There are 416 articles

  • UN: Clashes in Iraq's Anbar displaced 300,000

    Violence in Iraq's Sunni-dominated Anbar province, where armed groups fully control one city and parts of another, has displaced up to 300,000 people in six weeks, the United Nations has said. The province has been hit by a surge in fighting between pro- and anti-government forces that began at the end of last year, as Iraq suffers its worst violence.. More

  • Civilian carnage surges in Afghanistan

    Wheeling himself out of the children's ward of Kabul's Emergency Surgical Centre for War Victims, Qasem appeared unmoved by the autumn sun and flowers he turned his wheelchair to face. "I'll never get better," the seven-year-old from Ghazni province said as his left leg protruded from the red-and-black wheelchair he has been relegated to.. More

  • UN decries child abuse in Syria

    The United Nations has accused both sides to the Syria conflict of grave violations against children. Children caught in the Syrian war are being recruited as child soldiers, used as human shields, and tortured, according to a new UN report. The report, released on Tuesday, found that in the early stages of the nearly three-year conflict, the Syrian.. More

  • UN: At least 733 Iraqis killed in January

    The United Nations has said that at least 733 Iraqis were killed during violence in January, even when leaving out casualties from an embattled western province of Anbar. The figures issued on Saturday by the UN's mission to Iraq (UNAMI) show that 618 civilians and 115 members of the security forces were killed last month. Baghdad was the worst affected.. More

  • UN: attacks on West Bank Palestinians on rise

    The number of attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has increased every year for the past eight years, according to figures from the United Nations. About 2,100 attacks have been launched by Israelis since 2006 and annual totals are up from 115 that year to 399 in 2013, according to the UN, which started counting such.. More

  • No end in sight for Egypt crackdown

    On the morning of October 31, 15-year-old Yomna Abu Eissa was wearing her school uniform and carrying her backpack when she was handcuffed and taken into custody in Alexandria, Egypt's second-biggest city . Her school uniform was ultimately replaced by the plain white garments worn by prisoners. In November, a court sentenced Yomna to 11 years in prison.. More

  • UNRWA: Israeli curbs halt Gaza projects

    The UN says it has halted work on all but one of its 20 building projects in the Gaza Strip as a result of an Israeli ban on importing building materials into the Palestinian territory. Israel imposed the ban after discovering on October 13 a 2.5km tunnel which it said "fighters planned to use for attacks inside its territory." "We.. More

  • Controversy as Palestinian prisoners freed

    Twenty-six Palestinian prisoners, some held in Israeli jails for more than two decades, were released to their families in a "gesture of good faith" by Israel's government. But critics say Tuesday's move should have been made decades ago under the Oslo Accords, and that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is milking the release for its own political.. More

  • Egypt tunnel closure costs Gaza millions

    Egypt's closure of tunnels used to smuggle goods into the Gaza strip has caused monthly losses of $230 million to its economy, a Hamas official has said. The "closure of the tunnels caused heavy losses to the industry, commerce, agriculture, transport and construction sectors" of about $230 million monthly, said Hatem Oweida, deputy economy.. More

  • Cruel exile for Syrian Palestinians

    Life in overcrowded refugee camps of Lebanon is proving difficult for Palestinians fleeing Syria. "We are discriminated against here. The Palestinians think we take their jobs and other things. But you see, here, we have nothing. We don't feel welcome." The Palestinian refugee from Syria sits in the single small room she occupies with her.. More

  • Survivors describe horrors of gas attack

    The early-morning barrage against opposition-held areas around the Syrian capital immediately seemed different this time: The rockets made a strange, whistling noise. Seconds after one hit near his home west of Damascus, Qusai Zakarya says, he couldn't breathe, and he desperately punched himself in the chest to get air. Meanwhile, in opposition-held.. More

  • Unrest in Egypt spells trouble for Gazans

    Visiting the Gaza Strip to join his Palestinian family during the Eid holiday has proven to be an unwise decision for Wael Salem, a 24-year-old engineering student. He didn't know he was putting his academic studies in Sweden at risk. Salem is stuck in Gaza because Egypt has closed the Rafah crossing point, the Palestinian enclave's main gateway not.. More

  • 'Family size' protests at Egypt's Rabaa al-Adawiya

    Life hasn't settled down in Egypt, the state going through the most important days of its history. Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has left behind 36 days of demonstrations at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square which has become the center of attention of the world recently. Crowded groups, at times exceeding millions, are determined to continue their.. More

  • A new life in Aleppo amid snipers, missiles and explosives

    One of the most memorable objects from the Bosnian war two decades ago was the sign that said "Pazi Snajper" (Watch out, sniper). Hundreds of Bosnians were killed by snipers up in hidden posts around Sarajevo. Dozens of people collapsed in streets, shot dead silently. It was the "sniper death," which struck suddenly, coming out.. More

  • Egypt's revolution: Dead or alive?

    As crowds dominate political discourse in Egypt - on one end, those who support the military, and on the other, backers of deposed president Mohamed Morsi - a middle ground is mourning the loss of a dream. "My hope was that we don't live in injustice anymore, because we were basically suffering with that for 30 years," said 33-year-old Hamdi.. More