Ukraine in arabic News
Syrian scholar Khaled al-Asaad beheaded by ISIL militants
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- Syrian scholar Khaled al-Asaad beheaded by ISIL militants
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- 0:56
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- A leading Syrian antiquities scholar has been beheaded by ISIL fighters, according to his relatives. His body was reportedly hung from a pole in the historic town of Palmyra, but several activists denied that was the case.
The killing of 82-year-old Khaled al-Asaad is the latest atrocity from the militant group that has captured one third of both Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
“I begged him two months ago to leave the town and come to Damascus with his family but he refused,” explained Maa’moun Abdul Karim, Director of the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums. “He believed in his fate. He said ‘I was born in Palmyra and I will stay in Palmyra and I will not leave, even if it costs me my blood’.”
In May, Syrian state television reported at least 400 people — mostly women and children — were killed by ISIL fighters in Palmyra.
A month later the group blew up ancient shrines in the city which it regarded ...
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- Israeli court suspends Palestinian hunger striker’s detention
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- 0:42
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Israel’s Supreme Court has suspended the detention of a Palestinian hunger striker who has sustained brain damage after 65 days without food.
The court said that in his current condition he posed no threat.
The detention since November 2014 without trial of 31—year-old Mohammed Allan who is an alleged member of the militant group Islamic Jihad has caused much anger in the Palestinian territories.
Yesterday activists in Paris showed their support of Allan and some 370 other Palestinian detainees held under what Israel calls administrative detention which allows for the holding of suspects indefinitely.
Israel accuses them of terrorism.
The government has seen Allan’s hunger strike as a powerful challenge against so-called “ administrative detention” which Israel sees as necessary for its security.
In court a government lawyer said Israel was prepared to free Allan immediately if a scan carried out wh...
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- Turkish soldiers killed in an attack in Siirt province
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Eight Turkish soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack on their vehicle in the southeastern province of Siirt. Seven more soldiers were wounded.
No one has claimed responsibility, but the army has blamed Kurdish Workers Party militants for the attack.
It marks another deadly assault in a surge in violence after a two-year long ceasefire unraveled last month.
The sense of instability was heightened after gunmen fired at Turkish police outside a palace in Istanbul.
According to the governor’s office two members of a ‘terrorist group’ armed with hand grenades and an automatic rifle were caught after the attack.
In the last 44 days 55 security personel have been killed in Turkey.
The unrest comes weeks after it declared a ‘war on terror’, opening up its airbases to the US-led coaltion against ISIL militants as well as arresting more than 2,000 suspected members of radical Kurdish and Islamist groups.
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- Turkey heading towards new elections after coalition talks fail
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- 1:11
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Early elections for Turkey as President Erodgan favours forming an interim government of his own before the vote: Reportedly speaking to an academic audience, it appears to be his response to the AK party’s failure to find a coalition partner.
“Unfortunately, Turkey has not formed a new government yet. In this regard, we again need ask the will of the people to find the solution, (referring to elections). I am conducting this process according to the constitution and I will continue to do so,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan will consult with the parliamentary speaker, as the outgoing prime minister of the party Erdogan founded has failed to find anyone he can agree with.
Neither the CHP nor the MHP can bring themselves to work with the present government. Erodgan sees the autumn as the earliest possible date for a snap poll.
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- ISIL release video of ancient Palmyra 'still intact'
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Islamic State militants have executed an antiquities expert in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.
Khaled Assad was taken hostage by the group shortly after they captured the UNESCO World Heritage city in May.
Syria’s director of antiquities Maamoun Abdulkarim said Mr Assad’s family had informed him that the 82-year-old scholar had been publicly executed and his body hung in the main square on Tuesday.
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- Turkey PM Davutoglu abandons coalition talks
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- 0:31
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Following a series of failed coalition talks, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has handed back the mandate to form a government to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The president assigned him the task of finding a junior coalition partner when Davutoglu’s conservative AK Party lost its overall majority in parliamentary elections on June 7, 2015.
