أخبار عاجلة

The US on Monday ruled out plans to create a no-fly zone along the Syria-Turkey border, brushing aside rumors that it is in talks with Turkey about creating a safe haven for refugees. According to US President Barack Obama’s spokesman Josh Earnest, the US was “open to discussing a range of options with the Turks” but that a no-fly zone …

The Canadian government is working to determine the credibility of reports about a Canadian citizen that was allegedly captured by extremists in Syria. The Jerusalem post, citing websites “known to be close” to extremist group Islamic State (IS), reported on Sunday that Canadian Gill Rosenberg, who had reportedly joined Kurdish fighters, was captured by the extremists. However, CBC reported a …

By Jennifer Zobair – The Feminist Wire Whenever the epidemic of rape in Egypt makes the news, I am destined to think of Joyce Carol Oates. Last summer, the author took to twitter to question whether Islam was responsible for the widespread incidence of sexual assault in Egypt, an argument people continue to make today. As a Muslim woman, I …

A suicide bomber on Thursday rammed an explosive-laden car into a British embassy vehicle in Kabul, killing five Afghans and one Briton in the latest attack as NATO troops continue to withdraw from the country. An Afghan employee in the embassy and a British security contractor died in the blast, which occurred on a stretch of road known for suicide …

The United States on Wednesday said that it was “horrified” by Syrian regime airstrikes in Raqa that caused the death of at least 95 people, slamming the regime for its “continued slaughter”. The bombing on Tuesday was the most lethal attack conducted by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air force since extremist group Islamic State (IS) captured the city last year …

International rights group Amnesty International on Thursday condemned Egypt’s destruction of hundreds of homes and urged for a stop to its “unlawful evictions” of residents to create a buffer zone with Gaza. Egypt started working on the buffer zone in October to stem militants reportedly infiltrating the Sinai Peninsula – militants have stepped up attacks against Egyptian soldiers in the …

Multiple news websites, including Canadian national broadcaster CBC, on Thursday were briefly hacked in an attack claimed by the Syrian Electronic Army. A few users of the websites reported seeing a pop-up message that read “You’ve been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA)”. The hack targeted a network used by many businesses and news organizations; a tweet sent by …

The Syrian regime, along with key ally Russia, on Wednesday agreed to support the UN’s proposal to suspend fighting in the city of Aleppo. Second city Aleppo, which was once Syria’s economic hub, is now divided between rebel and regime forces. State news agency SANA reported Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem saying so after a meeting between a Syrian delegation …

Iraqi security forces, allied with local tribesmen, battled extremist group Islamic State (IS) on Wednesday to defend the governor’s office the city of Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province. Kurdish peshmerga forces were also engaged in battle against the IS for hours in the province of Kirkuk in northern Iraq. “We are defending and protecting the governmental complex” in …

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday defended the Israeli government’s decision to support a proposal that enshrines in law Israel’s status as the “Jewish homeland”, despite criticism from President Reuven Rivlin. Critics fear that the move will come at the price of democracy and institutionalize prejudice against minorities, including Arabs. “The aim of this law is to guarantee the …