Ukraine in arabic News
ISIL committing genocide against Yazidis – UN
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- ISIL committing genocide against Yazidis – UN
- Runtime
- 1:06
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- The so-called Islamic State (ISIL or ISIS) is committing ‘genocide’ against Yazidis in Syria and Iraq, according to UN investigators.
“ISIS abuse of Yazidi men, women and children amounts to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The genocide is ongoing. From the day of the attack on Sinjar until today,” said Paulo Pinheiro, of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry for Syria.
“ISIS has vehemently sought to erase the Yazidis through killing, sexual slaveries, enslavement, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment and forceable transfer, causing serious bodily and mental harm.”
The UN investigators have called for prosecution in the International Criminal Court.
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- EgyptAir crash: wreckage spotted in several locations, say investigators
- Runtime
- 0:47
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Egypt says it has found wreckage of the EgyptAir plane which crashed in the Mediterranean last month.
A statement from investigators said parts of flight MS804 had been spotted in several main locations, though these were not specified.
All 66 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A320 were killed when it vanished en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19.
Since then, authorities have been
searching for wreckage and the plane’s black boxes. Experts have warned the signals sent out by the flight data recorders are due to expire next week on the 24 June.
The cause of the crash remains a mystery, with terrorism, technical failure and human error all still being considered.
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- Turkey misses deadline for visa-free travel in EU
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- 1:08
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey has missed a deadline set by the EU to meet 72 conditions in order to get visa-free travel for its citizens.
EU commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said that although there had been some progress, Turkey had failed to meet some of the conditions.
“Turkey still needs to fulfill the remaining benchmarks of the roadmap, so that visa requirements for Turkish citizens can be lifted soon,” he told a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
Visa free travel by June was promised as part of a controversial EU-Turkey migrant deal in return for Turkey taking back refugees who had travelled to Greece.
One of the main stumbling blocks has been the EU’s demand that Turkey stop using its anti-terror laws to arrest journalists and academics. Ankara insists it needs the laws to protect it from “terrorists” including Kurdish fighters.
There was criticism too for European countries who have not taken their ...
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- Kurdish militants claim Istanbul blast and warn tourists Turkey is not safe
- Runtime
- 1:01
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- An offshoot of the Kurdish militant group the PKK said on Friday that it carried out a suicide bombing in Istanbul earlier this week and warned that Turkey is no longer safe for foreign tourists.
A car bomb ripped through a police bus in the city centre during Tuesday morning’s rush hour near the main tourist district, killing 11 people, six of them police officers.
In a statement on its website, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) vowed to continue attacks and said that while it was not targeting holidaymakers, they could be at risk.
“Some may miss peace, but we have just started the war,” the group said in its statement.
Turkey, the world’s sixth-biggest tourist destination, has seen a sharp drop in visitors amid concerns about deteriorating security after bombings in Istanbul, Ankara and this week,in Midyat in the southeast.
Arrivals saw the biggest drop in 17 years in April, while average hotel occupancy rates a...
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- Kurdish TAK militants claim deadly Istanbul bombing
- Runtime
- 0:31
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- A Kurdish militant group believed to be linked to the outlawed PKK says it carried out Tuesday’s deadly bomb attack in Istanbul.
A car bomb ripped through a police bus in the city centre during morning rush hour, killing 11 people, 6 of them police officers. Dozens more people were injured.
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- Tel Aviv attack: Ramadan entry permits suspended for thousands of Palestinians
- Runtime
- 1:10
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Funerals have begun to take place for the two male and two female Israelis shot dead in Wednesday’s attack on an open-air market in Tel Aviv.
Police confirmed the names of those killed as Ilana Nave (39), Mila Mishayev (32), Ido Ben Aryeh (42) and Michael Feige (58).
Two Palestinian cousins are being held in custody in connection with the restaurant shootings, in which at least six people were also injured.
In the wake of the attack, Israel announced the suspension of Ramadan entry permits for up to 83,000 Palestinians, with the exception of those with work authorisations.
Cogat, the Israeli body in charge of managing civilian affairs in the West Bank said visas for some 204 relatives of the suspected attackers had also been halted.
Following the decision, the US State Department made a statement in support of Israel, but asking for the rights of Palestinians to be respected.
