MIDDLE EAST

The joint mission of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemicals had announced on Tuesday that Syria had destroyed its entire stockpile of isopropanol, a component used in the preparation of Sarin nerve gas. In a statement, the UN-OPCW mission said, “Now 7.2 percent of Syria’s chemical weapons material remains in country and awaits swift removal …

31-year-old Mashudur Choudhury on Tuesday became the first British person to be convicted on charges of terrorism connected to the conflict in Syria. Choudhury, a father of two and a former youth worker who hails from Portsmouth, was convicted of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts. He will be sentenced on June 13, and has been warned that …

Russia has said that it would veto any UN resolution which would refer the Syrian conflict to the International Criminal Court if it would come to a vote in the UN Security Council, after 58 countries announced their support for such a measure. The resolution would authorize the International Criminal Court to investigate allegations made against the Syrian opposition and …

Palestinian activists on Tuesday were critical of Pope Francis’ plans to visit the tomb of Zionist founder Theodor Herzl. Omar Barghouti, a member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement called the planned visit “nauseating”. “Laying a wreath on the grave of the founder of Zionism, a patently racist ideology that has served to enable and justify the ethnic cleansing …

The Syrian Air Defense Chief General Hussein Ishaq was killed on Sunday in a military offensive against rebels near Damascus. General Ishaq was wounded on Saturday during the military’s assault on the town Mleiha to the east of Damascus, and succumbed to his wounds on Sunday. The military offensive aims to increase the area near the capital under the President’s …

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday said that the death toll in war-stricken Syria has exceeded an astounding 160,000. The activist group said that it has documented exactly 162,402 deaths since the uprising began in March 2011. The number includes rebels, civilians, members of the military, members of militia like the Lebanese Hezbollah and foreign fighters involved in …

On Sunday, international advocacy group Human Rights Watch said that Palestinian Authorities are yet to take action and investigate on an assault by Palestinian security forces in April, having brought charges against the four victims. The organization said that several witness had given consistent accounts of police using disproportionate and unnecessary force against two men involved in a peaceful protest …

The UN Security Council is expected to put to vote next week a resolution which would call Syria to the International Criminal Court; the measure, however, will likely fail due to opposition from China and Russia. The resolution was drafted by France and aims to “send a message that there is accountability for the crimes committed in Syria”. According to …

On Wednesday, suspected al-Qaeda forces simultaneously struck at two army positions in South Yemen, with the subsequent clashes resulting in the deaths of 13 insurgents, 9 army soldiers and an aide to the Defense Minister. Only five days ago, Defense Minister Mohamed Nasser Ahmad and two other security officers barely escaped an ambush as they were returning from the south. …

On Thursday, New-York based Human Rights Watch urged Saudi Arabia to release two citizens held in the kingdom without trial for two years for their religious beliefs. 33-year-old Sultan al-Anzi and 35-year-old Saud al-Anzi had converted to the Ahmadiyya Muslim religious group, an offshoot if Islam which is banned in the uber-conservative Sunni kingdom. The two were arrested and jailed …