Ukraine in arabic News
Turkey detains academics over critical petition
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- Turkey detains academics over critical petition
- Runtime
- 1:22
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkish police on Friday (Jan. 15) arrested at least 14 academics over a petition criticising a military crackdown on Kurdish activists.
The text drew more than 1,000 supporters, including U.S. linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky, and urged Ankara to stop what it labeled “a deliberate massacre”.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would have none of it. He slammed the signatories of the petition as “despicable” and accused them of supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey as well as the EU and the United States.
“I strongly condemn those academics who issued a somber declaration, who put their signatures under those massacres, especially in the light of recent developments,” Erdogan said, speaking at the scene of Tuesday’s deadly suicide bombing in Istanbul, which Turkey has blamed on ISIL.
The petition was inspired by escalating violence in southeastern...
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- Syrian negotiator still waiting for Geneva talks invitation
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- 2:37
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The group representing the Syrian opposition is still waiting for an invitation to planned peace talks in Geneva later this month, its chief negotiator told euronews in an interview recorded on Thursday.
Mr Riyadh Hijab of the High Negotiations Commission was in Brussels to meet with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Efforts to broker a political solution to the five-year Syrian conflict resume in Switzerland on January 25th.
But speaking to euronews correspondent Charles Salamé, Hijab said that “the High Negotiations Commission has, at present, not been invited to the talks. We don’t know whether we will be at the negotiations.”
“But Russia and the regime say the talks are about forming a unity government. Russia and the regime refuse to discuss the fate of Bashar al-Assad,” he said, adding the opposition’s aim was to achieve “a real political transition in Syria.”
Representatives from the Unit...
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- IJF brings judo to refugee kids
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The Kilis refugee camp in Turkey is for refugees fleeing the Syrian Civil War.
It hosts some 17,000 Syrian refugees, of which 10,000 are under 15 years old.
It is one of the six “container camps” opened by Turkey, which seeks to offer a higher quality of life than the traditional tent camps.
The international Judo Federation has recently played a crucial role in helping these kids enjoy “a small island of happiness” according to IJF president Marius Vizer.
The IJF’s Judo for Peace project has made available coaches and equipment to implement the programme which ran almost every week throughout 2015.
Such was the success of the project – it has recently won the the prize for creativity by international sports federations.
Currently around 300 children are taking part in the project on the Turkish-Syrian border.
The IJF now plans to extend the initiative within the Kilis refugee camp an...
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- Turkey kills 200 ISIL fighters, says PM Davutoglu
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkey’s prime minister said Turkish tanks and artillery have killed almost 200 fighters from the so-called Islamic State, or ISIL.
Ahmet Davutoglu said the strikes in Syria and Iraq were in retaliation for this week’s suicide bomb attack in Istanbul.
He said they targeted ISIL positions around Bashiqa in northern Iraq. Cross-border strikes into Syria targeted an area around the rebel-held town of Marea.
Davutoglu told Turkish ambassadors gathered in Ankara that ground strikes on ISIL positions are ongoing and if necessary he will involve Turkey’s air force.
Turkish warplanes have not flown over Syrian airspace since Ankara shot down a Russian fighter jet in November, triggering a diplomatic row with Moscow.
A man, believed to have entered Turkey as a Syrian refugee, blew himself up in Istanbul on Tuesday, killing ten German tourists and seriously wounding several other foreigners.
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- Shimon Peres, former Israeli PM, recovering after heart attack
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- 0:50
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Shimon Peres, a former prime minister of Israel, is recovering in hospital after suffering a minor heart attack.
The 92 year old is said to be in a stable condition after successfully undergoing minor surgery for a constricted artery that had caused chest pain.
His aide says he is conscious and talking after the procedure.
He won the Nobel Peace prize in 1983 with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat for his role in setting up the peace deal with the Palestinians.
Peres served three times as prime minister.
He then went on to become the first Prime Minister of Israel to be elected as President, serving from 2007 to 2014.
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- Car bomb attack leaves six dead in Turkey
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- 0:46
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Six people were killed and some 39 injured when a car bomb exploded in front of a local police station in Cinar, in the Diyarbakir region of Turkey.
The detonation of the bomb was followed by a gun attack with rocket launchers, officials say.
Local media says the deaths, which included two police officers and a five-month-old child, occured when the dormitory, on the top floors of the building, collapsed.
No one has claimed responsibility but officials believe it was the work of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ PKK party.
Another police station was attacked with rocket launchers in Midyat town, in the province of Mardin, in what appeared to be a simultaneous assault. There were no reported casualties.
