| Pro-Iran Hezbollah says Riyadh will be 'defeated' in Yemen Posted: 27 Mar 2015 02:43 PM PDT  Saudi Arabia will be roundly "defeated" in its air campaign against Yemen, Hassan Nasrallah, head of Lebanon's pro-Iran movement Hezbollah, said Friday, calling on Arab leaders to stop the "aggression". "The outcome of this war is clear: Saudi Arabia will be defeated and the Yemeni people will have an undeniable victory," Nasrallah said in a televised speech. Hezbollah is now militarily involved in Syria, where it is bolstering the embattled regime, and in Iraq where it says it is fighting Sunni extremists. A months-long rebellion by Shiite fighters in Yemen escalated into a regional conflict Wednesday, when a coalition led by Saudi Arabia began conducting air strikes on rebel-held territory.
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| Nigeria: Boko Haram's caliphate to the fall of Gwoza Posted: 27 Mar 2015 02:14 PM PDT  On August 24, 2014, the leader of the extremist group, Abubakar Shekau, announces that Gwoza, which the group seized in June, is part of an Islamic caliphate. On September 2, Boko Haram fighters take over the town of Bama in Borno state, following heavy fighting with government troops, 75 kilometres (45 miles) from the group's spiritual home, Maiduguri. Bama's fall comes several days after that of the border town of Gamboru, which had already been targeted by Boko Haram gunmen in May, razing the town and killing at least 300 people, locals say. On January 3, 2015, Boko Haram attacks the town of Baga on the banks of Lake Chad, where the borders of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger converge.
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| Saudi pounds Yemen rebel camps, Arab allies gather Posted: 27 Mar 2015 02:00 PM PDT  Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed rebel camps in Yemen Friday in a second day of strikes as embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi arrived in Egypt for talks with Arab allies. A months-long rebellion by Shiite fighters has escalated into a regional conflict that threatens to tear apart the impoverished state at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia has vowed to do "whatever it takes" to prevent Hadi's fall, accusing Shiite Iran of "aggression" and backing the Huthi rebels' power grab. Amid the air raids and scattered fighting, a call for a ceasefire was issued by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, suspected of being allied with the rebels.
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| France calls for Islamic State to be referred to ICC Posted: 27 Mar 2015 01:53 PM PDT  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief told the Security Council on Friday that in a "most terrible irony," the Islamic State group may be more accepting of the ethnic diversity of its members than some states are about ethnic differences among their own citizens.
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| Hezbollah leader slams Saudi intervention in Yemen Posted: 27 Mar 2015 01:36 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group unleashed a tirade against Saudi Arabia on Friday over its intervention in Yemen, calling it "surprising and painful," and suggesting Riyadh would suffer a "humiliating defeat" if it didn't resolve the conflict through negotiations.
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| Iraq paramilitaries freeze Tikrit ops over US strikes Posted: 27 Mar 2015 12:55 PM PDT  Key groups in Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilisation forces, which have played a leading role in the ongoing assault on Tikrit, are freezing their participation in offensive operations, commanders said Friday. While the move appeals to Washington, which wants distance from militias accused of human rights abuses, it will also blunt the offensive capabilities of pro-government ground forces in the battle to retake Tikrit from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. The United States launched its first air strikes in support of the Tikrit operation on Wednesday, sparking the freeze by militia units in the Popular Mobilisation forces, or Hashad al-Shaabi in Arabic, which had repeatedly voiced opposition to American intervention. "We consider this a break until the coalition issue is resolved," one commander, who gave his name as Baqir, told AFP in Awja, just south of Tikrit.
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| A look at America's complicated collage of a Mideast policy Posted: 27 Mar 2015 12:46 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States' engagement in the volatile and unpredictable Middle East got more complicated this week, as American and Iranian negotiators sought a historic nuclear agreement while the U.S. provided intelligence for a Saudi-led air campaign against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen.
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| French FM warns Middle East minorities could 'disappear entirely' Posted: 27 Mar 2015 12:37 PM PDT  Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities under attack in the Middle East could "disappear entirely" unless the world takes action to protect them, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Friday. Fabius told a UN Security Council debate that an "action charter" was needed to address the violence that saw 20 Coptic Christians beheaded in Libya last month. "The danger is that minorities will disappear entirely," Fabius said. Islamic State militants in Iraq, Syria and Libya have targeted religious minorities in attacks, notably Yazidis in a campaign that UN investigators have said probably amounts to genocide.