If no government is formed by Sunday, fresh elections are likely to be held in the autumn of 2015.
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- Turkey faces snap election as PM Davutoglu abandons coalition effort
- Runtime
- 1:31
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- People in Turkey are facing more political uncertainty. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could now hand the mandate for forming a coalition to the second largest party, the secular CHP.
Alternatively an interim power-sharing government could be formed ahead of snap elections.
“There will be early elections and it is no good,” said one man in Istanbul. “They will try (for a different outcome) but it will be the same. They will work for it (change) but it won’t happen.”
“The economy is no good. Prices are going up. While trying to fix things, everything is upside down. I think the results will be the same. The people are the same with the same mentality. It won’t change,” a woman added.
The instability has sent the Turkish currency plumetting to a series of record lows. The turmoil comes as Turkey battles against ISIL in Syria and Kurdish militants at home.
The AK party lost its parliamentary majority in June...
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- Arab League fails to back airstrikes against IS in Libya
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- 1:22
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The Arab League says an “urgent” Arab strategy is needed to support Libya’s government militarily against the Islamic State group.
But the organisation, meeting in Cairo, stopped short of endorsing air strikes against the jihadists.
That is what the internationally recognised Libyan government based in the country’s east had asked for on Sunday
The militant group seized the town of Sirte in June; scores of people have been killed in clashes between the self-proclaimed Islamic State and local militias there.
“Arab countries need the help of the Great Powers, which must provide immediate assistance in this case,” said Abed Alsalam Ismael, an expert on Libyan politics, in an interview with euronews in Cairo.
“But I can also say that the Arab countries are currently engaged and busy in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, I think that the Libyan requests came in the wrong place and time”
Libya plunged into chao...
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- Syria shelters antiques from potential ISIL destruction
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- 1:04
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Thousands of priceless antiquities in Syria are being gathered and stored in Damascus to protect them from the Islamic State militant group and other potential war damage.
The country is home to six UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Some monuments and shrines have been destroyed along with their treasures; other relics have been sold on the black market.
But the authorities say 99 percent of Syrian antiquities are now in safe hands.
“We are talking about a heritage that has been salvaged from criminal hands that aim to plunder the antiquities to sell them in the black market through the global mafia, and from the destruction that could befall them by the hands of Daesh (ISIL),” said Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of Syrian Antiquities and Museums.
In February the UN Security Council banned all trade in antiquities from Syria.
In Damascus artefacts are being archived, photographed and packaged.
Museum au...
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- UN backs latest Syria peace initiative but the killing goes on
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The UN Security Council has backed a new peace talks proposal aimed at bringing an end to the Syria conflict. The waring parties are to be invited to take part in working groups on how to implement the 2012 road map to peace which calls for the formation of a transitional government.
The suggestion of ‘working groups’ was made as the participants appear unready to hold formal peace talks.
The diplomatic initiative comes against an increase in Syrian airstrikes which have been strongly condemned by the UN for their civilian casualties.
“I am absolutely horrified by the total disregard for civilian life by all parties in this conflict. Attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop,” said UN Humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien speaking in Damascus.
On Monday Syrian military bombarded an area northeast of Damascus keeping up its attack on a rebel-held district where around 100 people were killed on Sunday in an airstrike...
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- Critics round on Egypt’s ‘repressive’ new anti-terror law
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- 1:27
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Critics of Egypt’s new anti-terrorism law, fear it will be used to crush dissent and stifle press freedom.
The addition to the law books, introduced by decree by President al-Sisi, is intended to counter a two-year Islamist insurgency.
The law imposes the death penalty for anyone founding a group deemed by the government to be a “terrorist entity”.
Financing “terrorist groups” brings a life sentence, which in Egypt means 25 years. Inciting violence will lead to 5-7 years in jail.
The new law also creates fast-track courts to try suspected militants, without specifying whether trials will be open or closed to the public.