Turkey has been on high alert since Tuesday’s suicide bombing in Sultanahmet Square, Istanbul, which left 10 people dead, mostly German tourists. That attack has been blamed on ISIL militants.
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- New aid convoy due in Syria as peace talks are scheduled for this month
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- 1:00
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- New convoys carrying food and medicine to the besieged Syrian town of Madaya and two others are due to arrive today, January 14. It comes after Monday’s first shipment of humanitarian aid which was delivered following an international outcry against both both regime and rebels who’ve been cutting off towns as a tactic of war.
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- Israel summons Swedish diplomat after ‘delusional’ Palestinian comments
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Israel has summoned the Swedish ambassador after the country’s foreign minister called for a probe into claims by human rights groups. that Israeli forces have carried out extrajudicial killings of Palestinians.
The claims come amid a surge of Palestinian street attacks.
“…that the Israeli response was reportedly disproportionate to the degree that extrajudicial killings could be strongly suspected,” said Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallström. “Human rights groups and international law experts have expressed similar concerns. It is vital that there are thorough, credible investigations into these deaths in order to clarify and bring about possible accountability.”
Israel has rejected the minister’s statement as “delusional.”
The European Union, the US and the United Nations have all expressed concern, saying that while they recognise Israel’s right to self-defence, restraint is necessary to ensure the violence...
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- Footage emerges of suspected Istanbul suicide bomber
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- 1:04
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkish media on Wednesday (Jan 13) released what they say is footage of the man who blew himself up in the center of Istanbul, killing himself and 10 German tourists.
The man in his late twenties is believed to have been a member of ISIL who came from Syria.
Since Tuesday, Turkish police have made more than a dozen arrests of suspected ISIL members or sympathisers. They include three Russians detained in the southern province of Antalya.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed that five of the arrests were directly tied to the attack, which Turkey has blamed on ISIL, also known as Daesh.
“The link between the suicide bomber and Daesh has been confirmed. We will step up our efforts to find and uncover the real players behind this terrorist organization,” Davutoglu said.
The suicide bomber struck Sultanahmet Square, in the historic heart of Istanbul, killing 10 German tourists.
Seventeen people were wound...
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- ‘Three Russians held’ in new Turkish raids after Istanbul bomb
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- 1:17
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkish police have said to have made more than a dozen arrests of suspected ISIL members or sympathisers, in fresh raids around the country following Tuesday’s suicide bombing in Istanbul.
They include three Russians who were detained in the southern province of Antalya.
Another six alleged recruits were held in Izmir on the Aegean – where police reportedly seized guns – while four suspected sympathisers were picked up in central Turkey.
The operation came on top of raids on Tuesday in which around 60 suspected Islamists were arrested. It’s unclear whether there was a link with the Istanbul bombing.
The attack on tourists is seen as a direct challenge to the state.
“The target was Turkey. They did this to damage the Turkish economy. It was a deliberate attack,” said one Istanbul resident.
“Of course this will affect tourism. They come to visit our country and ten people die. Would you like to c...
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- Turkey on high alert following suicide blast in Istanbul
- Runtime
- 2:28
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkey is once again reeling from a terror attack with the country put on hight alert as security forces launched a nationwide investigation into Tuesday’s bomb blast.
At least 10 people died most of them German tourists when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the heart of Istanbul.
Witnesses described scenes of carnage:
“Suddenly there was a huge explosion….it was like an earthquake, the ground shook (:::) We saw dead bodies and the injured lying on the ground. Within a few minutes police came and cordoned off the area. Ambulances arrived. There was an atmosphere of panic.”
The dead and injured were quickly ferried to hospital. At least 15 people were wounded many of them were also German.
One Norwegian tourist, Jostein Nielsen who was caught in the blast applauded medical, relieved to be told he will walk again.
global solidarity
The suicide bomber had targeted tourists in Sultanahmet square,...
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- UN war crimes investigate malnutrition claims in Madaya
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- UN war crimes investigators have begun an inquiry into claims residents of a besieged Syrian town have been starved in violation of international law.
An aid convoy brought the first food and medical relief for three months to the western town of Madaya where 40,000 people are trapped by government forces.
Some UN officials have described seeing several malnourished people, particularly children.
Pawel Krzysiek, International Red Cross spokesperson: “We have also seen in the medical structure, several cases of malnutrition, but also a lot of people who are simply very, very sick because they don’t have appropriate health care, they don’t have medicines, they have to stay in conditions that are not really appropriate for them to be healed.”
