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LIVE BLOG: The Middle East as it happens

Live
LIVE BLOG: The Middle East as it happens
Bringing you all the events from the Middle East and North Africa (and related news from further afield) as they happen
  • Kurdistan Regional Government unanimously votes to send fighters, weapons into Syria's Kobane
  • Baby killed, eight wounded when driver hits pedestrians in Jerusalem. Israeli police are calling the incident a 'terror attack'; Ma'an News says Palestinian driver lost control of car.
  • Explosion reported outside of Egypt's Cairo University
  • Two Israeli soldiers reportedly injured as Israeli army begins on Tuesday to deploy troops on the Israel-Egypt border. 
  • Six Jordanian opposition parties call for their government to withdraw from the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State militant group

Live Updates

11 years ago
Five Lebanese army troops and a number of Islamist gunmen were wounded in a clash late Friday in a historic area of the northern city of Tripoli, a security official said.
 
"The number of wounded soldiers has risen to five," said the official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that "several gunmen have been injured, while others have been arrested."
 
The clash that initially erupted in the souks (traditional markets) area of Lebanon's second city also extended to other areas.
 
Ever since the war in neighbouring Syria broke out in 2011, Tripoli has been the scene of regular fighting between Sunni militants and members of Lebanon's Alawite minority.
 
Friday's clashes were the first since the outbreak of Syria's war to break out in the souks area, which is traditionally a touristic site.
 
AFP
11 years ago

Bahraini activists are protesting outside the Savoy Hotel in central London, where they believe Prince Nasser bin Hamad al-Khalifa is staying on a visit to the UK.

Nasser, son of Bahrain's king, recently had his immunity from prosecution removed, after it was alleged he tortured political prisoners in the Gulf State.

It is unclear if UK authorities have granted Prince Nasser special mission status, which would mean police are unable to execute a warrant for his arrest - that's if a warrant has been issued.

11 years ago
The United Arab Emirates on Friday rejected a damning Human Rights Watch report claiming foreign maids from impoverished countries endure physical, sexual and emotional abuse in the oil-flush state.
 
The report drew "hasty conclusions based on unrepresentative cases", said Amna al-Meheiri, director of human rights at Abu Dhabi's foreign ministry. 
 
It "ignores the general situation in the Emirates, a country that gives opportunities to 200 different nationalities and that is working on improving conditions for foreign workers," Meheiri said in remarks published by official news agency WAM.
 
The New York-based HRW, in a report released on Thursday, detailed alleged rights violations against domestic workers in the country and called on the UAE to reform a restrictive visa system and pass a labour law for domestic workers to stop the abuses.
 
AFP
11 years ago

Security sources have told Reuters three members of Egypt's security forces have been killed in an attack near al-Arish, in the north Sinai peninsula.

Armed men shot at security forces manning a checkpoint in the town close to Egypt's border with Gaza. It is not known at this stage if the three killed were soldiers or police.

The latest attack came just hours after a huge car bomb in the same area killed at least 26 soldiers and wounded 25 others, in the deadliest day of violence in the restive peninsula for years.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has called an emergency defence meeting and authorities have cut all communications in the Sinai Peninsula.

11 years ago

Reuters are reporting a new attack in the North Sinai Peninsula has killed at least three Egyptian soldiers.

An earlier attack killed at least 26 soldiers and injured 25 others, according to security sources, in the deadliest day of violence in Egypt's Sinai for years.

More to follow.

11 years ago
https://twitter.com/OccPalGaza/status/525687640218030080
11 years ago
11 years ago

The Turkish Anadolu Agency (AA) says no Egyptian soldiers have been kidnapped in the Sinai Peninsula, as earlier reported on social media sites.

AA cited an unnamed source as having told them the news, after security officials earlier said they were looking into the reports.

26 soldiers are now confirmed dead after a suicide car bomb targeted a military checkpoint in a north Sinai town close to the border with Gaza.

11 years ago
Saudi Arabia on Friday beheaded a Pakistani man convicted of smuggling heroin into the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, the interior ministry said.
 
Butha Mushtaq was the third Pakistan executed on drug charges in Saudi Arabia since October 15.
 
He was found guilty of smuggling heroin concealed in capsules which he had swallowed, and executed in the capital Riyadh, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
 
His execution brings to 59 the number of people beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year.
11 years ago

Egypt's army are looking into reports three soldiers were kidnapped when a suicide car bomber struck a military checkpoint in the North Sinai on Friday.

The attack killed at least 25 soldiers and injured 26 others - clashes are said to be ongoing between militants and soldiers near the town of al-Arish close to the Gaza border.

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has called an emergency defence meeting in response to the deadliest attack in Egypt since 25 soldiers were killed by militants in near the border town of Rafah in 2012.

More to follow.

11 years ago
More than 100 people protested in eastern Saudi Arabia on Friday to oppose death sentences against Shiite religious leader Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and seven others convicted after earlier demonstrations, an activist said.
 
Following Friday prayers they marched in the community of Awamiya to oppose "all harsh sentences and the death penalty against eight people," the activist told AFP.
 
On Tuesday a Saudi court sentenced to death two people "as a deterrent to others" in connection with protests by members of the minority Shiite community that began three years ago.
 
They were tried on charges including "participating in marches and rallies that caused riots" in Awamiya, the official Saudi Press Agency reported without identifying the accused.
 
The activist said those sentenced to death were teenagers at the time of their arrest, and are among a total of eight who have received the death sentence.
11 years ago

A suicide attack on a military checkpoint in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula Wednesday has killed at least twenty-five soldiers and injured twenty-six others, according to security sources.

It is the deadliest attack on Egyptian troops since twenty-five were killed near the border town of Rafah in August 2013.

11 years ago

A Sky News Arabia correspondent has reported 5 dead and 11 injured in explosion at a military point in south Sheikh Zuwaid in north Sinai, Egypt

11 years ago

Three Al Jazeera journalists have now spent 300 days in a Cairo prison, after a trial Human Rights Watch have dubbed a "miscarriage of justice."

Baher Mohammed, an Egyptian citizen, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in June.

Peter Greste, an Australian, and Al Jazeera English bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy, a dual Canadian-Egyptian citizen, were both handed down seven-year sentences.

Charges included editing video footage to "give the appearance that Egypt is in a civil war", and supporting a "terrorist organisation."

The Muslim Brotherhood were declared a terrorist organisation by Egyptian authorities in December 2013.

Al Jazeera have mobilised support for the journalists under the hashtag #FreeAJStaff.

The background of al-Jazeera's studio broadcasts throughout the day today (Twitter / @KamahlAJE)
11 years ago

Canada’s consulate in Istanbul has called in Turkish investigators to check a suspicious package which arrived at the building on Friday.

Security officials at the consulate in the Levent district notified the Turkish authorities after a letter containing an unknown yellow substance was detected.

A statement from the Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said a chemical, radiology and nuclear team was dispatched to the scene to inspect the package.

“The air conditioning system was immediately shut down and people who were exposed to the package were kept in the room as a precaution.”

According to information from the Canadian consulate, one person came directly into contact with the suspicious package and six other people had indirect exposure.

The scare comes amid heightened security within Canada, after a lone gunman shot and killed a guard at Canada’s parliament building, attempting to open fire inside the building.