It also protects law enforcers such as the military and the police from legal consequences if they use force.
Among other measures, journalists face large fines if they contradict official versions of terrorist attacks.
The original version prompted an outcry after stipu...
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- Failed agreements mean Turkey’s political future hangs in the balance
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkey’s political future is in limbo after talks between the ruling AK Party and the nationalist MHP broke down.
Snap elections could be on the horizon if an agreement is not reached by August 23.
Leader of the AKP, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the MHP’s Devlet Bahçeli “outlined some possible scenarios, but Bahçeli said “a coalition does not seem possible, a temporary coalition with the AKP until early elections does not seem possible and the MHP will not accept a minority government as he mentioned before… And they will never support early elections.”
The meeting followed failed earlier discussions with the CHP Republican People’s Party failed. Its leader has since announced it expects President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to give the task of forming a new government to his party.
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- Fears for press freedom as Egypt’s al-Sisi hardens anti-terror laws
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- 0:54
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Egypt has strengthened its already formidable anti-terrorism arsenal with a new law to counter an Islamist insurgency.
It has prompted fears that the authorities will use the measure to crush dissent and stifle press freedom.
Journalists face large fines if they contradict official versions of terrorist attacks.
Suspected militants will be tried in special fast-track courts.
The military and the police who use force will be protected from any legal consequences.
The measure brought in by presidential decree was sped up after the state prosecutor Hisham Barakat was assassinated by a car bomb in late June.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi attended his funeral.
The murder was followed by a large-scale militant attack in the Sinai peninsula days later.
The law has raised fears that more journalists could be put on trial for their reporting.
A verdict in the retrial of three al...
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- Egyptians swelter in deadly heatwave
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- 0:21
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The demand for ice has reached a record high in Egypt where a scorching heatwave over the past week has killed at least 93 people.
Most of the victims have been elderly. Hundreds have been admitted to hospital for heat exhaustion.
With temperatures soaring to 46 degrees Celsius and forecasts of more to come, warnings have been issued calling on people to stay out of the sun.
The Mideast has been hit by a heatwave since last July.
Egyptian summers are usually hot, but meteorologists say the current temperatures are exceptional.
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- At least 80 reported dead in Syrian-government airstrikes near Damascus
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- 0:53
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Reports suggest Syrian government airstrikes northeast of the capital have killed at least 80 people.
Images taken from social media purport to show the aftermath of an attack on a market in Douma, some 15 kilometres from Damascus.
Rescue workers said at least 200 people were wounded in the assault.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said warplanes fired around ten rockets and bombed again after rescue workers had arrived on the scene.
A source in the Syrian military claimed airstrikes in Douma and neighbouring Harasta targeted the headquarters of the Islam Army rebel group.
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- Palestinian vigilantes patrol West Bank villages to deter attacks by Jewish settlers
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- 1:15
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Fears of attacks by far-right Jewish extremists have prompted Palestinians living in the West Bank to organise volunteer night patrols in a number of villages.
Tensions have been heightened since the deaths of an 18-month -old toddler and his father in an arson attack on their home in the West Bank at the end of July.
Extremist Jewish militants are suspected of having been behind the attack.
A Reuters news crew accompanied one of the patrols in the village of Qusra. A member of the team explained the idea to the reporters.
“When we see the Jewish settlers trying to enter the village we call the head of the village council or the members, or whoever is available. Or we call the Imam of the mosque to ask him to call on all our people to come to the scene.”
“The number of members in a team might be 7, 17 or 40”, explained the head of Qusra village council, Abed al-Atheim Adi. “It depends on who is available to defe...
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- Turkey: Erdogan promises ‘no terrorists will be left’
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- 1:17
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Relatives have gathered to mourn a soldier killed when militants attacked a military base in Sirnak on Monday.
The sorrowful scene is being repeated elsewhere. The victim was one of at least nine people who died on Monday in a wave of attacks on the security forces.
