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 …

A bomb threat targeting a Muslim Mosque in the Montreal suburb of Chateauguay caused quite the stir on Wednesday morning, as several buildings were evacuated after a 911 call notifying Montreal police was made in earlier in the morning. This is the first time the mosque in Chateauguay was threatened. The threat, made at 6:30 a.m., claimed that a bomb …

South African President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday said that Israel is defying global powers and “undermining” the prospects of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by continuing with its settlement policy on occupied territory. “The reality is that the overwhelming majority in the world agrees with the position of two states living side by side in peace, but we …

The United Arab Emirates shocked many western charities by placing them on its blacklist of “terrorist groups”, alongside radical groups like Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda. The list, released earlier in the month, was topped by the Muslim Brotherhood, but also included organizations like Islamic Relief UK, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and large Muslim associations in Sweden, Norway, Finland …

The United Nations on Tuesday strongly urged the US to investigate racism within its judicial and law enforcement systems, after a white police officer who killed an unarmed African-American teenager was not indicted. “I am deeply concerned at the disproportionate number of young African Americans who die in encounters with police officers, as well as the disproportionate number of African …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday faced thinly veiled pressure over missing the deadline for the nuclear deal and a seven-month extension, with hardliners denouncing the diplomatic stalemate. The failure to seal the deal on a final agreement with the world’s leaders dominated Iranian newspaper headlines, with many editorials viewing further dialogue as worthless since talks have not yielded results …

Several Syrian regime airstrikes on the city of Raqa, the self-proclaimed capital of extremist group Islamic State (IS), on Tuesday caused the death of 63 people, over half of whom were civilians. The airstrikes were the deadliest attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s air force on the city since it was seized by the IS last year. “Among the 63 …

Twenty-eight cement trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in the second delivery of building material for the private sector since the 50-day war. Raed Fatuh, the Palestinian Authority (PA) official responsible for the entry of cargo into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel, confirmed that 28 trucks carrying 40 tons of cement each crossed into Gaza. The …