Latest Middle East News
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Hezbollah admits to Israel drone
Sina English The leader of Lebanese Shia militant movement Hezbollah has said that his group was behind the launch of a drone shot down over Israel last week. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told the movement's al-Manar television network that the drone was made in Iran and had flown over "sensitive sites" in Israel. Israeli fighter planes shot down the drone north of the Negev desert ...
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Syria denies Turkeys claims of ammunition aboard Syrian flight
DAMASCUS, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Foreign Ministry on Thursday refuted as "absolutely untrue" the allegations made by Turkish officials that the Syrian plane grounded a day earlier in Turkey was carrying ammunition. Jihad Makdissi, a Syrian foreign ministry spokesman, said in a brief statement that the Turkish officials' allegations are " absolutely untrue," ...
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U.S. supports inspection of plane carrying Syria-bound munitions
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Thursday voiced support for Turkey's inspection of a Syrian passenger plane allegedly carrying Russian-made munitions destined for Syria's defense ministry. "We strongly support the government of Turkey's decision to inspect the plane," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters at a regular news ...
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Syria says Turkey must display confiscated gears to prove its claims
DAMASCUS, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Syrian Information Ministry on Thursday rejected Turkish claims that the Syrian commercial plane grounded forcefully in Turkey was carrying ammunition, challenging Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to display the confiscated gears to prove the claims. In a statement carried by the state TV, the ministry said the Syrian commercial plane was not carrying ...
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News Analysis An unpopular war with Syria to cost Turkey dearly
ANKARA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- In case Turkey decides to go to a war with its southern neighbor Syria, it will be a formidable challenge for Turkey, alone or in cooperation with other countries, analysts say. The tensions between the two former allies have already escalated to a new peak, with Turkish military retaliating to Syrian mortar shells almost on a daily basis for more than a week. On ...
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Syrian plane carrying Russian-made munitions Turkish PM
ANKARA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday the Syrian passenger plane which was forced to land in the Turkish capital of Ankara a day earlier was carrying Russian-made munitions destined for Syria's defense ministry. With debates surrounding an intercepted Syrian plane in full swing, Erdogan said that the plane was forced to land because a ...
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Syria slams Turkeys grounding of civilian airplane
DAMASCUS, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- After a week full of tension on the Turkish-Syrian borders over the cross fire between both sides, Syria broke the silence on Thursday and lashed out at the Turkish government after a Syrian civilian plane was grounded a day earlier in Turkey amid testimonies that the Turks attacked the plane crew. Syria's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jihad Makdissi regarded the ...
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Remains of missing Israeli soldier found after 7 years
The Israeli military announced Thursday that the remains of a soldier, missing since 2005, have been found. Majdi Halabi, a resident of the northern Druze village of Daliat al-Carmel, went missing under mysterious circumstances in May that year while hitchhiking from a bus station to his military base near the port city of Haifa, and was formally declared missing in action two weeks later. He ...
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News analysis Should Turkey revise its Syrian policy
by Shi Zhuying ISTANBUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The latest shelling incident in which Syrian mortar attack killed five Turkish citizens on the border triggered fierce debates on Turkey's Syrian policy. Despite escalated tension between Ankara and Damascus, solution of the ongoing Syrian crisis remains in deadlock. Whether Turkey should re-examine its Syrian policy has become the most ...
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Turkish airplanes change route to avoid Syrian air space
ISTANBUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish national air carrier Thursday modified the air route of civilian airplanes carrying pilgrims to Jeddah in order not to pass through Syrian air space. Local Dogan News Agency reported that the decision came after a Syrian passenger plane was forced to land in Ankara on Wednesday by Turkish authorities on suspicions that it was carrying military equipment ...
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Pakistan schools shut to protest Taliban shooting of young activist
Many schools in Pakistan's Swat Valley closed their doors in protest yesterday and the country's army chief vowed to fight on against militants as anger erupted across the nation over the Taliban attack on a 14-year-old activist famed for promoting girls' education. Malala Yousufzai was in the intensive care unit at a military hospital in Peshawar, recovering from an early ...
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Russia demands explanations from Turkey over forceful landing of Syrian plane
MOSCOW, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Moscow demanded explanations from Ankara on Thursday after Turkish warplanes intercepted a Syrian passenger plane with 17 Russian citizens aboard. The Damascus-bound plane, carrying a total of 35 passengers aboard, was forced to land in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Wednesday over intelligence of "non-civilian cargo". According to the Russian Foreign ...