Fighting talk
Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his government will not rest until the terrorist threat is eradicated:
“Preventing guns being fired is not enough,” the Turkish President said in a speech. “Weapons should be put down and buried. I insist on this. Our fight will continue until not one terrorist is left within our borders and their weapons have been covered with concrete.”
The US Consulate in Istanbul opened its doors to the public a day after a gunfight between police and militants.
The Kurdish PKK has said it was behind the separate bombing of a police station nearby in which four people died.
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- Civilians caught up in Yemen conflict
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- 1:00
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The conflict in Yemen is having a devastating impact on civilians. That was the message the UN hoped to highlight as aid chief Stephen O’Brien visited Amran, just 40 kilometres north of Sana’a.
With a reported 80 percent of the population in need of life-saving assistance, the organisation is calling for the international community to scale up its response to the growing humanitarian crisis.
Sieges of the main cities have prevented food supplies from reaching the civilian population. Fuel shortages have led to scarce water supplies as the pumps require power to work properly.
“We can see from the devastation to the Governor’s offices and the municipal buildings behind just what effects the conflict is having upon the infrastructure as well as the people here in this particular community,” explained O’Brien.
His were echoed by the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, visiting Aden he said that the humanitar...
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- Final hearing for US reporter held in Iran
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- 2:30
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
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- Turkey struck by series of attacks
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- 3:06
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
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- Yemen ‘crumbling’ under humanitarian crisis: ICRC chief
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- 1:12
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Yemen is “crumbling” under a deepening humanitarian crisis after months of civil war, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday.
Peter Maurer, the head of the Geneva-based humanitarian organisation, also called for all parties to negotiate a peace deal at the end of a three-day visit to the country on Tuesday.
“The humanitarian situation is nothing short of catastrophic,” he said.
“Medicines can’t get in so patient care is falling apart. Fuel shortages mean equipment doesn’t work. This cannot go on. Yemen is crumbling. As a matter of urgency, there must be free movement of goods into and across the country.”
Fighting between Iran-allied Houthi forces and pro-government militias has raged since March when the Houthis advanced towards the port of Aden.
Iran denies that is supplying the Shiite Houthis with military aid.
A Saudi-led coalition has been carrying out ai...
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- Turkey suffers most violent day in recent times after wave of attacks
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- 1:06
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Senior members of the Turkish government including President Erdogan attended the funeral service of a officer killed in an attack on a police station in Istanbul on Monday.
He was one of eight victims of a wave of attacks across the country on the same day.
Turkey is on a state of heightened alert after Ankara started a crackdown on ISIL militants, Kurdish separatists and left-wing insurgent groups.
The officer died in Istanbul during an assault on the Fatih police station in the Sultanbeyi district. Two assailants were also killed but it’s not known what group they were from.
Also in Istanbul two armed female militants opened fire on the US Consulate. Police returned fire and one of the attackers was detained after being injured.
The far-left Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army Front said they were behind the attack.
Elsewhere four police were killed in Silopi in southeastern Sirnak province when the...
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- Turkey: several lives claimed in a string of attacks
- Runtime
- 1:37
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- At least three attacks against government buildings and the security forces have been carried out across Turkey.
Two female militants targeted the US Consulate in Istanbul.
No one was killed in the assault. Officers detained one fighter after she was injured.
The far-left, and outlawed, Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army Front on its internet site to be behind the attack.
It would seem to be political. The group has previously said it carried out a suicide attack on the US embassy in Ankara in 2013.
Bystanders, though, have questioned the motive.
“The police were shouting at the woman to drop her bag,” said one eyewitness. “She refused to surrender, she said she had come to avenge Suruç.”
There has been outrage after a bomb was detonated last month among a crowd of aid workers gathering in the town of Suruç ahead of a humanitarian trip to the devastated Kurdish town of Kobane.
Else...
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- Istanbul hit by attacks on police station, US consulate
- Runtime
- 0:31
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Turkey’s biggest city, Istanbul, has been hit by two attacks.