“We understand their (Israel...
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- Disillusioned Syrian refugees return home
- Runtime
- 1:44
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Syrians who risked their lives coming to Europe have ended up living in limbo.
Atia Al-Jassem, a 27-year-old Syrian barber from Damascus has made the decision to head back with his wife and one-year-old daughter after spending months stranded on the Greek-Macedonian border.
“We did not expect we were going to be treated as such in Europe. We thought they will be humane, looking after us and after our children, protect our children. We thought we will be helped, but what we found was the opposite. Europe has no feeling for us at all,” he said.
Like many Syrians, Atia’s journey to Germany was cut short when the borders were closed, and now months of living rough have taken their toll. Some Syrians are now reportedly paying smugglers to return home.
Every night at the border town of Didimoticho police report seeing around 20-40 refugees heading towards Turkey.
Even those who have reached Germany are considering the mov...
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- Israel suspends Ramadan entry for 83,000 Palestinians after Tel Aviv attack
- Runtime
- 1:43
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Israel has suspended Ramadan entry permits for thousands of Palestinians following a shooting in Tel Aviv which killed four people.
It affects at least 83,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who had received permission to visit relatives during the Muslim holy month.
Work permits of more than 200 relatives of the alleged gunmen, identified as Palestinians from a village near the city of Hebron, were also frozen.
The morning after the attack at the market where the gunmen had opened fire people were keen for life to return to normal. This resident explained that they were ‘getting on with their lives, waking up, going to work’ adding that she was scared about what happened but everyone was continuing as usual.
Security footage showed the moment when two men posing as customers shot at diners as they rushed to escape, at least six other people were wounded.
Though there was no claim of responsibility, Hamas and o...
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- Police arrest two suspects following shooting at Tel Aviv shopping centre
- Runtime
- 1:16
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- At least four people have been killed in a shooting attack in Tel Aviv. The aftermath was captured on amateur video.
Minutes before those who were out shopping or eating at restaurants in the trendy Sarona complex were sent running as two gunman opened fire. Six people were also injured.
Police arrested two suspects – one was wounded as he was detained.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed directly to the scene:
“I think a larger tragedy was avoided by the resolute action of the citizens, of security people, police. We’re gonna take the necessary steps to attack the attackers and to defend those who need to be defended.”
The two suspects are thought to be Palestinian cousins from near Hebron in Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The shooting which happened near the Israeli Ministry of Defence, is one of the most serious assaults in Israel’s business and entertainment capital since a wave of Palestinian...
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- Two suspects are detained following shooting at Tel Aviv shopping centre
- Runtime
- 0:58
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Israeli police have arrested two suspected gunmen in connection with a shooting at a shopping centre in Tel Aviv
At least four people died in the attack and several more more were injured.
The incident took place Wednesday evening at Sarona Market, which lies opposite an Israeli defence ministry building.
Witnesses say both the gunmen who are thought to be Palestinians, opened fire outside the open-air shopping complex. One of the suspected attackers was wounded when he was detained.
Israeli media have identified the suspects as cousins from a village near Hebron in the West Bank.
The shooting is one of the most serious assaults in Israel’s business and entertainment capital since a wave of Palestinian violence began eight months ago.
Since then Palestinians have killed 31 Israelis and two visiting US citizens. Israeli forces have shot dead at least 196 Palestinians.
The frequency of Palestinian attac...
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- First funerals held for victims of Istanbul car bomb attack
- Runtime
- 1:03
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Mourners gather for the first funerals after a car bomb attack in Istanbul killed 11 people and injured 36 others.
Two police officers who were killed when the blast hit a police vehicle were laid to rest at a ceremony in the city.
The service was attended by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and former President Abdullah Gul. Other ceremonies took place for the four other fallen officers elsewhere in Istanbul.
Earlier the prime minister visited the area devastated by the explosion and said, “Whatever methods they use, the Turkish Republic is strong, it is one and united.”
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, however, a spokesperson for the President said that ‘all signs’ point to Kurdish militants.
Kurdish militants have staged similar attacks in Turkey’s major cities in recent months, after a ceasefire with the government collapsed almost a year ago. However, the so called Islamic State grou...
