World news

Kerry on surprise Iraq trip to urge Syria cooperation

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, questions a witness during a hearing about the recent popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, Washington, DC, March 17, 2011.
24 Mar 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry made a surprise trip to Baghdad on Sunday to press for more help over the conflict in Syria amid claims of waning American clout barely a year after US troops left. The one-day visit, the first to Iraq by...
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Syrian National Coalition head Khatib stands down

Sheikh Moaz Alkhatib, President of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and US Vice President Joe Biden, right, meet for bilateral talks during the 49th Conference on Security Policy in Munich 2 February 2013. REUTERS/Michael Dalder
24 Mar 2013
Syria's opposition chief Moaz al-Khatib has resigned from the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, a dissident group recognised by dozens of states and organizations as a legitimate representative of the...
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Central African Republic capital falls to rebels, Bozize flees: sources

Central African Republic President Francois Bozize looks on during a news conference 8 January 2013. CREDIT: Luc Gnago
24 Mar 2013
Rebels in Central African Republic seized control of the country's riverside capital Bangui on Sunday, forcing embattled President Francois Bozize to flee into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, government officials said....
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Lebanon without government as Syria simmers

A Sunni gunman fires his weapon during a clashes, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, 13 May 2012. Gunfire broke out in the city Saturday and continued through the night primarily between a neighborhood populated by Sunni Muslims who hate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and another area with many Assad backers from his Alawite sect. Lebanon's national news agency NNA said one soldier was shot dead by a sniper in the city early Sunday. Another man was found dead on the side of a road while a third died after a shell landed in a residential neighborhood. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
24 Mar 2013
BEIRUT — Lebanon on Saturday was without a government after the surprise resignation of premier Najib Mikati and as it battled deep divisions fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria. The head of the government in which the...
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CIA provides intelligence to Syrian rebels

Fighters from the Syrian opposition rest at a former primary school in Aleppo on July 25, 2012.
23 Mar 2013
The US Central Intelligence Agency has been feeding information to select rebel fighters in Syria to try to make them more effective against government troops, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Citing unnamed current and former...
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Hamas appeals to Egypt after Israel halves Gaza fishing zone

22 Mar 2013
Hamas complained to Egypt on Friday after Israel suspended part of a Cairo-brokered truce agreement by halving Palestinian access to fishing waters in response to a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Thursday's salvo at the Israeli...
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Syria rebels 'gain ground in Golan': watchdog

21 Mar 2013
Syrian rebels have gained ground in the Golan Heights, which is partly occupied by Israel, launching coordinated attacks in the area and in nearby Daraa province, a watchdog said on Thursday. "It appears that the rebels launched...
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Iran will destroy Israeli cities if attacked: Khamenei

A handout picture released by the official website of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows the latter speaking in Tehran.
21 Mar 2013
Iran's clerical supreme leader said on Thursday the Islamic Republic would destroy the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if it came under attack from the Jewish state. "At times the officials of the Zionist regime [Israel]...
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United Nations orders investigation into Syria chemical attack

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon listens to journalists' questions during a joint press conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Sofia, May 5, 2010. The two-day panel, to be addressed on May 6 by Ban, brought together more than 150 government officials, analysts and journalists from across eastern Europe, as well as activists who took part in the upheavals in Egypt, Yemen and Tunisia.
21 Mar 2013
  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday announced that the United Nations will launch an investigation as requested by the Syrian government into allegations that chemical weapons were used inside its territories.   "...
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Obama: Israeli settlement building not constructive to peace process

US President Barack Obama meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas during a bilateral meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City, September 21, 2011.
21 Mar 2013
  President Barack Obama said on Thursday that settlement building in the occupied West Bank does not "advance the cause of peace", but stopped short of demanding a construction freeze to enable negotiations to resume....
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