Category: 2. Middle East

At least 20 people were killed Sunday in a suicide attack on a church in Damascus, authorities said, with Syria’s interior ministry blaming a member of the Islamic State group.

The international community condemned the attack, the first of its kind in the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, and the first on a church there since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011.

Security remains one of the greatest challenges for Syria’s new…

Democrats bristled Sunday over US President Donald Trump’s decision to launch air strikes on Iran without seeking authorization from Congress, accusing the Republican of violating the constitution and demanding a vote to rein in his war powers.

Members of the Senate and House of Representatives argued that US intelligence had not shown an imminent threat from the Middle Eastern country that justified Trump’s unilateral action.

“President Trump’s actions in bombing Iran puts the US on the brink…

At least 22 people were killed Sunday in a suicide attack on a church in Damascus, authorities said, blaming a member of the Islamic State group for the unprecedented attack.

The international community condemned the attack, the first of its kind in the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

It was also the first inside a church in Syria since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011, according to a monitor.

Security remains one of the…

A shooting and suicide bombing at a Damascus church during a packed service on Sunday killed at least 22 people, authorities said, blaming a member of the Islamic State group for the unprecedented attack.

The international community condemned the attack, the first of its kind in the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

It was also the first inside a church in Syria since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011, according to a…

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Iran on Sunday that retaliating against American forces would be the “worst mistake” it could ever make, Anadolu reports.

They are completely vulnerable. They don’t control their own airspace; they can’t protect their own airspace. They can’t even protect their own leaders,” Rubio told Fox News following devastating US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Rubio claimed that the US’s goal in the region is not…

At least 26 more Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in fresh Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, medics said, Anadolu reports.

A medical source said that five Palestinians lost their lives and several others were wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a tent sheltering displaced civilians in al-Mawasi in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Witnesses said Israeli artillery shelling also caused to set Palestinian properties ablaze in the Qizan Abu…

Foreign ministers from countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday urged Israel to end its “aggression” towards Iran, without mentioning the US strikes on the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites.

Arch-rivals Israel and Iran have been at war since June 13 when Israel, claiming Tehran was on the verge of acquiring a nuclear bomb, launched a wave of devastating air strikes, killing top army commanders and scientists.

Iran immediately retaliated, and the two sides have been…

The Iranian parliament has approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz to naval traffic following US strikes on three nuclear facilities, a senior lawmaker said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.

“The parliament has reached the conclusion that the Strait of Hormuz should be closed,” Major General Esmaeil Kowsari, a member of the parliament’s National Security Commission, said in statements carried by the state-run Press TV.

The Strait of Hormuz is considered…

The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) issued an urgent advisory warning on Sunday that the threat to US-associated commercial shipping in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and Gulf of Aden is now classified as “high,” citing escalating regional tensions following US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Anadolu reports.

The situation in the region further deteriorated after US President Donald Trump announced Sunday that American forces carried out…