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- Three killed in car bomb attack on police station in southeast Turkey
- Runtime
- 0:50
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- At least three people have been killed and 30 wounded in a car bomb attack on a police station in southeastern Turkey.
The massive blast killed one police officer and two civilians, according to the prime minister speaking to reporters as he visited those injured in an attack one day earlier in Istanbul.
The latest attack occurred in the city of Midyat, close to the country’s border with Syria and reports are emerging of further attacks, also in the province of Mardin.
There has been no claim of responsibility, however, the prime minister claimed Kurdish militants were behind the attack.
It comes a day after 11 people were killed in a bombing in Istanbul. No-one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, the fourth this year on Turkey’s largest city.
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- Istanbul fearful after fourth bomb attack this year
- Runtime
- 2:02
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey’s President Erdogan has condemned the latest bomb blast in Istanbul targeting police as an “attack against humanity”.
The car was detonated as buses carrying security forces passed by, killing eleven people and wounding three dozen as it blew up near the main tourist area and a major university in the Turkish city.
One witness described the impact as like an earthquake.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but previous similar attacks on the security forces have been carried out by Kurdish militants.
The bus that bore the brunt of the blast was tipped onto its roof; a second vehicle was also damaged. They had been carrying members of a riot police unit.
The authorities said seven of those killed were police officers. Four were civilians.
President Erdogan, visiting some of the 36 injured in hospital, said Turkey would continue its fight against the terrorists “tirelessly and fearlessl...
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- Saudi Arabia unveils austerity Gulf style
- Runtime
- 1:01
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabia says it wants to more than triple the amount of money the government gets from non-oil revenues over the next five years.
And it will also cut public-sector salaries and subsidies on water and electricity.
Those are the headlines from Riyadh’s just-approved National Transformation Plan, also known as ‘Vision 2030’.
There will be VAT from 2018 and residents will also have to pay income tax for the first time but one of its prime architects stressed that will not apply to Saudi citizens.
Minister of State Mohammed Al al-Sheikh, who is also a member of the Economic Development Council, told reporters: “The government will not impose income taxes on its citizens, that has been previously announced in the Vision 2030 plan, and it was clear and explicit that there will not be any move to impose any taxes on citizens.”
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- A year so far of serial attacks on Turkey attributed to the outlawed PKK and so-called Islamic State
- Runtime
- 2:39
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey has for several months been on high alert with the long running Kurdish conflict erupting again after hopes it was close to resolution.
On February 18 hunter-bombers took off from Diyarbakir to strike at PKK camps in northern Iraq.
The day before in Ankara a car bomb, targeting a bus carrying military personnel killed at least 28 people, 27 of whom were soldiers. It was claimed by the Freedom Falcons of Kurdistan – TAK – a radical group affiliated to the outlawed PKK.
A few weeks later on March 13 TAK struck again as the radical group said it was behind a car bomb which caused carnage in the centre of Ankara close to the Ministries of Justice and Interior. Authorities say at least 37 people died as a result of the blast.
This year up until June 7 there have been 12 attacks nine of which have been claimed by or attributed to the militant PKK group.
A total of 85 people have been killed. Apart from the two in Ank...
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- 14 dead after school bus crashes in southern Turkey
- Runtime
- 0:53
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- A bus carrying school children, teachers and parents has crashed in southern Turkey killing fourteen people, six of them children.
The bus was taking them home from a weekend trip to a national park in the southern province of Osmaniye.
“The accident took place around 1930 local time, said regional governor Kerem Al, Osmaniye. “The bus collided with a taxi, a vehicle, at the turn near the Hasantas dam and plunged into the canal.”
Rescuers worked in the dark to pull the bus out of the water as the injured, mostly children, were rushed to hospital.
Road accidents are common in Turkey because of poor road conditions, careless driving and weak enforcement of safety regulations.
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- Jerusalem Day Flag Parade through Old City passes peacefully
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- 1:03
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Israeli youths have marched through Jerusalem’s Old City for the annual Jerusalem Day Flag Parade. It commemorates the nation’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day war, after which Israel took control of the city.
However marchers faced a possible ban on them taking the Damascus Gate into the Muslim Quarter after the non-profit group Ir Amim and former mayoral Arab affairs advisor Amir Cheshin feared it would clash with the start of Ramadan.