The World Health Organisation says it has asked the Syrian government to allow it to send mobile clinics and medical teams to Madaya to assess the extent of malnutrition and evacuate the wor...
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- Turkey to offer work permits to Syrian migrants
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- 1:10
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- At least three migrants died on Monday when their boat capsized in the Aegean sea off the coast of Turkey. It’s understood the vessel was heading for the Greek island of Lesbos.
Turkish coastguards reportedly recovered three bodies including that of a five-year-old boy. Thirteen of the migrants were rescued.
It happened on the day Turkey announced it will step up its efforts to discourage Syrians from illegally crossing into the European Union.
“We have been conducting important works to offer our Syrian guests, in a very short time, work permits to ease the pressure on them to migrate,” said Turkey’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Volkan Bozkir who met with Frans Timmermans Vice-President European Commission on Monday.
“Turkey cannot solve this without the EU. The EU certainly cannot solve this without Turkey. So, let’s work on this shoulder-to-shoulder. I am really encouraged by the meetings I have had today. I think we ar...
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- Syrian opposition casts doubts on peace talks after claims of Russian bombing
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Syria’s opposition co-ordinator Riad Hajab claims three schools in the rebel held town of Injara were bombed by Russian jets killing 35 children. Other reports suggest 12 died in the attack.
Hajib made the allegations after a meeting with French President Francois Hollande. He is set to lead the opposition in peace talks with the government later this month in Geneva
“We want to go to these negotiations, we want to negotiate, we are serious about it but to do that the conditions have to be there. We cannot negotiate with the regime when there are foreign forces bombing the Syrian people,” he told reporters.
Hajib said Moscow was flaunting United Nations Security Council resolutions by bombing civilians and urged the UN to ensure Russia respected its humanitarian obligations.
Moscow has made no immediate comment on the bombing but has denied any targeting of civilians in the conflict.
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- Saudis begin opening oil industry to foreign investors
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- 0:36
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabia will open its oil refining ventures to foreign investors, but not state-owned exploration and production activities, according to sources close to officials.
Managers of the oil giant Saudi Aramco have reportedly been told shares may be in so-called “joint downstream subsidiaries” at home and abroad.
Speculation about a sell-off of Aramco shares has been rife since the move was hinted at by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a recent interview with ‘The Economist’.
Amid prolonged low oil prices Saudi Arabia wants to diversify its economy.
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- Vital aid arrives in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya
- Runtime
- 0:57
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Vital aid has arrived at the besieged Syrian town of Madaya. A convoy with enough basic food to last 40,000 people a month is one of three which left Damascus after an agreement between the warring sides.
The deal to let the trucks into the rebel-held town was dependent on convoys reaching the government controlled towns of Foah and Kefraya.
People have been trapped in the city for six months. The situation has been described as “quite horrific” by an aid agency which told one media outlet more than 250 people were suffering malnutrition. The United Nations said there are credible reports of people dying of starvation.
The 44 lorries had left Damascus on Monday morning carrying basic food items medicines and surgical supplies. Twenty-one lorries were on route for Foah and Kefraya.
The aid arrived as France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called on Syria and Russia to put an end to suffering in the besieged town. Russia denies ...
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- Egyptian parliament meets for the first time in three years
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- 1:21
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The Egyptian parliament met on Sunday for the first time in three years as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seeks approval for up to 300 laws issued by decree while the assembly was suspended.
The country’s two previous executives were dissolved – the first in February 2011 and the second in June 2012.
Then in 2013 former president Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was ousted by the military after mass protests.
All that fallout came from the popular uprising that resulted in the overthrow of former autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
Egypt’s politicians now have a lot of catching up to do.
“Our priority now is to find ways to attract investment and reduce the government deficit, at the same time creating new laws commensurate with the 2014 Constitution,” said MP Talat Khalil Omar.
“Without social justice the country will not witness any development,” said another MP, Khaled Yousef.
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- MSF condemns strike on Yemen hospital, says four people killed
- Runtime
- 0:41
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Aid agency Médécins sans Frontières (MSF) has strongly condemned an attack on a facility it supports in northern Yemen.
A projectile hit the Shiara Hospital, killing at least four people and wounding ten, the agency reports. Three of those injured are said to be MSF staff. Two are believed to be in a critical condition.
The strike occurred in Razeh, in the northern province of Sadaa. Its origin is unclear, although there are reports of planes flying overhead at the time.
According to MSF, this is the third “severe incident” on one of its clinics in three months. It says it has alerted Yemen’s warring factions of its GPS coordinates and has called for its health facilities to be respected.
