By: VENETIA RAINEY Beirut, Lebanon – There is no longer any point in saying Lebanon is “on the brink”. The tiny Mediterranean country has been described as such for years, and it has proven itself more than able to soldier on – with help from the international community. These last few days have shown the […]
Jihadi hostage-taking: Could it get out of control in Lebanon?
By Nicholas Blanford While the world has been transfixed – and horrified – by the gruesome and chilling hostage dramas played out in the Middle East these past months, Lebanon has been gripped by its own increasingly convoluted kidnapping crisis. The lives of some 26 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hang in the balance as the […]
Abu Dhabi announces arrest of suspect in murder of US teacher
Police in Abu Dhabi trumpeted their arrest of a suspect Thursday in the stabbing death of an American teacher with a slickly-produced video (embedded below) purportedly showing officers getting their instructions and racing through city streets to an opulent home where they executed a dramatic raid. Monday’s murder of Ibolya Ryan, 47, by a burka-clad […]
American woman teacher fatally stabbed in Abu Dhabi, UAE
A 37-year-old American school teacher was fatally stabbed in a bathroom in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall Monday. “The injured woman was immediately rushed to Sheikh Khalifa Medical City where she succumbed to the wounds she sustained in the attack,” police said in a statement. A suspect, wearing a black robe and full-face hijab, was […]
Syria denied ever using chemical weapons
Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad denied yesterday that his government had ever used chemical weapons or chlorine during the brutal war in his country. Mekdad was speaking at a meeting of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as the group comes close to fully eliminating Damascus’ deadly stockpile of nerve agents and […]
Pope says it is wrong to equate Islam with violence
Pope Francis said on Sunday that equating Islam with violence was wrong and called on Muslim leaders to issue a global condemnation of terrorism to help dispel the stereotype. Francis, the leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, told reporters aboard his plane returning from a visit to Turkey that he understood why Muslims were offended […]
Nigeria mosque blasts death toll tops 102
Kano, Nigeria – More than 102 people were killed in the bomb explosions at the central mosque in this city, said a hospital worker. A mortuary attendant at the Murtala specialist hospital Kano, Malam Isa Labaran, on Saturday told Associated Press that he counted over 102 dead bodies deposited inside the mortuary on Friday after […]
Execution of abducted soldier postponed as Lebanon cabinet mulls direct negotiations
The al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front retracted its decision on Friday to execute captive soldier Ali al-Bazzal and the cabinet decided to have direct negotiations with the abductors . Health Minister Wael Abou Faour confirmed al-Nusra decision, saying it has postponed the execution. “The cabinet stresses its serious efforts to resolve the case of captive servicemen through […]
Saudi Arabia urges UN to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group
Saudi Arabia asked On Wednesday the U.N. Security Council to add Hezbollah to its list of “terrorist organizations”. “We call on the council to place Hezbollah on the list of terrorist organizations,” Saudi envoy to the Security Council Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said. Mouallimi stressed that his country is committed to “international cooperation aimed at eradicating terrorism,” […]
FBI tracking 150 Americans who may have traveled to Syria to fight
The Federal Bureau of Investigations is tracking close to 150 Americans it believes traveled to Syria in recent months, potentially to join armed groups, FBI Director James Comey said on Tuesday. He said Americans fighting with foreign jihadist groups are a top concern for the FBI because of the possibility they could return to the […]