“You know, since 1967 Jerusalem has been an open society. Christians, Muslims and Jews are fully able to go through Jerusalem. I think even the idea that the Israeli Supreme Court would say that a Jew is not to walk freely throughout Jerusalem is preposterous, it’s ludicrous,” said one Jewish man.
The march typically attracts young people and has been a flashpoint for racial insults and vandalism in the past, and the proximity of Ramadan had increased tension in the run-up to the day. But the court allowed i...
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- Syria: monitoring group claims 40 killed in intensified fight for Aleppo
- Runtime
- 0:41
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- A Russian ceasefire monitoring centre in Syria says over 1,000 militants have begun an offensive against Syrian army positions south west of Aleppo.
It comes amid reports from the same group that more than forty people have been killed in shelling from Al-Nusra fighters inside the city. The Al-Nusra Front is said to cooperate with Islamist and jihadist rebel groups against forces loyal to the Syrian government.
The centre also quotes local civilians as saying armed groups containing some Turkish soldiers have emerged in northern Aleppo. According to the ceasefire monitoring group, “more than 2,000 militants are massing” in the area.
Ankara has yet to comment on this. However military officials have said they’ve targeted 11 ISIL positions in Syria from within Turkey, killing at least 14 militants.
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- Houthi supporters denounce Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen
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- 1:04
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Thousands of pro-Houthi demonstrators gathered in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Friday (June 3) to denounce intensive airstrikes launched by Saudi-led Arab Allies against Houthis.
The protesters waved Yemeni flags and chanted anti-Saudi slogans.
“We took to the streets today to demand the whole world to break the illegal siege against Yemen – the sea, air and land siege from all sides – which is considered a siege outside of international agreement and is part of the aggression, a part of the killing,” said one protester. “This siege that was ignored by state reports, despite causing a disaster for the Yemeni people.”
For more than a year, the Saudi-led coalition has been fighting Houthi rebels and their allies who control much of the country.
Both sides have accused each other of violating a temporary ceasefire.
The war has killed more than 6,200 people and displaced more than 2.5 million people.
A ...
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- Saudi Arabia invests heavily in Uber
- Runtime
- 0:46
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has invested $3.5 billion (3.1 billion euros) into Uber.
It is a boost to the ride-hailing service’s expansion into the Middle East where it now operating in nine countries and 15 cities, competing against local startups such as Careem, which runs ride-hailing in more than 20 cities across the region.
The Saudi-Uber investment brought come criticism on social media.
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- Fresh shelling in Syria kills 42 civilians, says monitoring group
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group says forty-two civilians have been killed in aerial raids in the north of Syria.
There are conflicting reports about who conduced the attacks.
Video footage showed volunteer group the White Helmets rescuing people after a fresh shelling in Aleppo.
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- Signals picked up in Mediterranean could be doomed MS804’s black box
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- A French naval search vessel has picked up signals that could be emanating from one of EqyptAir flight MS804’s black boxes, according to an Egyptian investigation.
The committee said that the French ship “Laplace” received signals that could help find the missing data recorders, which hold vital information for those investigating what caused the plane to crash.
“The French vessel “Laplace”… has received through its search equipment signals from the seabed of the wreckage search area, assumed to be from one of the data recorders,” a statement said.
“Extensive search efforts are being carried out to locate the two data recorders in preparation for their retrieval.”
It said that Mauritius-based vessel “Deep Ocean Search” is en route to help retrieve the devices.
The Airbus A320 disappeared in May and plummeted into the Mediteranean sea on its way from Paris to Cairo, killing all 66 passengers on boar...
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- German vote on Armenian “genocide” labeled “ridiculous” by Turkish PM
- Runtime
- 1:20
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- A German proposal to refer to the massacre of Armenians in 1915 as “genocide” has been called “ridiculous” by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who said there is no doubt that such a resolution could damage relations between the two countries.
Lawmakers in Germany will vote on Thursday on whether to label the mass killing of Armenians under ottoman rule as “genocide”, with the Bundestag expected to accept the legislation.
German Green Party leader Cem Ozdemir, himself of Turkish decent, will be supporting the resolution, creating backlash in the Turkish community.
