Spotlight
The father could hardly bear seeing his 18-month-old daughter's panic every time the Syrian government warplanes flew over their home. Every day for a month, she ran to him to hide in his arms, tearful and breathless.
Abdurrahim had refused to flee his hometown throughout years of violence, and he was determined to hold out through the new, intensified government offensive launched in April against Idlib province, the last significant territory held by Syria's rebels.

Fierce clashes between Russia-backed government forces and jihadists have left 83 combatants dead in northwestern Syria in the past 24 hours, a Britain-based war monitor said Friday.

Interim Algerian president Abdelkader Bensalah has called for "dialogue" after the authorities ruled out holding a planned election on July 4.

Israel's attorney general on Thursday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request to postpone a court hearing over corruption allegations against him, media reports said.

Resurgent jihadists, ethnic land disputes or regular field burning? Iraq's northern farmlands are on fire, but the area's complex patchwork of grievances has made it hard to identify the culprits.

Initial findings of an investigation led by the United Arab Emirates of May 12 attacks on oil tankers point to the likelihood that a state was behind the bombings, but there is no evidence yet that Iran was involved, the UAE said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tapped Amir Ohana as acting justice minister, the first openly gay minister in the country's history.

U.S. senators across the political spectrum on Wednesday moved to block President Donald Trump's plan to sell $8.1 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies as lawmakers' frustration with the kingdom soars.

The United Arab Emirates, which has been a key supporter of Sudan's ruling generals, called Thursday for resumed talks on its political future following a deadly crackdown on protesters.

Egyptian security forces have killed 14 suspected militants during a raid carried out in the restive Sinai Peninsula in response to a deadly checkpoint attack, the authorities said.
