Islamic State attacked an Iraqi police checkpoint near the southern city of Najaf on Sunday, killing seven policemen as government forces in the north made more gains against the militants in Mosul, their last major stronghold in the country. The Najaf attack, which involved gunmen and a suicide car bomb, followed blasts a day earlier […]
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Pope Francis in his year-end message urged leaders on Saturday to do more to tackle youth unemployment, saying a generation was being lost to desperation, migration and joblessness. At his last public event of 2016, an evening vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica, the 80-year-old Francis said doors had to be opened for young people […]
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Iraqi forces are facing fierce resistance from Islamic State militants in southern Mosul on their second day of a renewed push to take back the city after fighting stalled for several weeks. Nathan Frandino reports. Firing from the sky and on the ground, Iraqi forces engage Islamic State fighters during the second day of a […]
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Syrian rebel officials said on Thursday that a ceasefire deal agreed with the government included Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the al-Qaeda linked Nusra Front, although the army said that was not the case. The Syrian army has announced a nationwide halt to military operations to begin at midnight on Thursday, excluding Islamic State […]
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Pope Francis paid tribute on Monday to Middle East Christians who have clung to their faith during persecution by Islamist militants, saying there are more Christians martyrs now than in the Church’s early days. The pope spoke to thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for his holiday blessing on the feast of St. Stephen, […]
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Refugees walk through the Khazer camp near Erbil, Iraq on Dec. 12, 2016. The camp is home to more than 29,000 Iraqis who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul. Families living in the camp say there are shortages of blankets, heating fuel, food and drinking water.
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Christians in Baghdad celebrated Christmas on Sunday in a heightened state of fear after deadly attacks on Christian-owned shops that sell alcohol. Two shops next door to each other were riddled with bullet holes and spattered with blood after gunmen opened fire late on Friday in Baghdad’s Ghadeer neighbourhood. Police and medical sources said three […]
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Jordanian security forces freed tourists trapped inside a medieval castle on Sunday after storming the building where armed men had taken shelter following a shoot-out with police that killed at least nine people, security sources said. A Canadian woman, three other civilians and five police officers were among the nine killed during the exchange of […]
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A vigil takes place in Cairo to remember those who lost their lives in a bombing at the city’s largest Coptic cathedral last Sunday (December 11). Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a suicide bombing that killed at least 25 people. The militant group said in a statement carried by its news agency Amaq […]
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We went to war in Iraq on a false premise, led by a man who had already hitched his mast to the warship of George Bush. So many lies, half-truths and media spun stories meant that public confidence has never been the same in international interventionism since Iraq. So when the chance to act against […]
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