He said: “The ones who really have to worry are not the members of Parliament – they are not in danger – it’s the people who live talking about this in Turkey who sometimes pay with their lives”.
Many German MPs are reported to have received emails from Turkish constituents, some of them threatening and insulting the politicians.
Turk...
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- US-backed push begins to retake Syria border pocket from ISIL
- Runtime
- 0:36
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Reports from Syria say thousands of US-backed fighters have launched an offensive to retake a crucial swathe of land near the Turkish border from ISIL.
The US says mostly Syrian Arab fighters are involved in the battle for the Manbij Pocket, with American special forces advisors away from the frontline. The operation could take weeks to complete.
It aims to choke off ISIL’s access to Syrian territory along the Turkish border that militants have long used as a logistics base for moving foreign fighters back and forth to Europe.
“It’s significant in that it’s their last remaining funnel” to Europe, a US military official said.
Contradicting the US description of those involved in the attempted recapture, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says that mainly Kurdish YPG militia are taking part.
It says US-led air strikes in the area have killed 15 civilians.
Turkey considers the Syr...
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- Clashes erupt at rally to mark third anniversary of Gezi park protests
- Runtime
- 1:04
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- With fists in the air, crowds chanted ‘The struggle continues’ as protesters marked the third anniversary of the Gezi park demos in Turkey.
Police clashed with activists who gathered at Istanbul’s famous Istiklal street, with the aim of marching to the park. However, as every year the site was on lockdown along with Taksim Square.
Referring to the Turkish president’s criticism of France’s violent response to recent labour protests, one protester said, “I salute the President. It is controversial for a President who criticises French police and the pressure they heaped on people in the country, to dish out this treatment to us today. He is contradicting himself. We don’t understand why he is afraid of letting us go to that park.”
Gezi park and nearby Taksim square became the epicentre of anti-government protests which spiraled into nationwide demos against the perceived authoritarian rule of President Erdogan.
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- Many dead in Idlib as Russia and Turkey argue over blame
- Runtime
- 0:51
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- At least 23 people are feared dead after what is claimed to have been a series of air strikes on the rebel-held Syrian city of Idlib.
Activists say scores of people have been injured.
- Title
- Syria: civilian casualties rise as air strikes hit Aleppo
- Runtime
- 1:06
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Videos posted online reportedly show the aftermath of air strikes in the Syrian city of Aleppo. In them buildings are reduced to dust and dead and wounded people are pulled from the rubble.
According the the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, government forces have resumed air strikes on rebel-held positions killing civilians, among them children.
In a separate attack, the Turkish military claims to have killed at least 28 ISIL militants in shelling just north of Aleppo on Sunday. It comes in retaliation to attacks on a Turkish border town on Friday.
Aleppo’s northern countryside has become the theatre of several battles between multiple warring sides in the five-year-old conflict.
Prospects for peace were dealt a fresh blow after the opposition’s main negotiator quit.
Mohammed Alloush described peace talks as a waste of time, saying they failed to bring a political deal or helped civilians in besieged areas.
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- Turkey: Muslim families should forget birth control says Erdogan
- Runtime
- 1:07
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- He has already condemned abortion, called birth control “treason”, and told women they should have at least three children.
Now Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogen has again turned his fury on family planning, calling on pious Muslims to go forth and multiply.
“We will increase our generations,” he said in a speech in Istanbul, broadcast live on television on Monday.
“They talk about population planning, birth control …no Muslim family can have such an approach. We will follow the path and advice of God and our beloved prophet.”
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- Car bomb hits Shuiab Mosque in rebel-held Idlib, Syria
- Runtime
- 0:41
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- A car bomb exploded at the Shuiab Mosque in rebel-controled Idlib, Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there had been casualties but gave no further details.
A ceasefire brokered in February by the US and Russia for the whole of Syria has been disrupted by car bomb attacks and violence between groups fighting for control of Syrian territory.
Idlib, which is close to the Turkish border, is controlled by opposition groups including the Free Syrian Army, Islamic Front and the Nusra Front.
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- US troops in Syria to remove Kurdish insignia after Ankara outburst
- Runtime
- 1:26
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey has accused the United States of being two-faced for continuing to support the YPG, a Kurdish militia group fighting in Syria.
