Tag Archives: US

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry, during his unannounced visit to Lebanon, dismissed the Syrian elections as “a great big zero”. The “elections are non-elections, the elections are a great big zero”, he told reporters in Beirut. He also defended the Washington’s decision to work with the newly-formed Palestinian unity government, saying that it did not include any …

Several Israeli ministers lashed out at the US government on Tuesday for its decision to work with the newly formed Palestinian Unity government backed by Hamas. Gilad Erdan, the Israeli Communications Minister and a security cabinet member, said, “Unfortunately, American naiveté has broken all records. Any collaboration with Hamas which kills women and children is unacceptable”. He added that Israel …

The UK had changed the status of the London office of the Syrian opposition into a mission on Thursday. The National Coalition, led by Ahmed Jarba, was given a similar vote of confidence when the United Stated states gave it similar recognition 10 days ago. After a Friends of Syria group meeting in London, Foreign Secretary William Hague said that …

The Yemeni army took control of the important al-Qaeda stronghold Azzan in the Shabwa province as its offensive against them entered its tenth day on Thursday. The army’s offensive had begun on April 29th in the country’s central and southern provinces, where US drone strikes have killed several al-Qaeda suspects in the last month. In its statement, the Defense Ministry, …

On Tuesday, residents of Warabe in Nigeria’s northeast say suspected Boko Haram Islamists kidnapped eight more girls from the region. The leader of the extremist group last month had said that the group had abducted more than 200 schoolgirls. According to the residents, the assailants were looking for girls in every household in an attack in Warabe late on Sunday, …

On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that he has enough support to form a coalition government after the election, held on Wednesday, but reiterated that he would leave his post if need be. Maliki is seeking a third term in office, following the first elections in Iraq after the withdrawal of US troops. He faces significant opposition from …

The nine month deadline for the US-sponsored peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel has passed, with no progress made in the period of intense American diplomacy. Both parties are now possibly further apart than they were before the talks started in July last year. The negotiations had started with US Secretary of State John Kerry hoping that there …

Yemeni forces on Tuesday launched an operation to remove all al-Qaeda forces from the southern towns in the country, where air strikes have killed about 60 militants last week. Their offensive began a few hours before the Friends of Yemen meeting began in London, where the delivery of aid to poverty-stricken country is to be discussed. The al-Qaeda has taken …

On Friday, twin bomb attacks in a Shiite political rally killed 28 people in the city of Baghdad, as Iraq prepares for parliamentary elections on Wednesday next week. Campaigning for the polls has reached a fever pitch, as this would be the first time such a poll will be held after US troops withdrew from the country in 2011. Prime …

On Monday, a Yemeni and US air campaign killed at least 68 al-Qaeda members in an attempt to one-up al-Qaeda’s local affiliate. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been connected to several failed terror plots against the US, and its leader had made a rare appearance in a recent video, in which he promised to attack Western “crusaders … …