Ten people were injured when militants detonated a car bomb outside a police station.
Police then fired at the attackers, killing two people.
On Monday, two attackers fired at the US diplomatic mission in the city.
There were no casualties reported.
Police later arrested a female suspect.
It is as yet unclear whether the attacks were carried out by an organisation, or individuals acting alone.
The attacks come at a time of heightened tensions between the Turkish government and Kurdish separtists.
Turkey has been launching air strikes against PKK fighters on both sides of its border with Iraq.
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- Turkey: PKK protesters clash with police and car bomb injures ten in Istanbul
- Runtime
- 0:53
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- There were clashes with police on Sunday evening in the southeastern town of Cizre where pro-PKK protesters attempted to keep Turkish security forces out of their neighbourhood by putting up barricades and digging trenches.
Riot police used tear gas and armoured vehicles to break up the crowd who responded with petrol bombs.
A bulldozer was set alight during the clashes.
On Sunday morning a car bomb attack on a police station in Istanbul injured ten people – three police officers and seven civilians.
It happened in the Sultanbeyli district.
The blast started a fire that caused part of the three-storey building to collapse.
The bomber is reported to have been killed but by Sunday night no group had admitted carrying out the attack.
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- Palestinian shot dead after stabbing Israeli
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- 0:21
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Police said Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian who had stabbed an Israeli man at a petrol station in the West Bank.
The stabbing victim was taken to hospital but was not seriously hurt.
Peace talks have been stalled since April 2014, leaving inter-communal violence simmering in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Last month’s killing of a Palestinian toddler and his father in an arson attack has heightened tensions in the region.
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- Turkey: thousands gather for peace rally in Istanbul
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- 0:56
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Thousands of people have attended a peace rally in the centre of Istanbul.
The event was organised by the Peace Bloc, a group of around 80 Turkish civil society organisations, to mark the killing of 32 aid workers in a suicide bombing in the town of Suruç – and to call for peace in their name.
Those gathered heard a warning about a return to the 1990s era of deadly fighting between the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, and the Turkish Army.
“People want peace,” Selahattin Demirtaş, the Chairman of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party or HDP. “The PKK have declared they also want peace. They declare they are ready for talks with the Prime Minister in his own office. But now the government says: “No, we will go to war no matter what.”
There has been a surge in violence between the PKK and Turkish government forces since the Suruç attack, threatening the fragile peace process.
Dozens have been killed...
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- West Bank tension: Palestinians start night patrols
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- 1:03
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Amid increased tensions in the West Bank, Palestinians are running their own night patrols – taking protection into their own hands.
It comes in the wake of a deadly arson attack on a family home, blamed on Jewish settlers.
Palestinians say they are living in fear.
“We check if they’ve got weapons or something. Because a lot of Jewish come here and make some problems, burning some houses and everything,” said Mutasser, a patrol member in Turmusaya village.
The torched home in the village of Duma was destroyed. The inferno killed an 18-month-old boy, his father later died of his injuries.
The mother and another son remain in a critical condition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the attack as an act of terrorism.
Seven people have been arrested in connection with the fire.
The UN is among others calling for those responsible to be brought swiftly to just...
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- Turkish PM visits ISIL-hit border region as police clash with PKK supporters
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- 1:01
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- In a show of solidarity, the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has visited troops stationed at an outpost in Kilis province near the country’s border with Syria.
Just last month, a Turkish soldier was killed in clashes with ISIL on the Syrian side of the dividing line between the two countries.
Ankara has until recently been a reluctant member of the US-led coalition against Islamic State militants, however the government of President Erdogan took a radically different approach by granting the alliance access to its air bases and bombing targets inside Syria.
Meanwhile, clashes broke out for a second night between security forces and pro-PKK protesters in the town of Cizre in southeast Turkey.
A total of two policemen have died in the disturbances, one on Friday in Cizre and another on Saturday night in the nearby town Mardin.
The leader of the country’s pro-Kurdish HDP party, Selahattin Demirtas, called on the m...