Turkey regards the YPG as the Syrian arm of the PKK, considered a terrorist group by both the US and Ankara.
To add further fuel to the fire US troops have been seen wearing YPG insignia.
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- Israel’s new defence chief jokes about curbing his fiery nature
- Runtime
- 1:43
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his choice for defence minister, ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman, signed a coalition agreement on Wednesday (May 25) and issued assurances that the most right wing government in Israel’s history would act responsibly.
Once Lieberman is sworn in, Netanyahu will have a government of 66 legislators, widening his current one-seat majority in the 120-member parliament, a goal the Israeli leader has said he has sought since winning a fourth term last year.
Lieberman’s return to office – he was previously foreign minister – has raised questions at home and abroad given his past criticism of Israel’s Arab minority, US-sponsored peace talks with Palestinians and regional powers Egypt and Turkey.
In first remarks as Israel’s designated defence minister, right-wing settler Avigdor Lieberman joked about his fiery reputation: “I have undergone surgery to lengthen my fuse.”
In a more ...
- Title
- Humanitarian Summit spotlight on the economics of aid
- Runtime
- 1:38
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- With tens of millions of people displaced from their homes and even their countries, the practicalities of the refugee crisis have been in focus at the UN organised Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.
Participants showed how basic needs – shelter, food, water and clothing – are being met and in some cases touted for trade.
Euronews correspondent Bora Bayraktar reported: “The biggest humanitarian crisis since World War Two has an economic dimension, which is why this exhibition was set up here at the Humanitarian Summit. Organisations which tend to the needs of refugees and aid organisations have come together here.”
- Title
- Kurdish-led militias launch offensive against ISIL-held Raqqa
- Runtime
- 0:51
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- A US-backed alliance of Kurdish-Arab militias has started to clear ISIL fighters from the area north of the Raqqa which is the extremists de facto capital in Syria.
Its in preparation for a future full assault on the city.
The US military will conduct air strikes in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance whose main component is the powerful Kurdish YPG militia.
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- UN chief Ban voices disappointment as World Humanitarian Summit closes
- Runtime
- 1:41
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN chief Ban Ki-moon have closed the first World Humanitarian Summit, voicing disappointment there were not more high-profile leaders present.
More than 50 heads of state and government attended the two-day meeting in Istanbul, but those of the G7 were noticeably absent.
“It is a bit disappointing that some world leaders could not be here. Especially those from G7 countries, except Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. I urge their greater engagement,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.
Described by some as an expensive talking shop, global medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, chose to boycott the event. Other NGOs, however, were less critical.
“It has helped to raise the issue that there is a gap between the humanitarian, emergency response and developement response and that we need to find the way to bridging that gap and finding different approaches,” said Dr Julie Hall ...
- Title
- World Humanitarian Summit calls for shift of emphasis from response to prevention of refugee crisis
- Runtime
- 3:01
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey has been much of the focus of the refugee crisis and now at the first World Humanitarian Summit the two day programme is hoping the talking and discussion will lead to priority action to meet certain needs of the crisis.
Humanitarian funding is currently 12 times greater than 15 years ago. According to experts the costs can be curbed by reducing the need, which means a shift of emphasis from response to prevention and managing the escalation of risks.
“A dollar invested now in relief in upholding human rights will save tens upon thousands of dollars down the road, so we get to move out of the short sided approach to humanitarian action, get the long game in play in this now with compassion, in order that the world will be more secure in the longer term,” Kate Gilmore, UN Deputy High commissioner for Human Rights told Euronews.
The first achievement of the two-day summit is an agreement which has been dubbed the “Grand Bargain”. It a...
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- 100 Years of Hijab Fashion in 1 Minute
- Runtime
- 1:10
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Title
- Out with the old… Cabinet changes in Turkish AKP reflect pro-Erdogan stance
- Runtime
- 1:04
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey is ushering in a potentially groundbreaking, constitution-changing political age.
As new prime minister and ruling AKP leader Binali Yildirim comes in, EU affairs minister Volkan Bozkir is out and around half of other cabinet posts have been reshuffled. Bozkir was replaced by AK Party spokesman Omer Celik.
Key players in the management of the 646-billion-euro Turkish economy have kept their posts, including Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, whom foreign investors favour as a reformer.
