Syrian refugees in Jordan urged British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Tuesday to "get rid of" Syrian President Bashar Assad, as the official visited this Jordanian border town.
"We do not want food or water, we do not want money. We just want you to get rid of Bashar," some of them chanted as Hague and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh toured Ramtha's Bashabsheh housing complex, a military-guarded compound that houses around 1,000 Syrian refugees.
Full Story
India called on the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday to probe the fatal shooting of an Indian fisherman by a U.S. navy ship in waters off Dubai, the Indian foreign ministry said.
"India's ambassador in Abu Dhabi has requested UAE authorities to probe the circumstances of the tragic incident," ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.
Full Story
The Hamas government in Gaza executed three men convicted of murder on Tuesday morning, the interior ministry said.
"Based on religious law and our religion and what is stipulated in Palestinian law... three men convicted of intentional murder were executed on Tuesday morning in accordance with a court order sentencing them to death by hanging after their conviction," the Hamas interior ministry said in a statement.
Full Story
The Kuwaiti opposition pressed for a multi-party system as part of a host of political and constitutional reforms to achieve a full parliamentary system and an elected government.
In a joint statement issued Monday night and titled a "declaration to the nation," the Islamist and nationalist opposition also called for legalizing political parties, reforming the judiciary and fighting corruption.
Full Story
The Syrian consulate in Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty has been seriously damaged by a fire which staff blamed on an arson attack linked to the conflict raging in the country, a report said Tuesday.
Kazakh private KTK television said the entire third floor of the building where the consul's office was situated and documents held had burned down entirely along with all the archives.
Full Story
Syrian President Bashar Assad will use chemical weapons against opposition forces and may have already deployed them, Nawaf Fares, the first Syrian ambassador to defect, told the BBC on Monday.
Fares, the most prominent politician to defect since the uprising against Assad began, insisted that the president's days were numbered but warned he would be prepared "to eradicate the entire Syrian people" to remain in power.
Full Story
Russia on Monday blocked a proposed U.N. Security Council statement on mass killings in the Syrian village of Treimsa, diplomats said amid worsening deadlock over international action on the conflict.
Russian envoys opposed the statement saying it was not clear what had happened, council diplomats told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.
Full Story
Amid tensions over Iran and Syria, the United States has brought forward the deployment of an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to shorten the time when a sole carrier is in the region.
Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters on Monday that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week approved a request for the USS John-Stennis strike group to be deployed four months earlier than scheduled.
Full Story
European Union foreign ministers plan to adopt fresh sanctions against President Bashar Assad's regime at talks next week, EU diplomats told Agence France Presse on Monday.
Several sources said on condition of anonymity that the EU's 27 foreign ministers would add to an existing EU blacklist of 129 people and 49 entities, or firms, when they meet in Brussels on Monday.
Full Story
The 15 fighters who call themselves "Soldiers of the Prophet Mohammed" are not afraid of dying at the hands of the troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Their charismatic leader Abu Saeed says that for one month now, the army has laid siege to the rebels in the Wastani mountains overlooking the town of Jisr al-Shughour in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Full Story