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- Arson attack: young father buried next to baby son in West Bank
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Huge crowds gathered for the funeral in the West Bank of 32-year-old Saad Dawabsha.
The young father died of his injuries following an arson attack on his home which was blamed on Jewish settlers.
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- West Bank: father of Palestinian boy killed in arson attack dies of injuries
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- 0:57
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The father of an 18-month-old Palestinian boy killed in an arson attack in the West Bank, has died of his injuries.
Suspected Jewish attackers torched the home of Saad Dawabsheh in the village of Duma just over a week ago.
A spokeswoman for Soroka hospital in Israel where Dawabsheh had been receiving treatment said he died early on Saturday.
His wife and a second son were also seriously injured.
It has drawn Palestinian anger and widespread Israeli condemnation – Benjamin Netanyahu describing it as terrorism.
There were clashes with Israeli security forces and stone-throwing between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the wake of the attack.
Netanyahu’s government is now allowing harsher interrogation of alleged Jewish militants and says it will start detaining citizens suspected of political violence against Palestinians, without a trial.
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- Fate of Croatian man held hostage in Egypt by ISIL affiliated group unknown
- Runtime
- 0:55
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The fate of a Croatian man held hostage in Egypt by an affiliate of ISIL remains unknown with the last images of Tomislav Salopek released in a chilling video earlier this week.
A group calling itself the “Sinai Province of the Islamic State” had been threatening to kill the 30-year-old on Friday if authorities did not free “Muslim women” held in prison.
Meanwhile in his hometown, residents have been praying for a positive outcome with the town’s mayor, Ankica Zajic, describing her “sadness” and that of the people of Croatia. She added that they are “waiting for a positive outcome” and “hoping Tomislav will make it home”.
Egyptian media has reported that the deadline has been extended by 48 hours.
Salopek, who works in Egypt for a French company, was abducted on July 22.
Croatia’s Foreign Minister has travelled to Egypt to help secure his release.
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- UN unanimously adopts resolution on Syria chemical weapons
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- 1:08
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The UN security council has adopted a resolution which aims to identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria which have killed and injured increasing numbers of civilians.
The US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power said the vote showed the perpetrators would not go unpunished.
“This sends a clear and powerful message to all those involved in chemical weapons attacks in Syria. The joint investigative mechanism will identify you if you gas people.”
Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja’afari stated that their government was not behind such attacks.
“The Syrian government and army have never used chemical weapons and they will never use chemical weapons. Syrian civilians were targeted with the use of toxic chemicals and chemical weapons, including chlorine gas, by armed terrorist groups.”
The resolution establishes an international investigative body that would identify anyone responsible for c...
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- Israeli air strike on Gaza Strip leaves four wounded
- Runtime
- 0:36
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The Israeli Air Force has attacked a Hamas training camp in the Gaza Strip in response to three rockets fired from the coastal enclave at Israel earlier in the day.
Only one reached Israeli territory and there were no reports of injuries. A small jihadist Salafi group named “The Grandsons of the Companions of the Prophet” claimed responsibility for the attack.
Four people were wounded in the subsequent Israeli air strike, among them two police officers.
Israel blames Hamas for any attacks emanating from the Gaza Strip.
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- Syria: hundreds missing after strategic town falls to militants
- Runtime
- 0:52
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Militants from the self-titled group Islamic State have taken control of a strategic town in central Syria.
Al-Qaryatain lies south-east of Homs. It is a staging post on the main route from the IS-held city of Palmyra in the east to the Qalamoun mountain range bordering Lebanon in the west.
Observers say it could prove crucial for the group as it pursues its westward advance.
The town fell on the night of Wednesday into Thursday after intense fighting between IS forces and Syrian government troops.
Monitors claim hundreds of civilians have disappeared from al-Qaryatain in the two days since it was over-run.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 230 men, women and children, including dozens of Christians, have vanished from the town.
There has been no news of their fate.