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- Turkey imposes visa requirements on Syrians arriving by air and sea from third countries
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- 1:17
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- New restrictions on Syrians entering Turkey have come into force.
As part of efforts to stop the flow of migrants to Europe, Ankara has imposed visa requirements on Syrians arriving in Turkey by air and sea from third countries.
It is already reported that some 400 Syrians transiting through Beirut were refused boarding on two flights and had to return to Damascus.
Osman Atalay from the Humanitarian Relief Foundation said: “Sometimes unwanted groups or individuals with bad intentions could enter Turkey from Syria, it does happen.
“The flow of people should be controlled with measures. Turkey is already accepting refugees and migrants who escape from Syria.”
Turkey says its land border will remain open to migrants, a policy in place since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
The EU has promised Ankara three billion euros in aid if it does more to stop the flow of migrants headed for Europe.
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- Title
- Drumming at the celebration of the feast at Khortitsa, Zaporozhye
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- 6:15
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Drumming at the celebration of the feast at Khortitsa, Zaporozhye
- Title
- Belly dancing at the birthday of AURORA shopping mall in Zaporozhye
- Runtime
- 1:39
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Title
- Suspect in New Year’s Day shooting rampage killed by police in Israel
- Runtime
- 0:51
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- A man suspected of carrying out a shooting rampage in Israel on New Year’s Day has been shot and killed by police.
Arab citizen Nashat Melham was accused of killing three people, in an attack in which the motive remains unclear.
Some reports say Melham was shot dead at a mosque in a northern Arab town; other reports say he was killed outside a building he was using as a hideout.
Israeli media report that Melham attempted to escape and pointed a gun at officers.
The police launched a massive manhunt after the shooting rampage, carrying out door to door searches in numerous locations.
It is reported Melham was identified by relatives from the CCTV footage of the Tel Aviv shooting.
By Seamus Kearney
- Title
- Saudi Arabia confirms potential share sale of Aramco
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- 1:31
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- It’s been confirmed Saudi Arabia has been studying options and is considering a share sale of its oil company Saudi Aramco.
If the move went ahead it would make Aramco – already the largest oil producer – the world’s most valuable listed company.
A company statement said options include the listing “of an appropriate percentage of the company’s shares and/or the listing of a bundle of its downstream subsidiaries.”
Aramco has reserves of about 265 billion barrels, over 15 percent of all global oil deposits.
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Economist the move would be part of a privatisation drive to raise money in an era of cheap oil. Salman did not say how large a stake the government might sell.
“What they need is more revenue of some sort, so obviously if they sell a bit of Aramco they’ll get some in and of course you can still improve efficiency of whatever a state-owned company does,...
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- Iran to complain to UN about ‘damage’ to embassy in Yemen
- Runtime
- 0:51
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Iran says it will send a report to the UN claiming its embassy in the Yemeni city of Sanaa was damaged during Saudi-led air strikes.
However a guard at the embassy told China’s CCTV that it was not directly attacked. Local residents and witnesses cited by Reuters news agency said there was no damage to the embassy building.
They said a public square about 700 metres from the embassy had been hit and that some stones and shrapnel had landed in the embassy’s yard.
Riyadh and Tehran’s growing rift
A diplomatic rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran escalated last weekend when Riyadh executed prominent Shi’ite clerice Nimr Bakir al-Nimr.
The two regional rivals were already at odds with each other over the ongoing conflict in Yemen where Saudi-led fighters are battling against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement.
A Saudi coalition spokesman said Iran’s accusation would be investigated.
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- Madaya, a town on the brink of starvation, granted UN food aid by Assad
- Runtime
- 0:56
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The Syrian government has agreed to allow emergency UN aid into three besieged towns – including the rebel held town of Madaya, close to Damascus – where it is reported people are staving to death.
Entry to Madaya and nearby Zabadani is strictly controlled by pro-Assad forces.
The rebel encircled towns of Foah and Kefreya are also due to receive assistance.
The last delivery humanitarian aid arrived in Madaya last October, but has since been a no-go area, despite numerous requests from the UN for access.
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- Stabbed in the back Israeli reporter knifed by boss of a body armour company
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- 0:21
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- An Israeli reporter has been stabbed in the back by the president of a body armour company.
The journalist donned the protection and allowed the manufacturer to demonstrate the product.
- Title
- School for the blind reportedly among sites hit in new airstrikes in Yemen
- Runtime
- 1:09
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- After a lull of several weeks Saudi-led airstrikes have resumed in Yemen, amid fresh concern about the impact on civilians.
