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On Thursday, UN Under-secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos accused Syria of putting more effort into obstructing the UN than providing aid to millions of needy people. Amos, presenting the fourth UN report on humanitarian access in Syria, stressed that around 10.8 million are in critical need of humanitarian aid, and that workers could not reach …

US President Barack Obama has asked his nation’s Congress to approve $500 million in aid to equip and train “moderate” Syrian rebel forces. The funds would go a long way in helping Syrians defend themselves against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, the White House said. It also said that the aid could also help counter militants like the Islamic State in …

The United States on Thursday said that it is opposed to a Syrian role in resolving the turmoil in Iraq after the Syrian government had carried out air strikes against the militants. Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is facing insurgents from Syria who are sweeping across his nation, told the BBC that the Syrian air force had, earlier in …

The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research recently conducted a survey in seven Muslim-majority nations, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, found out that people prefer that women cover their hair, but not necessarily their face. Additionally, more than 25% of the people in Lebanon and Turkey feel that it is appropriate for women to …

By Judit Neurink SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The world is blaming the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for fighting in Iraq to set up an Islamic state, but that is not the real story, say refugees from Tikrit and Samarra, who found safety in the northern Kurdistan Region. What the world does not realize, they say, is that …

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for condemning the alleged abduction of three Israeli teenagers, but slammed the unity pact between Fatah and the Hamas. The three teens had disappeared from a popular hitchhiking spot in West Bank on June 12th, and Israel has rounded up several hundreds of Palestinians as a part of …

A suicide bomber targeted and bombed an army checkpoint at the Tayyouneh roundabout in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and at least one person was killed and twenty more were injured in the blast. Lebanon’s Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, however, said that the security situation in the country is “under control”. An army communiqué sent on Tuesday said that the …

Russia on Monday commended the “successful” completion of the international mission to ship out chemical agents in Syria, under a Russia-US brokered deal that helped avert any potential Western air strikes on the middle-eastern country. In a statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, “Russia greets the successful end of a large-scale and unprecedented international operation to ship all components of chemical …

Iraq on Wednesday asked the United States to direct air strikes at Sunni extremists who are now in control of important cities and large portions of the country, Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said. Speaking in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Zebari urged the Kingdom, which in the past has openly criticized the “sectarian” policies targeting Arab Sunnis of the …

Israel on Wednesday killed 65 people in West Bank, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas lashed out at the people responsible for the kidnapping of 3 Israeli teenagers. The hunt for the Israeli youths enters its sixth day on Wednesday, as Israel continues its crushing drive against Hamas, who it blames for the kidnappings. As Israeli troops continued to press their …