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- Fighting intensifies as Turkey moves against Kurds inside Turkey
- Runtime
- 1:03
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Three people have been killed and seven wounded in clashes between Turkish security forces and suspected PKK militants in the Kurdish town of Silopi.
In two other incidents two Turkish soldiers were killed in Van and Agri as tensions boil over between the Turks and Kurds putting a fragile peace at risk.
Since mid-July at least 21 soldiers have died in attacks blamed on the PKK Kurdish fighters
“The police must be withdrawn immediately and tension must be lowered. people have taken to the streets. We’re concerned that the number of dead and wounded will rise. If that happens violence will spread to other cities across the country,” said a Kurdish member of parliament.
The MP said he had seen no armed militants, contradicting official accounts of barricades going up and trenches being dug by armed groups.
The PKK claims the Turks are neglecting security in Kurdish areas targeted by Islamic State terrorists, which has ...
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- Perspectives: how European media covered the opening of Egypt’s new Suez Canal
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- 8:47
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Title
- Syria: hundreds disappear after militants take strategic town
- Runtime
- 0:48
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- It is claimed hundreds of people have disappeared from a strategically-located town in central Syria after it was seized by militants.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 230 people, including dozens of Christians, have been abducted from Qaryatain, south-east of Homs.
There has been no news of their fate.
Qaryatain was captured overnight between Wednesday and Thursday after intense fighting between the group calling itself IS and the Syrian Army.
The town is a stopping point on a road linking the IS-held city of Palmyra in the east with the Qalamoun mountain range along the border with Lebanon in the west.
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- French woman held captive in Yemen since February freed
- Runtime
- 0:42
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- A French woman who was abducted in Yemen in February has been freed and is expected in Paris on Friday morning, according to a statement from the office of President Hollande.
No details have been revealed of her release.
Prime and her translator Shereen Makawi were abducted by gunmen in the Yemeni capital Sanaa while the pair were on their way to work.
Makawi was released in March.
In June, Paris authenticated a video in which the French consultant begged to be brought back to France.
In recent years, Yemeni tribesmen have taken foreigners hostage.
Yemen is also home to one of the most active al Qaeda branches.
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- Ceremony in Turkey marks 100 years since Gallipoli August offensive
- Runtime
- 0:21
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- A ceremony attended by the Australian Governor General Peter Cosgrove has been held in Turkey to mark the 100th anniversary of the August offensive of the World War One battle in Gallipoli.
Thousands of soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) were among the 130,000 people who died in the campaign, which marked an important point in the birth of both nations.
The area has become a site of pilgrimage for visitors who honour their nations’ fallen in graveyards halfway around the world on ANZAC Day every April 25.
- Title
- Egypt opens Suez Canal in lavish ceremony
- Runtime
- 1:20
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Egypt has opened a major expansion to the Suez Canal to much fanfare.
The project is being trumpeted as the basis of an economic turnaround for the country.
On the orders of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the major engineering feat was completed in one year instead of three at a cost of nearly 8 billion euros, although critics say the money would have been better spent on infrastructure and public services.
At a lavish ceremony the former army chief, told gathered dignatories from Europe, Russia and Africa that Egypt would defeat the terror threat which had threatened the project.
“Egypt did not only achieve this project during this year or the previous two years, to be exact. History will record that Egypt stood against and fought the most dangerous extremist ideology. If they had been able to put their hands on this land it would have burnt it to the ground.”
The country is facing off a two-year old insurgency on th...
- Title
- Deadline expires on Friday in Egypt for kidnapped Croatian worker
- Runtime
- 1:10
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The new Suez canal may have opened to great fanfare but the future of the Croatian worker kidnapped by a terrorist group is far from bright.
Their deadline for Egypt to release a high-profile female militant expires on Friday. If she is not freed the group, the Sinai Province of Islamic State, says it will execute Tomislav Salopek, who works for the French oil and gas geology company CGG.