The strikes are targeting Houthi forces allied with Iran and recent hits included military positions near the capital.
But civilian infrastructure, including a school for the blind, have reportedly been hit.
One resident told reporters: “They target our homes, our children, our cars, our cattle, with powerful explosions.”
It is reported the strikes also hit the headquarters of Yemen’s Chamber of Commerce.
There are no reports of casualties.
Residents have taken to the streets to protest against the strike on the school for the blind, with students among those demonstrating.
An estimated 6,000 people have been killed since the Saudi-led airstrikes began last March, almost half of them civilians.
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- Turkish cleric and 68 others on trial for accusing Erdogan’s son of corruption
- Runtime
- 1:17
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The trial of a US based Muslim cleric has opened in Istanbul.
Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is one of 69 accused of attempting to overthrow the government.
Also in the dock are dozens of former police officers and members of the judiciary who launched corruption allegations against the president’s inner circle including his son Bilal.
Supporters of Gulen claim the charges are trumped up.
Nurullah Albayrak is the lawyer for Fethullah Gulen:
“The only concrete evidence presented in court regarding the charges is the investigation files into a corruption case of December 2013. There is nothing regarding force or violence. The weapons presented to prove the formation of a terrorist group belonged to the police.’‘
Fethullah Gulen, who still wields influence in Turkey, was not present in court because Washington refused an extradition request from Ankara.
Euronews ...
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- Snow in Syria and Lebanon causes new hardship for refugees
- Runtime
- 1:10
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Parts of Syria have been hit by strong winter snowstorms, forcing thousands of people already desperately seeking shelter from civil war to take refuge from the elements.
Pictures taken from social media, said to be from Idlib in the north of the country, show snow-covered rooftops and people out in the streets in a blizzard.
The harsh conditions come at a time when according to Kurdish reports, several villages are under siege, causing acute shortages of food and medicine.
Another video appears to show the al-Yamiyyeh refugee camp at Latakia under snow.
One man said he was displaced from the so-called Mountain of Kurds, which has been bombarded by Syrian government and Russian forces.
“It took us a couple of days until we made ourselves safe. Now it’s minus 10 degrees here, it’s cold and there’s snow,” he said.
“We have been here for four years. The local councils are lacking resources, the relie...
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- Saudi diplomats return from Tehran
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabian diplomats who had been based in Tehran have returned home to Riyadh’s with stories of mistreatment at the hands of Iranian officials.
Their arrival follows their government’s decision to cut ties with Saudi’s main political and religious rival in the region following an attack on its embassy.
Leading embassy diplomat Mohammed al Otaibi told journalists at King Khalid International airport:
“We witnessed a complete destruction, they messed up the contents of the embassy (in Tehran), then there were three days of horror which we were forced to live through until we arrived here at the airport thank God.” He went on to claim his staff had been forcibly searched.
An Iranian mob stormed the Saudi embassy, setting it alight on Saturday, following Riyadh’s execution of the outspoken Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Despite the breach in relations Saudi Arabia says it will not affect talks on Syria, anot...
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- Saudi Arabia ‘in the midst of implosion’
- Runtime
- 2:59
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The regional religious and ethnic clashes in and around the Arabian peninsula risk tearing it apart.
The Saudi execution of dissident Shia cleric Nimr Baqr al-Nimr drew a warning from senior Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami that Saudi ultraconservative Wahhabi rule is doomed.
Analyst Theodore Karasik told our correspondent Rita del Prete in Dubai this could lead to the end of an era.
Karasik, the Director of Research and Development at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), said: “There are warnings and indicators that Saudi Arabia is in the midst of an implosion, not only politically, with infighting among senior princes, but also in the economic field. We are seeing in the Saudi economy the inability for the state to provide for everyone. Money is fleeing Saudi Arabia because of the unstable situation there.”
Russia, a tactical ally of Iran, has offered to mediate in the conflict between Riyadh and Tehran. ...
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- Latest migrant tragedy leaves 27 dead off Turkish coast
- Runtime
- 1:17
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkish locals taking to the Aegean beaches on Tuesday were shocked to find another grim harvest from the refugee crisis; at least 27 bodies from a rubber dinghy that had deflated on the rocks.
Bodies were discovered on at least two beaches opposite the Greek island of Lesbos, towards which the unfortunate migrants had been heading.
They may be the first migrant fatalities at sea this year. It is unlikely they will be the last if the Syrian tragedy continues; in 2015 nearly 4000 people died trying to reach Europe.
The dead included women, children, and babies, more of whom appear now to be making the journey, an indication of the worsening crisis back home.