Long-time bureaucrat-turned-Finance-Minister Naci Agbal is also safe, as is Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
- Title
- Syria: US-backed fighters launch offensive to retake ISIL’s Raqqa
- Runtime
- 0:56
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- A US backed coalition of Kurdish fighters in Syria has reportedly launched a major offensive to capture ISIL’s de-facto capital, Raqqa.
An umbrella group of fighters, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, announced the military operation via its official Twitter account.
- Title
- Istanbul hosts International Theatre Festival
- Runtime
- 1:46
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Some of the finest theatre companies and dance groups from Turkey and around the world are gathered in Istanbul for the International Theatre Festival.
One of the highlights of this year’s programme is Iranian Theatre Company Shieveh’s play ‘Ham Havâyi’ (translated as ‘Acclimatization’ or ‘A bit further every day’), an intimate portrait of three women in modern day Iran. The title refers to the way the human body adapts to changes in its environment and is a metaphor for the way women in Iran have to adapt to a society in constant evolution.
Euronews met the play’s acclaimed director and former actress Afsaneh Mahian.
“In a way, you could call this documentary theatre: we have used true events and have adapted and dramatised these stories on stage,” she explained. “It is about the social problems faced by Iranians and it has a feminine structure because all the characters are women, and they talk about their lives and dail...
- Title
- ISIL-claimed bombings on Assad strongholds are condemned by US and Russia
- Runtime
- 1:09
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Bomb blasts which killed nearly 150 people and injured another 200 in the Syrian coastal towns of Jableh and Tartous have been condemned by both the US and Russia.
The attacks on the two Syrian government strongholds were the first of their kind in cities which have, up to now, escaped the worst of the violence in the five-year-old conflict.
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- Germany’s Merkel tells Turkey to meet all terms for visa-free travel
- Runtime
- 1:28
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Turkey it must fulfill all the conditions set by the EU before its citizens get visa free travel to the bloc.
Turkey’s anti-terror laws remain a key area of dispute, and the German leader demanded changes to prevent the current deal with Ankara from being delayed.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul Merkel said: “We’ve often spoken about these issues, but there remain questions. And we will monitor developments closely, but our questions have still not been answered.”
Merkel also voiced deep concern over the Turkish parliament’s recent decision to strip MPs of their immunity.
Critics fear the law could be used to sideline the pro-Kurdish opposition.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, called on Europe to do more to help Syrian refugees in his country.
“The existing system is unfortunately insufficien...
- Title
- Calls for action to stop the targeting of hospitals and clinics in war zones
- Runtime
- 2:43
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- To deliberately attack a hospital is considered a war crime but such strikes against them have become increasingly common.
A children’s hospital in the Syrian town of Azaz was hit by five missiles on February 15 last. Fourteen civilians were killed.
Dr. Osama Abo El Ezz is a surgeon in a hospital in Sakhour a district of Aleppo which is held by the rebels. He spoke, for security reasons from a secret location about what he witnessed.
“They bombed the hospital in February 2014 with a rocket from a warplane that hit the side of the hospital. The regime bombed the hospital again between June and August six times with barrel bombs. The last two times they hit the building and destroyed parts of it. The hospital was out of service completely. In order to continue providing medical services, we had to go underground,” he explained.
On April 27 the al Quds hospital also in an area of Aleppo held by rebels was bombed, it’s believed by...
- Title
- Humanitarian Summit seeks solutions in Istanbul
- Runtime
- 1:27
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- The World Humanitarian Summit, the first of its kind, is taking place in Istanbul.
It will attempt to seek solutions to the growing humanitarian problems gripping swathes of the globe.
- Title
- Turkey’s new PM to push through Erdoğan’s constitutional change
- Runtime
- 0:58
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey’s ruling AK party has unanimously elected Transport Minister Binali Yildirim as the new party leader.
“The most important thing we have to do now is to legalise the current political situation and end this confusion. A new constitution and the presidential system is the way to do that.”
- Title
- Blacks boxes hold the keys to unlock EgyptAir mystery
- Runtime
- 1:05
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- The search for the fuselage and the black box recorders of the downed EgyptAir flight MS804 is the number one priority for the air crash investigators.
It has emerged that smoke detectors had been triggered in the plane’s toilet followed a minute later by an avionics alarm.
