Ramallah-based rights group The Palestinian Prisoners Society accused Israeli authorities of cracking down on all Palestinian lawyers, following the indictments and arrests of several attorneys, charged on passing information between the Hamas and people inside and outside Israeli prisons. The organization said that the moves against the attorneys were “dangerous” and “unprecedented”. The groups’ head Qaddura Fares said that the …

Six Ukrainian military troops were killed by separatist forces near the city Krematorsk in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. Eight more soldiers were wounded in the separatist “ambush” in the outskirts village of Oktyabrske near the city Krematorsk. The statement, released on the Defense ministry’s website, said that the attack was “cynical and dangerous”, and had occurred …

One wonders how much further the United States will allow itself to be dragged down into the deepening abyss that is today’s Egypt. Those in the Obama administration and Congress who favor continued U.S. military aid to the dictatorship in Cairo insist that although such aid may run counter to American ideals, it does serve American interests. I would argue …

US Secretary of State John Kerry is reportedly set to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his scheduled trip to London on Wednesday, a few weeks after peace talks between Palestine and Israel, brokered by the US, collapsed. According to sources, the two will talk about the resumption of the peace talks with Israel. However, John Kerry’s spokeswoman Jen …

Written By Tom Verde In the “Northern Italian” room of Washington’s National Gallery of Art hangs a somber, dark-toned likeness of a young scholar entitled “Portrait of a Humanist.” Painted in Rome about 1520, the bearded, black-robed figure stands partially illuminated in a three-quarters pose. His dark eyes are fixed, his posture self-assured. His long, elegant hands seem well-suited to …

On Friday, the last of the rebel forces evacuated the Old City in Homs, as Syrian army troops entered the city. The move is being seen as a symbolic victory for the government, with civilians slowly finding their way back to the neighborhoods in the city. The pullout sees the rebels now confined to only one district on the outskirts …

Eleven people were killed in violence as the Iraqi Armed Forces on Friday launched an operation to regain control of areas in the proximity of the militant-held city Fallujah. Anti-government forces have been in control of the city, not far from Baghdad, and parts of the provincial capital Ramadi, since January. The operation is being considered as preparation for a …

An attack on the Yemeni Presidential Palace by suspected Al-Qaeda militants triggered a fierce gunfight and led to the deaths of five guards, as the militants hit back after the launch of an army offensive aimed to crush them. President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi was not in the palace when the gunmen attacked at a checkpoint outside the compound. Hadi only …

The Saudi Arabian grand mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh condemned Nigerian terror outfit Boko Haram as a group “set up to smear the image of Islam”, and criticized the group’s kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls. Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, the top religious authority in the country, said that the radical group, which claims it wants to set up a “pure” Islamic …

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday visited the Russian naval base in Crimea for the first time after the peninsula was annexed by Moscow. President Vladimir Putin was in Sevastopol to review the Russian ships in the port. Russian television aired live footage of Vladimir Putin standing on the deck of a white ship going past at least ten other …