The strongest made it safely to shore from the rocks, but all the survivors needed hospital treatment for exposure or hypothermia.
“We came an hour ago. We heard a boat sank and hit the rocks. I surmise these people died when they were trying to swim to the shore. We...
- Title
- Saudi-Iran row deepens as calls for restraint grow
- Runtime
- 1:23
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the Sunni kingdom’s execution of a Shia cleric widened as Riyadh halted trade and travel ties on top of cutting diplomatic links on Monday.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir has blamed Iranian aggression for rising tensions saying things would only improve when Tehran acted like a normal country.
“We will also be cutting off all air traffic to and from Iran. We will be cutting off all commercial relations with Iran and we will have a travel ban against people travelling to Iran.”
Fears that the sectarian divide between the two Middle East powers might exacerbate other regional conflicts grew when Shia-ruled Iran’s Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri accused Riyadh of “assisting terrorists in Iraq and Syria”.
“I advise the Saudis to give up these acts of sabotage and illogical, hasty and emotional measures which are the result of mismanagement because they will be the one who wil...
- Title
- Saudis struggle with supremacy crisis
- Runtime
- 3:18
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Laurence Alexandrowicz, euronews: “Gilles Kepel, as you’re an expert on Islam and the Arab world, please give us your insight on the crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran.”
Gilles Kepel, author of ‘Terreur dans l’Hexagone, genèse du jihad français’: “Well, 47 executions in Saoudi Arabia is a lot; 43 of those executed were Sunni radical opponents linked either to al Qaeda or to ISIL, Daesh, which of course because of their tribal links are far more dangerous for Saudi power than the Shiite minority is. To help make the execution of all those Sunni radicals more acceptable, somewhat to smooth things over, the Saudi government made sure that only a few Shiites were executed. There’s the impression that Saudi Arabia is sort of caught between a rock and a hard place. There is the situation inside the country and the obligation to fight Sunni Islamist extremism, which some Saudi businessmen have financed, the same who financed al Qaeda and Daesh and who are turn...
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- Shia Muslims and world leaders condemn Saudi executions
- Runtime
- 1:34
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Shia Muslims around the world are furious with Saudi Arabia over the execution
of one of their leading clerics, and acts of violence against Sunnis are the result in several places.
In Kashmir Indian police had to break up a demonstration, and in Iraq a Shia mosque in Hilla was ransacked by an angry crowd.
World leaders are calling for calm, and in Europe the fear is this could further set back attempts to find peace in Syria.
“We want to see stability in the Middle East. We want to see good relations between the different countries of the Middle East, not least because that will be absolutely essential for solving the crisis that we have in Syria which is the source of so many of these problems,” said Britain’s David Cameron.
Britain belatedly condemned the Saudi executions, not before various other leaders had warned Riyad that its actions were unwise and should not be tolerated, especially as Saudi Arabia currently hea...
- Title
- Saudi-Iranian rift escalates over executed cleric
- Runtime
- 1:31
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Two days after Sunni Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi’ite cleric, thousands have marched in Baghdad and Iraq’s southern Shi’ite cities to condemn the move.
Riyadh however is not backing down.
Instead it is stepping up sanctions against regional rival Iran after protesters there stormed the Saudi embassy.
One demonstrator in Baghdad described the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as a “decapitation” of human rights and values.
“The youths protesting in Iraq and around the world are demonstrating against human rights abuse, no more, no less,” he said.
Shi’ite Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of using the attack on its embassy as an “excuse” to sever diplomatic relations and further increase sectarian tensions in the region.
But as the situation escalates, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that air traffic and commercial relations between the two countries would also be halted and t...
- Title
- Saudi Arabia breaks off diplomatic ties with Iran
- Runtime
- 1:18
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabia has cut off diplomatic ties with Iran following the storming of its embassy in Tehran. Iran’s envoy has been given 48 hours to quit the Saudi kingdom.
The escalating row between the rival Middle East powers over Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Muslim Shia cleric has caused alarm in the US and triggered a jump in the price of oil.
On Sunday Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir personified Riyadh’s hardening stance:
“We are determined not to allow Iran to undermine our security, we are determined not to let Iran mobilise or create or establish terrorist cells in our country or in the countries of our allies.”
It’s feared the diplomatic rupture between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shia-ruled Iran may snowball across the Middle East where the two powers back opposing sides in many destructive wars. Others are already positioning themselves along sectarian lines in support either Tehran or Riyadh.
Iraq,...