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| Ahead of nuclear deadline, Iran and US grope for trust Posted: 27 Mar 2015 11:05 AM PDT Iran and six world powers may in coming days reach a framework agreement on the country's nuclear program. Mr. Khamenei said the US was "hypocritical and deceitful," that Obama included "dishonest" statements in his Persian New Year (Nowruz) message, and that Iran wouldn't accept "America's imposition and bullying" in the talks. |
| Official: 1,500 North Caucasus people fight in Iraq, Syria Posted: 27 Mar 2015 09:57 AM PDT MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian official says about 1,500 residents of Russia's North Caucasus are fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. |
| UN orders investigation into Libya rights abuses Posted: 27 Mar 2015 08:32 AM PDT  The UN Human Rights Council decided Friday to send a mission to war-torn Libya to investigate a range of abuses by different sides and help bring perpetrators to justice. The 47-member rights body adopted by consensus a resolution asking the UN rights chief to "urgently" dispatch a team of investigators to Libya. Libya hailed the decision. "There needs to be investigation of violations of human rights to ensure there is no impunity in this case," Libyan representative Salwa El-Deghili told the council.
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| Boko Haram fighters told to 'kill wives' as troops take its 'HQ' Posted: 27 Mar 2015 07:38 AM PDT  Nigeria's military on Friday announced that troops had retaken the town of Gwoza from Boko Haram, from which the group declared their caliphate last year. Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade told a news conference in the capital, Abuja, that the recapture came after "concerted and well-coordinated land and air operations". "A lot of arms and ammunition have been recovered and the administrative headquarters (of Boko Haram) completely destroyed," he said. Earlier this month, residents who fled the town in Borno state told AFP that militants had been massing in Gwoza and killing local people who were unable to flee.
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| Iraqi Shiite cleric calls for unity after militia pullout Posted: 27 Mar 2015 06:53 AM PDT  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric on Friday called for unity among the country's forces battling the Islamic State group after most of the Iran-backed Shiite militias pulled out of the offensive in the militant-held city of Tikrit in protest over U.S. airstrikes there.
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| Complex US-Iran ties at heart of complicated Mideast policy Posted: 27 Mar 2015 05:36 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. and Iranian diplomats gather at a Baroque palace in Europe, a historic nuclear agreement within reach. Over Iraq's deserts, their militaries fight a common foe. Leaders in Washington and Tehran, capitals once a million miles from each other in ideological terms, wrestle for the first time in decades with the notion of a rapprochement. |
| Pakistan mulling Saudi request to send ground troops to Yemen Posted: 27 Mar 2015 05:23 AM PDT The Sunni Muslim monarchy has been assembling allies to defend Yemen's weak government against rebels backed by both Iran and a former Yemeni president. The Pakistani foreign ministry confirmed that the Saudis have asked Pakistan contribute ground forces to Yemen, Reuters reports, but Defense Minister Khawaja Asif indicated that Pakistan is reluctant to get involved. We have not promised any military support to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen," Asif told parliament. "In Syria, Yemen and Iraq, division is being fueled and it needs to be contained. |
| The Shocking Torture the U.S. Unwittingly Condones Posted: 27 Mar 2015 04:00 AM PDT The Middle East has never been a haven for human rights, but throughout the region these days — from Iraq to Syria, Egypt to Libya — the war against ISIS is being used as an excuse for unprecedented, wide scale abuse, torture and unlawful killing conducted by government forces. In many cases, a sentenced ISIS member whose actions killed hundreds of civilians is freed one way or another before his death sentence is carried out. |
| What's at Stake in Tikrit Posted: 27 Mar 2015 04:00 AM PDT  An American-led coalition launched 17 airstrikes in Iraq late Wednesday night, hammering Islamic State positions in the northern city of Tikrit. President Barack Obama reportedly approved the U.S. strikes after a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, on the condition that Iraqi government forces working closely with American troops assume primary command of the anti-ISIS operation. A group of Shiite militias, supported and advised by Iranian forces, took the lead role in the battle for Tikrit in early March, while the United States focused on striking ISIS in other areas. The battle may also have implications for which country—Iran or the United States—has more leverage with Iraqi leaders in the future.
