of rubble and destruction. Efforts are underway in Gaza to locate and remove these bombs, starting in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — which saw some of the heaviest combat in the 15-month-long long war between Israel and Hamas. But mines advisory groups say in order…

WASHINGTON – Two U.S. lawmakers will keep trying to block arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, having determined that the UAE is providing weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s civil war, they said on Friday. A UAE official denied this. The Sudanese army and the RSF together led a coup in 2021 removing Sudan’s civilian leadership, but fell out less than two years later over plans to integrate their forces. The war that broke out…

The latest disintegration of a SpaceX test flight was a spectacular sight, as broken-up rocket parts streaked like jellyfish tendrils across the Caribbean sky Thursday evening. But some experts say focusing on that dazzling light show, as many people and media outlets did, highlights a lack of understanding of the environmental aftermath of these spacecraft failures. Moriba Jah, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Texas Austin, compares it to marvelling at the beauty of a nuclear bomb’s mushroom cloud. “Being mesmerized by…

As Israel marks Hanukkah, ceasefire talks with militants in Gaza remain stalled as Israel continues to pound targets in the territory. Among the latest reported victims of the war, a displaced child who froze to death overnight while sheltering in a tent.

NATO calls for full investigation of Azerbaijan Airlines crash BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO on Thursday called for a full investigation into the cause of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash that killed 38 people. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J28243,” NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said in a post on the platform X. “We wish those injured in the crash a speedy recovery and call for a full investigation.” Kazakhstan’s senate chairman said…

CHICAGO (AP) — Hours of secretly recorded videos and phone calls have offered a rare glimpse into how the longest-serving legislative leader in American history operated behind closed doors. As the corruption trial of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan stretches into its third month, testimony has covered his multiple alleged schemes, from kickbacks involving the state’s largest utility company to Chinatown developments benefiting his private tax firm. Jurors have heard from a congresswoman, former state legislators and the government’s…

NEW YORK – U.S. troops will be staying in Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad as part of a counter-terrorism mission focused on destroying Islamic State militants, a top White House official said on Tuesday. “Those troops are there for a very specific and important reason, not as some sort of bargaining chip,” U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said in an interview at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York. U.S. troops “have been there now for the…

There are legitimate concerns about the risks of sectarian violence in Syria and a resurgence of extremism in the country, the European Union’s new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday, while pointing to positive early signals. Syria’s new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago. Kallas also told a European Parliament committee session that…

BEIRUT – A Syria war monitor said on Dec 10 that Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in central Homs province killed 54 soldiers who were fleeing as Islamist-led rebels pressed a major offensive on government-controlled areas. ISIS militants captured “personnel fleeing military service in the desert… during the collapse of the regime” of president Bashar al-Assad and “executed 54“ of them in the Sukhna area in Homs province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. ISIS overran…

Israeli Shelling Damages Gaza Hospital, Halts Surgeries Palestinian health officials reported on Sunday that Israeli forces shelled Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, severely damaging critical infrastructure. The attack disrupted electricity and oxygen pumps, halting urgent surgeries and medical care. The hospital, one of three barely operational in northern Gaza, was struck by around 100 tank shells and bombs. Several medical staff members and patients were wounded during the attack, and access to operating rooms remains contingent on…

In a scene of overwhelming joy and disbelief, prisoners emerged from Syria’s notorious detention centers on Sunday, walking to freedom as the government of Bashar al-Assad collapsed. The release marked the end of decades of fear and repression under a regime infamous for its brutal prison system. Across the country, families wept and embraced loved ones who had vanished for years into Assad’s prisons, often without explanation. Freed detainees, some holding up fingers to indicate the years spent in captivity,…

Syrian rebels said they had entered Damascus on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime appeared to collapse in the face of the insurgents’ stunning offensive across the country. The rebels said in a statement that “the city of Damascus is free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad” and that “Assad has fled”. The whereabouts of Assad were unclear, with reports that he had fled, which would bring an ignominious end to a family dynasty that has ruled Syria for more than…

The main rebel offensive has been led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and various armed groups backed by Turkey. Other fighters have joined in, including army defectors who had fought the regime and laid down arms in previous ceasefires, said the people. As rebels converge on Damascus from the north and south, Iran has drawn back its presence in Syria, leaving its military advisers concentrated around the capital, according to sources. Some Tehran-backed Iraqi militias…

Footnote No. 379 of the carefully researched, wide-ranging document that historian Lee Mordechai has drawn up contains a link to a video clip. The footage shows a large dog gnawing something amid bushes. “Wai, wai, he took the terrorist, the terrorist is gone – gone in both senses,” says the soldier who filmed the dog eating a corpse. After a few seconds the soldier raises the camera and adds, “But what a gorgeous view, a gorgeous sunset. A red sun…