- Title
- Victims of Friday’s deadly shooting in Tel Aviv are buried
- Runtime
- 0:21
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The funerals of two of the victims in Friday’s deadly attack on a Tel Aviv bar have taken place in Israel.
Alon Bakal, 26, and Shimon Ruimi, 29 were buried on Sunday.
Police are still searching for the alleged shooter who they’ve named as 29-year-old Nashat Melhem, an Israeli Arab, described as mentally unstable.
Road blocks have been set up to stop the suspect escaping to the West Bank.
Security camera footage released shows the assailant browsing in a shop next to the bar pulling a machine pistol from his backpack and shooting wildly.
Israel has seen a wave of Palestinian street attacks since October, fueled in part by Muslim anger over stepped-up Jewish visits to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque complex, which is also sacred to Jews.
- Title
- Iranians protest against Saudi execution of Shi’ite cleric al-Nimr
- Runtime
- 1:28
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Hundreds of Shi’ite Muslims protested in Tehran on Sunday against Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
Demonstrators chanted “death to Al-Saud” royal family as well as the US and Israel that they say support the kingdom.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei condemned Saudi Arabia for the second day on Sunday. He said the cleric’s blood “will catch up with them without any doubt.”
The two regional rivals were already at odds with each other over an ongoing conflict in Yemen where Saudi-led fighters are battling against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement.
Al-Nimr was an outspoken and long-standing critic of what he described as the Saudi government’s discriminatory policies against the Shi-ite minority.
He was executed on Saturday along with three other Shi’ites and dozens of Sunni jihadists.
- Title
- West Bank: two charged over Dawabsha family arson attack
- Runtime
- 1:19
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Two people have been charged in connection with an arson attack in the West Bank last year that killed three members of a Palestinian family.
- Title
- Shi’ite fury after Saudi mass execution
- Runtime
- 1:23
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabia’s mass execution of 47 men on terrorism charges has unleashed anger at home and beyond.
Prominent Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr was amongst those executed on Saturday.
The Saudi embassy in the capital of mainly Shi’ite Iran was stormed by protesters, who ransacked the offices and started fires in the building.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei condemned Saudi Arabia for the second day on Sunday (January 3) saying politicians in the Sunni kingdom would face divine retribution for the cleric’s death.
The two regional rivals were already at odds with each other over an ongoing conflict in Yemen where Saudi-led fighters are battling against the Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement.
Crowds of Shi’ite Muslims marched through Saudi Arabia’s majority Shi’ite Qatif district to protest against the cleric’s execution.
Al-Nimr was convicted after a political and grossly unfair trial, ...
- Title
- Saudi Arabia’s execution of Shi’ite cleric unleashes anger at home and beyond
- Runtime
- 1:18
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr has unleashed anger at home and beyond.
Dozens took to the streets of Al-Qatif in the east of the Kingdom.
Al-Nimr – who rallied protests against Saudi Arabia’s Sunni-led government – was executed along with three other Shi’ites and dozens of al-Qaeda members.
In Bahrain, people marched in support of the cleric.Police fired tear gas at several dozen protesters during one demonstration.
Anger also flared in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir, where hundreds of Shi’ite Muslims took to the streets.
On Twitter, Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei added his voice to the chorus of condemnation.
- Title
- Tel Aviv: name released of bar shooting suspect
- Runtime
- 1:03
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Police in Israel are still hunting an Israeli Arab identified as the suspect in Friday’s deadly shooting attack on a Tel Aviv bar.
29-year-old Nashat Melhem, who was known to the police, is still at large. He is from a village in northern Israel.
- Title
- Syrian army turns its attention to the south in major offensive
- Runtime
- 0:54
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Backed by Russian air support the Syrian army has launched its first offensive in the south of the country since September, when Russia entered the war to support President Bashar al-Assad.
It is focusing on one of the cradles of the Syrian uprising, Deraa, and the nearby mainly rebel-held Sheikh Miskeen.
The army says it will recapture the latter, a key town in Damascus’s southern defensive line. The south is the heartland of the original, mainstream anti-Assad opposition, but it has lost territory to both ISIL and the al-Qaeda al-Nusra front.
Fighting for Sheikh Miskeen, on a vital supply route and lost to rebel forces earlier this year, is reportedly fierce. Two loud explosions attributed to car bombs rocked the centre on Wednesday as automatic fire was exchanged in the streets.
- Title
- Syrian soldiers fight their way into strategic southern rebel-held town
- Runtime
- 1:13
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- For President Assad’s soldiers, Russian air power has made all the difference.