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Lebanon to stay away from Syrian turmoil President
BEIRUT, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Suleiman stressed that Lebanon would continue to stay away from the Syrian turmoil, as "good security situation in Lebanon suits all regional parties." "The turmoil in Syria is worrying for Lebanon, as the people of two countries have close relations," Suleiman said in an interview to the NBN TV on Wednesday night. ...
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Syria stops purchase of electricity from Turkey
ANKARA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Syria has stopped purchasing electricity from Turkey, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters on Thursday. "Syria halted its power purchases from Turkey a week ago," Yildiz said, without elaborating on the reason of cancellation. However, Ankara was ready to resume electricity supply if Syria requests, he added. Turkey had been providing 20 ...
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Al-Qaida assassinates security coordinator between Yemen U.S.
SANAA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Suspected al-Qaida militants killed a senior Yemeni security coordinator between the Yemeni government and the U.S. embassy in the capital Sanaa on Thursday, said an official of the Yemeni interior ministry. "Qasim Aklan, the Yemeni security coordinator between the Yemeni government and the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, who also works as director of terror-related ...
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8 killed 20 injured as passenger bus hits landmine in NW Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 20 others injured as a passenger bus hit a landmine in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Orakzai Agency on Thursday morning, reported local media ...
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Pentagon deploys military forces to Jordan-Syria border
US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has confirmed that US troops have been dispatched to the Jordan-Syrian border to help bolster the former's military capabilities in case violence escalates in the volatile region. "We have a group of our forces there working to help build a headquarters there and to insure that we make the relationship between the United States and Jordan a strong ...
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Tribute to gunshot girl in Pakistan
Pakistani civil society activists carry candles to pay tribute to gunshot victim Malala Yousafzai and protest against her assassination attempt in eastern Pakistan's Lahore on Oct. 10, 2012. Pakistani Taliban Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai, Pakistan's first National Peace Award winner. (Xinhua/Jamil ...
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Afghan police kill 23 militants detain 33 within day govt
KABUL, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Afghan police, backed by the army and the NATO-led coalition forces, have killed 23 anti-government militants and detained 33 other suspects within the last 24 hours, the country's Interior Ministry said Thursday morning. "Afghan National Police (ANP) supporting by the army and coalition forces conducted eight cleanup operations in Sari Pul, Ghazni, Kunduz, ...
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US meningitis outbreak death toll rises to 12
The death toll from an American meningitis outbreak linked to tainted medication has reached 12, according to US officials, who have documented more than 120 infections in 10 states. Officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said as many as 13,000 people might have received doses of the contaminated steroid injection that has caused an outbreak of the rare fungal ...
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Grounded Syrian plane en route to Damascus
The Syrian plane with Russian passengers on board has flown from Ankara and is on its way to Damascus. The Damascus-bound passenger jet left Moscow on Wednesday and shortly after entering the Turkish airspace was forced to land at Ankara airport. The Turkish authorities suspected the plane had prohibited cargo on board. A subsequent search revealed a number of spare parts for military radio ...
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Turkey intercepts Syrian plane as tensions mount
People gather atop the aircraft steps at a Syrian passenger plane that was forced by Turkish jets to land at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Burhan ...
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U.S. Israel to launch massive air defense drill
The U.S. and Israeli militaries are engaged in final preparations for the largest-ever joint missile defense drill in the allies' history. The three-week exercise, dubbed Austere Challenge 12 (AC12), will start on Oct. 21, The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday, citing an army source. American officers are reportedly already in Israel to supervise the arrival of hundreds of troops and ...
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The lives of Afghan women
Afghan women wait for their turn to get registered at a voter registration centre in Kabul July 13, 2010. Afghanistan will hold parliamentary elections on September 18. ...
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5.2-magnitude quake hits southern Iran USGS
An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted southern Iran on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. According to a report on the USGS website, the quake occurred at 8:26 p.m. local time (1656 GMT) on Wednesday. The epicenter, with a depth of 15.8 km, was initially determined to be at 29.338 degrees north latitude and 52.546 degrees east longitude, said the ...
Middle East Focus
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Israel and Palestine as one country?
Peace in the Middle East, it’s as illusive now as it was ten years ago and ten years before that. For many commentators, peace in the Middle East has become a myth, something local and international governments strive for or claim to support without any real hope of realization of the goal. With the current impasse between Israel and the Palestinian Authority ongoing, an old theme is being kicked around again, that of a single state that incorporates Israel and Palestine.
A single state solution is an idea that grew up in the 1920s and then died with the Six-Day War when divisions between the newly-founded Israeli state and the rest of the region were too entrenched for the idea to retain any traction. The political landscape after the war and even today is what many Jewish groups feared when Jewish Zionists were calling for a return to the biblical homeland to develop a Jewish state. Read more
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