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| 10 Things to Know for Today Posted: 27 Mar 2015 03:02 AM PDT  Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
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| Iraqi Sunni tribe wages costly battle against IS group Posted: 26 Mar 2015 11:29 PM PDT  DULUIYAH, Iraq (AP) — The consequences of the al-Jabouri tribe's decision to ally with Iraq's Shiite-led government against their fellow Sunnis in the Islamic State group are etched on row after row of gravestones in this palm-shaded town by the Tigris River.
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| Arabs inch closer to old dream of joint Arab force Posted: 26 Mar 2015 11:26 PM PDT  SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Arab leaders meeting this weekend in this Egyptian Red Sea resort are moving closer than ever to creating a joint Arab military force, a sign of a new determination among Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies to intervene aggressively in regional hotspots, whether against Islamic militants or spreading Iranian power.
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| Australia bids farewell to former PM Fraser at state funeral Posted: 26 Mar 2015 08:20 PM PDT  Hundreds of mourners gathered Friday at a state funeral for former conservative prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who came to power in 1975 with Australia's greatest constitutional crisis and died last week aged 84. Prime Minister Tony Abbott attended the ceremony at Melbourne's Scots' Church along with former prime ministers Julia Gillard, John Howard and Paul Keating. Fraser's close friend and a minister in his government, Peter Nixon, said the nation had lost a "unique and great Australian". "His contributions were always thoughtful." Fraser died last Friday after a short illness, just five months after the death of Gough Whitlam, the man he dramatically replaced after the Labor leader became Australia's only prime minister to be sacked.
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| With Yemen strikes, Saudis show growing independence from U.S. Posted: 26 Mar 2015 06:25 PM PDT By Matt Spetalnick, Warren Strobel and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia kept some key details of its military action in Yemen from Washington until the last moment, U.S. officials said, as the kingdom takes a more assertive regional role to compensate for perceived U.S. disengagement. The Middle East's top oil power told the United States weeks ago it was weighing action in Yemen but only informed Washington of the exact details just before Thursday's unprecedented air strikes against Iran-allied Houthi rebels, the officials said. U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East policy increasingly relies on surrogates rather than direct U.S. military involvement. |
| The amazing Ikea project that you’ll hopefully never have to use Posted: 26 Mar 2015 06:15 PM PDT Ikea isn't only using its furniture building know-how to create some interesting pieces for your home, but it's also working on projects that could be a lot more useful for people who find themselves in need of emergency shelters. Such is the case of the Better Shelter modular home for refugees that can offer better shelter than the usual tents you see on TV whenever reports about refugees are aired. FROM EARLIER: A top designer left Apple to build Apple Watch's first real competitor: Olio Model One The Ikea Foundation worked with the UN on the modular system's design, and Gizmodo reports that 10,000 Better Shelters have already been ordered after being tested by displaced families in Iraq and Ethiopia. |
| Assad 'welcomes' larger Russian naval presence in Syria Posted: 26 Mar 2015 05:22 PM PDT  Syria would welcome an increased Russian military presence at its sea ports, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russian news channels published Friday. "I can say with complete confidence that we welcome any widening of the Russian presence in the eastern Mediterranean and on Syrian coasts and ports," including the port of Tartus, Assad said. Russia operates a naval base in Tartus along Syria's western shores that includes warships, barracks and warehouses. Assad told the reporters of eight news channels that Russian military support to Syria "has continued" throughout the past four years of war in his country.
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| In Yemen, US gambles on Saudis as sectarian war looms Posted: 26 Mar 2015 05:13 PM PDT  As the United States backs a Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, Washington runs the risk of undercutting its diplomacy with Iran and becoming embroiled in a regional sectarian conflict running from Aleppo to Sanaa. Despite the risks, and with negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program at a crucial moment, President Barack Obama swiftly endorsed air strikes by a coalition of Gulf countries against Iranian-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen on Wednesday.
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