Pope Francis made an urgent plea Saturday for peace in war-torn Syria as he kicked off a three-day pilgrimage to the Middle East, AFP reports. And he called for religious freedom to be upheld throughout a region ravaged by war and bloodshed, where a dwindling Christian population faces daily persecution. As he walked
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to win the presidential election in Egypt next week, urged Egyptians on Friday to vote in large numbers in the vote on Monday and Tuesday. "You went down (to the streets) because Egypt was in danger on June 30," 2013, Sisi said in an interview to four television
One of the people who were wounded on the Mavi Marmara vessel during the 2010 flotilla passed away on Friday, four years after the incident, Turkish media reported. The man was identified as 51-year-old Ugur Suleyman Soylemez, who was in a coma over the past four years. The Mavi Marmara, which claimed to
Ramadan Salah, leader of the Gaza-based terror organization Islamic Jihad, declared to the Arabic paper Al-Hayat on Tuesday that his group "is prepared to join the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) on a new political and organizational basis." The PLO has achieved international recognition as the representative of the "Palestinian people" since the 1993 Oslo
Libya remained on the brink of civil war Friday amid a lingering standoff between forces loyal to a renegade general vowing to eradicate extremist elements in the North African country and militias backing the Islamist-dominated parliament in the capital Tripoli. The escalating violence that threatens to further split the country drew calls for a
The leader of an Al-Qaeda-inspired group that fired rockets from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula towards the Israeli city of Eilat was killed in a drive-by shooting on Thursday, The Associated Press (AP) reports. Three associates of the leader of the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group were killed in the same incident as well, senior Egyptian security
The Palestinian Authority (PA) plans to modify history by modifying classical art, in an exhibit it commissioned to show Pope Francis during his visit to Bethlehem next Sunday, which presents Jesus as a "suffering Palestinian." The Palestinian Museum arranged exhibit features an array of collages mixing classical paintings of Christian art with photographs of
Three bombs targeting Shia pilgrims in Baghdad have killed at least 28 people and wounded dozens more, Iraqi security and medical officials said. Al Jazeera reported that Thursday's attacks struck Mansur in west Baghdad, Baab al-Sharji in the center of the city, and the neighborhood of Shaab, as worshippers prepared to commemorate the death
A leading Syrian opposition figure has claimed western states could send desperately-needed arms to rebel groups in Syria "within weeks". The comments were made by Syrian National Coalition (SNC) president Ahmed Al-Jarba in an interview with the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat, and came on the heels of whirlwind of meetings in the US, UK and
Mohammed Badie, the spiritual leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, claimed during his trial that his movement was not against Egypt but only against the Jews. Footage from the trial was posted to the internet and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Badie faces charges that include inciting violence during a
