Javier Espinosa and Ricardo García Vilanova released but Islamist extremists still hold over 40 other western hostages Two Spanish journalists kidnapped in northern Syria last September have been freed by their captors, ending a six-month ordeal in the hands of an extremist Islamist group that continues to hold more than 40 other western hostages. Javier Espinosa, a veteran correspondent for the Spanish...
The Arab world should again embrace the principles behind this great intellectual awakening and its dream of a borderless nation In the first months of 2014, in the midst of a crisis in Ukraine that recalls all but moribund European rivalries, much has rightfully been made of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the European civil war that would come to be known as the first world war. But, while...
US president said to be considering sending air defence systems to Syrian rebels following discussion with King Abdullah The United States is considering allowing shipments of portable air defence systems to Syrian rebels, as president Barack Obama sought to reassure Saudi Arabia's king that the US is not taking too soft a stance over the conflict. The president and King Abdullah met for more than...
Saudi royals alarmed by US stance on Iran and Syria but officials say visit will 'reaffirm the importance' of US-Saudi relations Barack Obama landed at a desert camp in Saudi Arabia on Friday to mend bridges with the kingdoms monarch, King Abdullah, after months of tension between the pair. The Saudi royal family has been alarmed by Washingtons move toward a rapprochement with Iran as it seeks an...
UNHCR ambassador pays tribute to victims of 1995 Srebrenica massacre and meets women raped during war in Bosnia Angelina Jolie has paid tribute to the victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre after urging the international community to stop the use of sexual violence as a war weapon. Jolie was accompanied by the British foreign secretary, William Hague, while on a trip to Bosnia. ...
Saudi Arabia is aggrieved with the US and the president will use his visit to assure the Kingdom that he is not neglecting them Barack Obama arrives in Riyadh on Friday seeking rapprochement with an aggrieved Arab ally whose interests are increasingly at odds with its key western backer. The US President's flying visit no more than an evening in the Saudi king's palace is his first since the ousting...
Security issues, damaged health infrastructure and large-scale displacement pose major obstacles to immunisation coverage A UN agency has described the reappearance of polio in Syria and Iraq as perhaps "the most challenging outbreak in the history of polio eradication" and repeated warnings that the virus could spread across the Middle East. ...
Ukip leader attacks EU's foreign policy, claiming it has provoked Russia and deepened Syria crisis by giving rebels false hope Nigel Farage intensified his attack on the EU's "vanity" foreign policy on Thursday as he accused Brussels of poking the "Russian bear with a stick" over Ukraine and of deepening the Syrian civil war by giving false hope to forces hoping to topple the Assad...
As the fourth year of conflict begins, the US prepares to reassess its policy with a Senate foreign relations committee this week Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula have dominated US foreign policy in the last few weeks, and President Barack Obama, at a European summit, lambasted the Russian leader for being a menace to the international system built over decades. But this...
The Abounaddara collective, whose works are showing at London's Human Rights Watch film festival , release a new short film on the internet every week, covertly challenging the world's ideas about life in Syria The uprising in Syria started in March 2011. From April 2011 onwards, the Abounaddara collective , a group of self-taught film-makers in Damascus, has been producing one short documentary every...
Several hundred of the most vulnerable victims of the Syrian war are expected to arrive over the next three months The first Syrian refugees have arrived in the UK under the government's scheme to take in some of the most vulnerable victims of the conflict. It is thought that around 10-20 people arrived on Tuesday, although several hundred are expected to come to the UK over the next three years under...
Second sustained attack mounted on area around Qardaha, as government troops protect Syrian leader's ancestral village. Syria's civil war edged closer to the home village of Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, with opposition groups mounting their second sustained attack on the area in the conflict. The push, which is entering its second week, has seen government troops and paramilitaries rush to reinforce...
First group of refugees arrives eight weeks after home secretary first announced vulnerable persons relocation scheme The first group of Syrian refugees has arrived in the UK under the government's scheme to take in some of the most vulnerable victims of the conflict. Several hundred Syrian arrivals are expected to come to the UK over the next three years under the vulnerable persons relocation (VPR)...
Turkish reports say jet went down in buffer zone along border as Syria says incident is a 'blatant aggression' Turkish fighter jets shot down a Syrian warplane after it violated Turkey's airspace on Sunday, Turkey's prime minister said. The Syrian military confirmed the incident, saying the plane was downed in Syrian airspace while attacking rebels. The unnamed spokesman quoted on Syrian state TV...
Turkish PM announces shooting down of Syrian jet in speech on plans to 'take measure against every attack' on national security Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan rallied hundreds of thousands of supporters on Sunday, dismissing accusations of intolerance by western and domestic critics. "I don't care who it is. I'm not listening," he said to cheers. Erdogan, tackling a corruption scandal that...
A project in Lebanon now schooling almost 150,000 child refugees shows that education beyond borders can be a reality – so long as governments play their part This week 148,000 Syrian child refugees in Lebanon are back in school. This is thanks to an innovative initiative that has dramatically changed the way we think of provisions for children in conflict. Having been deprived of an education by...
Traditional peace-making attemps are bogged down by bureaucracy and hostility. Give us neutral mediators who can act early on Institutions do not decide to go to war or to make peace or decide who to destroy or kill; those actions are the responsibility of individuals. So to try to understand the root causes of conflict only in terms of power politics and resources, without also understanding human...
The best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week Jim Powell Sean O'Hagan ...
EU warns that situation in east Europe has shifted attention from other crises and impacted upon diplomatic cooperation The deteriorating relationship between Russia and the west over Ukraine could have profound ramifications for the dire humanitarian situation in Syria, where the UN estimates 9.3 million people need help. The European commissioner on humanitarian aid warned that the escalating diplomatic...
Chronic scarcity, overuse, waste and a surge in demand caused by refugees has paved the way for desalination plan Jordan, one of the most water-scarce states, is facing a perfect storm of pressures including chronic scarcity, overuse, waste and a surge in demand caused by refugee arrivals, according to a report by Mercy Corps , an NGO. To add to the water stress, the country is undergoing its driest...