Red Cross seeks greater access to Syria
The head of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross called on all sides of the Syrian conflict to help his organization access more of the war-ravaged country with […]
The Russian Fleet in the Mediterranean: Exercise or Military Operation?
INSS Insight No. 399, January 29, 2013 (Institute of National Security Studies, Tel Aviv, Israel) Magen, Zvi A joint Russian naval exercise in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea, […]
Russia may fast-track citizenship for imperial descendants
RIA Novosti / Alexey Kudenko The Russian State Duma has suggested simplifying the granting of Russian citizenship to direct descendants of nationals of the Russian Empire who now live abroad. […]
Syria swings between hell and dialogue
Admittedly, it is not hard to imagine how someone can predict a vision of hell in a country like Syria which has become a hornet’s nest of terrorism and that which is tumbling into further chaos and bloodshed. Lakhdar Brahimi, who represents the United Nations and the Arab League, has […]
Israeli air strike on convoy on Syria – Lebanon border
Israeli jets have attacked a convoy on the Syria-Lebanon border, unnamed security sources in the region have told news agencies. The attack came as Israel voiced fears that Syrian missiles and chemical weapons could fall into the hands of militants such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah. It is not clear what the […]
Syria crisis: opposition leader offers talks with Assad regime – Wednesday 30 January 2013
• Moaz al-Khatib says he is prepared to negotiate • UN exceeds record $1.5bn fundraising drive for Syria • Brahimi urges security council to help stop the destruction • Israeli warplane strike target on Syria-Lebanon border Syria • UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has appealed to all combatants in Syria’s civil […]
Syria’s Bashar al-Assad says his wife is pregnant
Posted by Max Fisher WASHINGTON POST Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime is embroiled in a now two-year civil war that has killed tens of thousands, gave a cheery interview […]
Iran commends Jordan’s position on Syria
AMMAN — JORDAN TIMES. Iran on Sunday praised Jordan’s position regarding the Syrian crisis as rational and logical. Speaking at a press conference at the Iranian embassy in Amman, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian commended the Kingdom’s calls for a political and peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis, noting […]
Syria calls on refugees to return home
Syria has called on those of its citizens who have left the country due to the unrest that began nearly two years ago to return home. The Syrian Interior Ministry […]
Abbas asks Israel to let in Palestinians fleeing Syria
Reuters | Jan 26, 2013 | 22:09 Updated: Jan 26, 2013 | JORDAN TIMES RAMALLAH — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tried to get Israel to let 150,000 Palestinians fleeing war in Syria resettle in the West Bank, but dropped the request after Israel demanded they first give up their right […]
UK announces 21 million pounds in new humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees
by Hana Namrouqa JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — The United Kingdom will provide £21 million in humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan and the region, British International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced on Saturday. The aid includes winter clothing, food and medicines for Syrian refugees, Greening told reporters at a […]
Sanctions hit humanitarian aid to Syria (or: if you starve a dog, so that he becomes more aggressive, you will be fined. Do the same to humans and it is ‘civilized’).
DAMASCUS, 25 January 2013 (IRIN) – Humanitarian and developmental aid agencies in Syria say international sanctions against the country have made their operations harder. Last August, Italian NGO Terres des […]
Kerry’s words on Assad certain to draw scrutiny
Story Summary ARABNEWS Jan. 11, 2013 Sen. John Kerry has held up Syria as a country that could bring peace and stability to the Mideast and predicted that the now-disgraced […]
Kerry tackles questions on Iran and Syria
Story Summary President Barack Obama’s nominee for secretary of state testified at his confirmation hearing that the United States must get its fiscal house in order to lead in the […]
Syrians struggle with shortages as economy buckles
by Bassem Mroue, Daily Star, Lebanon Story Summary Already grappling with severe fuel shortages and winter temperatures that drop below freezing, Syrians now must spend hours in line every day for gasoline or a few loaves of bread at soaring prices as President Bashar Assad’s regime faces mounting difficulties in […]
Russian ships to pick up munitions and head to Syria
STORY SUMMARY by Thomas Grove The Daily Star, Lebanon Two Russian ships heading for a naval exercise off Syria this month are picking up munitions to drop at the Syrian port of Tartous, news agencies reported on Thursday. A Russian General Staff source told the Itar-Tass news agency that the […]
Swiss ask for Syrian war crimes prosecution
by Rita Emch in New York, swissinfo.ch and agencies Jan 15, 2013 – 11:06 More than 50 countries led by Switzerland have called on the United Nations Security Council to refer the Syria crisis to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which prosecutes genocide and war crimes. “We are firmly of […]
The Age of the Siege: Nazi Military Tactics Revisited (in Syria)
Disengage, avoid, and withhold support from whatever abuses, degrades and humiliates humanity.” (Alice Walker, b:1944.). “[former Danish PM and Secretary General of NATO] Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Du har blod på […]
OIC seeks urgent relief for Syrian refugees
ARAB NEWS Friday 11 January 2013 JEDDAH: Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) launched an appeal to member states and to their various nongovernmental organizations active […]
For a change: snow ball fight outside Al Aqsa Mosque
Agencies ARABNEWS Friday 11 January 2013 BEIRUT: The worst storms in a decade left swathes of Jordan and Israel under a blanket of snow and parts of Lebanon blacked out […]