World

Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill Police Chief, Two Dozen Others
Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill Police Chief, Two Dozen Others

Israel struck a declared humanitarian zone in southern Gaza overnight, which rescuers on Thursday said killed the head of the Palestinian territory's Hamas-run police force, his deputy and nine others. Gaza's civil defense agency said two other Israeli strikes elsewhere in the territory later on Thursday killed 14 Palestinians. The ...

Syria Minister Defends Controversial School Curriculum Changes
Syria Minister Defends Controversial School Curriculum Changes

Syria's education minister on Thursday sought to minimize curriculum changes announced this week by the new Islamist-led authorities, after activists denounced them as "extremist" and potentially harmful to religious minorities. The amendments were announced Wednesday on the Facebook page of the interim leadership's education ministry, a little ...

Iran Lifts WhatsApp Ban, but Other Restrictions Persist
Iran Lifts WhatsApp Ban, but Other Restrictions Persist

Ardavan Yousefi has gotten so used to life under Iran's sweeping internet restrictions that for him, a recent decision to lift a ban on messaging service WhatsApp went virtually unnoticed. "Is it really removed now?" Yousefi, a café owner from the capital Tehran, said of the two-year ban on the popular application. To be certain, he switched ...

Syrian Forces Launch Security Sweep in Homs
Syrian Forces Launch Security Sweep in Homs

Syrian security forces are conducting an operation in Homs city, state media reported on Thursday, with a monitor saying it targeted two districts that are home to the Alawite minority of toppled president Bashar al-Assad. "The Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with the Military Operations Department, begins a wide-scale combing operation in ...

Turkish Pro-Kurdish Party Meets Leaders Amid Renewed Dialogue Efforts with PKK
Turkish Pro-Kurdish Party Meets Leaders Amid Renewed Dialogue Efforts with PKK

A delegation from Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition DEM party said it would meet Thursday with the parliamentary speaker and far-right MHP leader amid tentative efforts to resume dialogue between Ankara and the banned PKK militant group. In a statement, DEM said its three-person delegation would meet with Speaker Numan Kurtulmus at 1:30 pm (1030 ...

At Least 12 Dead in Montenegro Shooting Spree
At Least 12 Dead in Montenegro Shooting Spree

A gunman who started a shooting spree at a restaurant in southern Montenegro killed a total of 12 people, including two children, a prosecutor said on Thursday. "Twelve people were killed, two of whom were children," prosecutor Andrijana Nastic told reporters in Cetinje, raising the previous toll of at least 10 from Wednesday's attack. The ...

Israel's Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Resigns From Knesset
Israel's Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Resigns From Knesset

Israel's former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who was dismissed in November after spearheading the military campaign in Gaza for more than a year, announced Wednesday that he would resign from parliament. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sacked Gallant, saying there was a "breakdown in trust" amid disagreements between the two on several ...

Attack in New Orleans: The Suspect is An Ex-Military Man ‘Inspired’ By The Islamic State Group
Attack in New Orleans: The Suspect is An Ex-Military Man ‘Inspired’ By The Islamic State Group

Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, the deceased suspect in the ram-vehicle attack in New Orleans that killed at least 15 people on Wednesday, was ‘inspired’ by the Islamic State group and had reportedly become radicalised in recent years. An estate agent and former soldier, the man was a 42-year-old American citizen born in Texas. US President Joe ...