Middle East News
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...
Syrian rebels seize Iraq and Turkey border posts
Syrian rebels have captured a number of positions on the country's borders with Iraq and Turkey. A senior Iraqi official said all the crossings on...
Syria: new clashes follow the deaths of three top regime figures
Fresh fighting in many parts of Syria throughout the night has followed the deaths on Wednesday of three top regime figures in a suspected...
Syrian ministers Daoud Rajiha and Assef Shawkat killed in sucide attack in Damascus
Syria's defense minister Daoud Rajiha and his deputy Assef Shawkat, President Assad's brother-in-law, have died in a suspected suicide bombing at security headquarters in...
Hosni Mubarak returns to prison from hospital
Public prosecutor in Egypt has ordered that former President Hosni Mubarak be returned to prison, saying that his health has improved, state media say. Hosni...
Hillary Clinton arrives in Israel for talks focused on Iran
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel for talks expected to focus on Iran, the peace process and Egypt. Hillary Clinton will...
Syria: Damascus in the heaviest fighting so far
According to reports from activists and residents, the Syrian capital Damascus has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the conflict so far. Mortar and...
Hillary Clinton’s motorcade pelted with tomatoes and shoes thrown by Egyptian protesters
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was targeted by protesters who threw tomatoes and their own shoes at her motorcade during a visit to...
Syria is in civil war, says Red Cross
Fighting in Syria has become so widespread that the conflict is now in effect a civil war, says The Red Cross (ICRC). The change in...
Hillary Clinton meets head of Egypt’s military council Mohamad Hussein Tantawi
Hillary Clinton has met the head of Egypt's top military council, Field Marshal Mohamad Hussein Tantawi, on the second day of her visit to...
Hillary Clinton meets Egypt’s President Mohammed Mursi
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has held her first meeting with new Egypt’s President Mohammed Mursi. After the talks, Hillary Clinton reaffirmed Washington's support...
Mass killing in the Syrian village of Tremseh
About 200 people are reported to have been killed in the Syrian village of Tremseh, in Hama province. Opposition activists quoted residents as saying the...
Nawaf al-Fares, Syria’s ambassador to Iraq, defects to opposition
Nawaf al-Fares, Syria's ambassador to Iraq, has defected to the opposition and urged other senior Syrian politicians and members of the military to do...
Egypt’ Supreme Court overturns Mohammed Mursi’s decree to recall parliament
Egypt' Supreme Court has overturned a decree by President Mohammed Mursi to recall parliament. Mohammed Mursi had issued the decree in defiance of a military...
Egyptian parliament convenes in defiance of dissolution
Egyptian parliament has briefly convened, despite the ruling military council ordering it to be dissolved. President Mohammed Mursi had ordered the assembly to meet in...
Mohammed Mursi’s decree to be discussed by Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court
Supreme Constitutional Court in Egypt, which dissolved the parliament last month, is due to discuss how to respond to President Mohammed Mursi's order to...
Mohammed Mursi reverses Egyptian parliament dissolution
President Mohammed Mursi has ordered Egyptian parliament to reconvene, a month after it was dissolved. The Supreme Court had ruled parliament unconstitutional as party members...
Jordanian MP Mohammad Shawabka pulls gun on his opponent during live TV debate
Jordanian MP Mohammad Shawabka threw one of his shoes at political opponent Mansour Sayf al-Din Murad during a television debate before pulling a gun...
Manaf Tlas, top Syrian general, has defected and is on his way to Paris
Manaf Tlas, a Syrian general from a powerful family close to President Bashar al-Assad, has defected and is on his way to Paris, French...
Bashar al-Assad regrets Turkish F-4 jet’s downing
President Bashar al-Assad is quoted as saying he regrets "100 per cent" a Turkish jet was shot down after entering Syrian airspace. In an interview...
Turkey sends rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns along its border with Syria
Turkey begins rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns deployment along its border with Syria after last week's downing of a fighter jet. Columns of military vehicles...
Syria: gunmen attack pro-government Ikhbariya TV killing three people
Gunmen have attacked Ikhbariya TV, a Syrian pro-government TV channel, killing three people, state media say. The attack on Ikhbariya TV south of Damascus blew...
Syrian general and other high-ranking military figures defect to Turkey
High-ranking Syrian military figures have defected to Turkey, reports in Turkish media say. A general, two colonels, two majors and about 30 other soldiers are...
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