The avionics bay, situated below the cockpit, contains all the aircrafts electronic systems such as radio’s, navigation equipment and radar.
- Title
- EgyptAir MS804: First images of recovered debris released
- Runtime
- 1:11
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- The hunt for missing EgyptAir flight MS804 intensified on Saturday as Egypt’s military released a video of the first debris found during its search in the Mediterranean Sea.
Life jackets, parts of seats and luggage were among items on display – the search has also reportedly recovered body parts.
For the moment, It remains unclear whether the aircraft’s all important black boxes’ have been located, despite some reports claiming they have.
Egypt and five other countries continue to search a wide area in the eastern Mediterranean where the plane plunged killing all 66 passengers and crew on board during its scheduled flight from Paris to Cairo.
Investigators have confirmed smoke was detected in various parts of the Airbus 320’s cabin a few minutes before it disappeared.
The cause of the crash still remains a mystery, however, with France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault saying on Saturday ‘‘all hypothesi...
- Title
- Netanyahu reshuffle means Israel being taken over by ‘extremists’
- Runtime
- 1:27
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Reports from Israel say Benjamin Netanyahu has
offered the job of defence minister to his far-right rival Avigdor Lieberman in a move to strengthen his coalition.
It has prompted the man being replaced to claim the country is being taken over by “extremist and dangerous elements”.
The defence portfolio is crucial for a country on a permanent war footing. It also runs civil affairs in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians struggling for statehood live in friction with Jewish settlers.
The reports about Netanyahu’s offer quote political sources but have not been confirmed. The prime minister spoke after Moshe Yaalon resigned as defence minister saying he had not seen eye to eye with Netanyahu.
The head of the government disagreed.
“The reshuffle in portfolios did not result from a crisis in faith between us. It resulted from the need to expand the government so as to bring stability to the State of Israe...
- Title
- Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition to fight move to strip MPs of immunity
- Runtime
- 0:52
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- Turkey’s parliament has voted to strip its members of immunity from prosecution; a move likely to see the pro-Kurdish opposition sidelined.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the pro-Kurdish HDP, parliament’s third-biggest party, of being the political wing of militants who’ve waged a three-decade insurgency in the country’s largely Kurdish southeast.
The HDP denies such links and says its parliamentary presence could be all but wiped out if prosecutions go ahead. It has also made clear it will challenge the move at the constitutional court.
In the third and final vote of a secret ballot, 376 MPs in the 550-seat parliament backed the plan to lift MPs immunity, a high enough level of support to change the constitution directly without needing to hold a referendum.
The new law will allow prosecutors to pursue members of parliament who currently face investigation: that includes 138 deputies, of whom 101 are from the HDP ...
- Title
- EgyptAir: families express bewilderment as they await news of flight 804
- Runtime
- 0:49
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- In Cairo, the families of those on board the missing EgyptAir flight have spoken of their bewilderment as they desperately seek answers about what happened after the loss of radar contact.
“I don’t know anything. My daughter was a flight attendant. I don’t know anything,” said one woman in Cairo.
A man whose relative was also on the plane, said:
“There is nothing. They told us not to listen to outside rumours and that the plane is missing. That’s all.”
For now, all they can do is wait for information as Egyptian and Greek authorities coordinate search efforts in the area of the Mediterranean where radar contact was lost.
- Title
- IMF welcomes Saudi reforms
- Runtime
- 0:36
- Date posted
- 10 years ago
- Description
- The International Monetary Fund is applauding Saudi Arabia’s sweeping reform plan calling it “an appropriately bold and far-reaching transformation”.
The IMF also said the Saudis are reducing spending at the right speed to cope with a huge state budget deficit brought about by low oil prices.
The plan includes many measures the IMF has been urging Riyadh to adopt for a long time.
They are due to reduce the dependence on oil exports over the next 15 years, cut subsidies, raise taxes, sell state assets, make the government more efficient and increase private sector investment.
“The supporting policies that will be announced in the coming months are expected to set out how these goals will be achieved,” IMF official Tim Callen said after leading a team to Saudi Arabia this month for annual consultations with the Fund.
“To ensure their success, the reforms will need to be properly prioritised and sequenced, and th...
