Middle East

Building collapse in war-damaged Syria city kills 16

ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) – A building collapsed Sunday in Syria’s war-damaged second city of Aleppo, killing 16 people including children, with the search for survivors extending into the night. Much of Aleppo was destroyed during Syria’s conflict that began nearly 12 years ago and left many of the remaining structures in a decrepit state. “The number of victims of the residential building collapse… has risen to 16 dead,” said state news agency SANA. A war monitor […]

Turkey asks US for F-16 jets amid NATO, Congress rows

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Turkey on Wednesday appealed to the United States to expedite F-16 jets, a sale some US officials hope could coax Ankara to lift objections to NATO expansion but is bitterly opposed by a key senator. Meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he intended to discuss his country’s request for modernized versions of the mainstay F-16 fighter jets. “As we said together before, this […]

UK vows more action against Iran after execution

LONDRES, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Monday vowed more reprisals against what it said was Tehran’s “weakened and isolated regime” after it executed a UK-Iranian dual national. Following the killing of Alireza Akbari on Saturday, the UK summoned Iran’s most senior diplomat and recalled its own ambassador. But despite slapping sanctions on Iran’s prosecutor general Mohammad Jafar Montazeri it stopped short of opposition demands to ban the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Faced with […]

Obey or leave: NGOs torn over Taliban ban on women staff

by Estelle Emonet and Jay Deshmukh Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Aid groups say they have been “pushed against a wall” by the Taliban prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs, a ban that has left a dangerous gap in life-saving support. Afghanistan’s NGOs have been instrumental in trying to address one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with half the country’s population hungry and three million children at risk of malnutrition. “It is […]

Israeli strike on Damascus airport kills 4 fighters: monitor

by Layal ABOU RAHAL Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Israeli army carried out a missile strike on Damascus International Airport on Monday that killed four people, including two Syrian soldiers, according to a human rights monitor. This is the second time in less than seven months that the Damascus airport, where Iranian-backed armed groups and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters are present, has been hit by Israel. The attack — which occurred around 2:00 am […]

Musk says nearly 100 Starlinks ‘active’ in Iran

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Nearly 100 Starlink internet terminals are currently operating in Iran, SpaceX chief Elon Musk said Monday. The tycoon had promised to bring the satellite internet network to the country in September as Iranian authorities imposed increasingly severe access restrictions, in a move activists called a campaign to limit information about protests that had broken out nationwide. “Approaching 100 Starlinks active in Iran,” Musk tweeted Monday. Starlink has more than […]

Eight dead in failed IS prison assault in Syria: monitor

Qamishli, Syria (AFP) Six members of Kurdish-led security forces and two jihadists were killed Monday in a failed Islamic State group assault near a prison for extremists in northern Syria, a war monitor said. The failed assault targeted a Kurdish security complex in Raqa, the group’s former de facto capital in Syria, which includes a military intelligence prison housing jihadists, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “The jihadists were targeting the military intelligence prison” […]

Global stars call for release of jailed Iranian actor Alidoosti

Los Angeles, United States (AFP) Hundreds of high profile figures from the global cinema industry called Wednesday for Iran to release actor Taraneh Alidoosti, who was jailed over her support for the country’s three-month-old protest movement. Actors Emma Thompson, Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen and directors Ken Loach and Mike Leigh were among a host of luminaries to sign an open letter demanding the star of “The Salesman” be freed. “As members of the […]

Iran to retry rapper reportedly on death row

Tehran, Iran (AFP) Iran’s supreme court has ordered the retrial of a Kurdish rapper who was reportedly sentenced to death over protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death, the judiciary said Saturday. Protests have gripped Iran since the September 16 death of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, after her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s dress code for women. Iran this month executed two people in connection with the […]

Israel spy agency warns of deeper Iran-Russia arms ties

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Iran is seeking to expand the supply of advanced weapons to Russia, the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency said Thursday, according to local media. The warning from David Barnea comes after the United States earlier this month expressed alarm over a “full-scale defense partnership” between Tehran and Moscow, which invaded Ukraine last February. Tehran in November admitted it had sent drones to Russia, but insisted they were supplied before the […]

Taliban ban university education for Afghan girls

by Jay Deshmukh and Qubad Wali Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Tuesday banned university education for women nationwide, as the hardline Islamists continue to crush their right to education and freedom. Despite promising a softer rule when they seized power last year, the Taliban have ratcheted up restrictions on all aspects of women’s lives, ignoring international outrage. “You all are informed to immediately implement the mentioned order of suspending education […]

‘Listen to me’, says Israeli woman accusing top rabbi of rape

  Jerusalem, Undefined (AFP) by Michael BLUM Through weekly protests outside Israel’s parliament, Nehama Teena has demanded an investigation into a prominent rabbi she accuses of rape and sought to break the code of silence surrounding sexual assault in the Orthodox world. “I’m not asking that they take my word for it, only that they listen to me and stop preventing victims from speaking,” the 38-year-old mother of five told AFP. In August, Teena rattled […]