Syria’s military say its troops have fought their way into the strategic southern town of Sheikh Miskeen in Deraa province, making key gains from rebels.
The Assad regime said its troops were in the main square and had taken over the eastern and northern neighbourhoods of the town which lies on a major supply route from Deraa to the capital, Damascus.
A rebel source confirmed Syrian soldiers had entered parts of the town and said fierce clashes were raging.
Insurgents in Sheikh Miskeen have not only been attacked on the ground but also, they say, from the skies in what the rebels are calling the heaviest Russian aerial bombing campaign so far in the south.
Russia, which did not confirm the strikes, and has up to now concentrated on the northwest and coastal areas, says it is primarily targeting hardline ISIL fighters.
Washingto...
- Title
- US and Russia get differing results in the air over Syria
- Runtime
- 1:11
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The US is claiming its airstrikes in Syria and Iraq have killed 10 mid-level ISIL leaders in the past month, notably a French national implicated in the Paris attacks.
He has been named as Charaffe al-Mouadan, and was allegedly killed on Christmas Eve.
Also named was, according to the US, a UK-educated leading ISIL hacker, Siful Haque Sujan from Bangladesh.
With the Iraqi army now being more effective on the ground in Iraq, retaking Ramadi on Monday, ISIL is being squeezed from all directions.
“I think it’s really important to keep in mind that we still have a fight ahead of us. Mosul is different than Ramadi, it’s a big, big, big city and it’s going to take a lot of effort, it’s going to take more training, it’s going to take more equipment and it’s going to take patience,” said Col. Steve Warren, US army.
Social media sites have received pictures allegedly from Aleppo, Damascus and Homs showing Syrian or...
- Title
- Turkey’s Erdogan slams pro-Kurdish Demirtas for “provocation and treason”
- Runtime
- 1:15
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused one of the co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish HDP Party of “provocation and treason.” Selahattin Demirtas has called for autonomous regions for Kurds in the east and south-east of the country. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into his comments.
The PKK Kurdistan Workers’ Party — deemed a terrorist organisation in Turkey, the EU and the US — is also calling for self-rule. Erdogan announced the boosting of operations against the party, which has branches in neighbouring Syria.
“The latest developments in Syria are feeding the appetite of the terrorist organisation PKK against our national unity,” he said.
Erdogan said Ankara would not allow terrorism to prevail, adding that more than 3,000 terrorists had been “eliminated both in and out” of Turkey’s borders.
He urged against backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, highlighting the frosty relations bet...
- Title
- Israel: former PM Ehud Olmert to serve prison time for corruption
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Israel’s Supreme Court has partly overturned the bribery conviction of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, reducing his jail sentence from six years to 18 months.
Olmert is one of eight former officials and businessmen originally convicted in March 2014 in the so-called Holyland corruption case.
The charges relate to a big property deal in Jerusalem’s Holyland residential development, which took place during Olmert’s 1992-2003 term as mayor of the city.
He is accused of accepting bribes in exchange for helping win municipal approval for the site.
Officials have described the case as the largest in Israel’s history.
The 70-year-old was allowed to stay out of prison during his appeal, but is now set to begin serving his term on February 15, 2016.
Speaking as he left court, he insisted:
“I said in the past that I never was offered or received bribes.”
Olmert, who was premier from 2...
- Title
- Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has bribery conviction partly overturned
- Runtime
- 0:31
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Israel’s Supreme Court has partly overturned the bribery conviction of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, reducing his jail sentence from six years to 18 months.
Olmert, who was premier from 2006 to 2009, will be Israel’s first former head of government to be sent to prison.
He is set to begin serving his term on February 15.
The charges relate to a big property deal in Jerusalem during Olmert’s 1992-2003 term as mayor of the city.
- Title
- Turkish exporters face bleak 2016 as Russian sanctions approach
- Runtime
- 1:30
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- With Russian sanctions against Turkey coming into force now just days away on January 1
in the bazaar the cost of a dispute with Moscow has been counted up, and it is a cost Turkey can ill afford.
On a trip to Belgrade Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was keen to find alternative markets for Turkish products, but also appeared keen to begin the long road back to normal relations with the Russians. For the moment Russia is refusing to talk until, at the very least, apologies are offered for its dead pilot.
“We had good relations with Russia until this event, and until Russia intervened in Syria. Relations were improved during AKP’s term in power. We can only hope that good relations will be established again,” he said.
Moscow has attacked the current Turkish government as being “accomplices of terrorists”, helping ISIL and profiting from its oil trading. And it is just getting started with sanctions.
“We believe there i...