“It is terrible for a young man with two small children, it shook me up. I don’t know how that man can be helped. I mean, couldn’t we help him, is it possible to help him?” said one woman in Zagreb.
“I am sorry that this happened, but on the other hand it is not unusual since it was only a matter of time for something like this to happen; there are many people from here working in areas that have become very risky,” said one young man.
The Sinai peninsular flanks the Suez canal, and Cairo is engaged in daily fighting with Islamic militant...
- Title
- Celebrations begin to open New Suez Canal in Egypt
- Runtime
- 0:46
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Extravagant celebrations have begun to inaugurate a major extension of the Suez Canal in Egypt.
The main waterway has been deepened and a 35km parallel channel opened to increase capacity to 97 boats per day.
Costing more than seven billion euros, the project was completed in just one year instead of three on the orders of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The former army chief sailed to Ismailia to join the leaders of France, Russia and Gulf Arab states for the ceremony.
The expansion aims to boost the economy which has been reeling from years of turmoil since the Arab Spring.
Thursday was declared a public holiday. State television broadcast shots of the new canal to the theme tune of US TV series Game of Thrones.
- Title
- Egyptian president unveils pet Suez Canal project
- Runtime
- 1:57
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- It is a pet project that comes with a cool price tag of nearly eight billion euros.
A second Suez Canal has been a top priority for Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
He came to power after ousting the former head of state, Mohammed Morsi.
Egypt’s new strongman pledges that he will revive the Egyptian economy and see this project as a key part of that.
The second Suez canal stretches seventy two kilometres alongside the existing waterway.
It was completed in just one year.
The Suez Canal opened in 1869, with Britain buying a controlling stake in it six years later to secure a safe trade route to India.
President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised Suez in 1956, which was controlled by both Britain and France at the time.
The move was popular in Egypt and across the Arab world.
It prompted the so-called Suez canal crisis when Britain, France and Israel launched a joint attac...
- Title
- Kurkcu Turkey 'tolerating' Islamic State
- Runtime
- 1:35
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- The Turkish government is "tolerating" Islamic State (IS) activities and is only paying "lip service" in the fight against IS, Ertugrul Kurkcu, an MP from the pro-Kurdish party HDP (People's Democratic Party).
The Turkish government has persistently denied the accusation.
Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu announced US warplanes and drones were arriving at Turkish airbases and will "soon launch a comprehensive battle against Islamic State all together".
- Title
- Saudi, UAE forces join ground fighting in Yemen
- Runtime
- 4:06
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Title
- At least 8 killed in Saudi airstrike in northwestern Yemen
- Runtime
- 0:36
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabia's deadly air strikes in Yemen continue claiming civilian lives every day. In the latest attack, at least eight people were killed and over 50 wounded ...
Several others were wounded in the air raids on a border area in Hajjah province. Residential areas in Ma'rib province also came under attack. Earlier, Saudi ...
Saudi Arabia's warplanes have pounded positions in northern Yemen, wreaking havoc and causing civilian casualties. Three women lost their lives in the latest ...
Saudi warplanes carried out several airstrikes on a residential area in Abs district. Saudi jets also targeted the international airport in the southern port city of ...
At least 8 killed in Saudi airstrike in northwestern Yemen
- Title
- Yemen Violent conflict continues on Aden's streets
- Runtime
- 0:31
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Title
- Suez Canal expansion to open on Thursday
- Runtime
- 0:21
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
- Egypt is due to open an expansion to the Suez Canal on Thursday designed to allow larger vessels to use the waterway, to cut transit times and to raise extra revenue.
The 7.5 billion euro project includes a parallel channel alongside the existing canal, which is the closest link by sea between Asia and Europe.
The project is President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s big plan to re-invigorate the country’s economy.
The government hopes the new canal will double the country’s trade income and create up to a thousand new jobs.
- Title
- Tunisia's Jewish and Muslim community living in harmony
- Runtime
- 3:20
- Date posted
- 11 years ago
- Description
