Arab world

    While some MKs are planning their visit to the Temple Mount at the first available moment, others warn about provocations. Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen stressed: “Any rising up to the Temple Mount is a provocation and not a good deed.” However, Likud MK Yehuda Glick welcomed this development: “The decision is right and proper.” Hours after Channel 2’s Amit Segal published for the first time that Knesset members will be allowed to reenter the Temple Mount after 8 months of not being permitted to do so, the political system in Israel has once again discussed the explosive issue. The outline that is presently being formed will permit MKs, both Jews and Arabs, to return to the Temple Mount at the end of Ramadan. “This is an unfortunate decision,” Deputy Finance Minis...

    Terrorist killer Larossi Abballa stabbed French policeman Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, 42, and his wife to death in their home Islamic State terrorists have claimed in a statement that they are responsible for the murder of a French police commander by a known homegrown jihadist. Jean-Baptiste Salvaing was stabbed repeatedly in the throat and stomach at his home in Magnanville on the outskirts of Paris last night. The 42-year-old's wife then died during a police operation as officers tried to rescue her from 25-year-old terrorist Larossi Abballa. The knife-wielding killer lived locally and was a convicted Islamic extremist, who was sentenced to three years in 2013 for "association with criminals preparing terrorist acts". However despite his conviction he only spent a few month...

    Gunmen killed four people and wounded 16 during an attack in an open air shopping complex in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night. Israeli police said the men are Palestinian cousins from the occupied West Bank. Channel 10 TV reported that at least one of the attackers was disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew with black coat and hat. Authorities described the attack at the popular open-air Sharona market as a harsh terror attack. The dead have been named as Ilana Nave, 39, Mila Mishayev, 32, Ido Ben Aryeh, 42, and Michael Feige, 58. Early reports from Israeli spokeswoman Luba Samri said the “two terrorists” were both “neutralised”, which can mean either killed or detained. Dramatic photographs show Israeli policemen arresting a blood-spattered suspect shortly after the shooting, whic...

    A rush-hour car bomb attack targeting a bus carrying riot police killed 11 people and wounded 36 others Tuesday, Istanbul's governor said. Speaking at the scene of the blast in the district of Beyazit, Istanbul Governor Vasip Sahin said the dead included seven police officers and four civilians. At least three of the wounded were in serious condition. The explosion was caused by a bomb placed inside a car and was detonated as the police vehicle was passing by, Sahin said. The police bus was overturned from the force of the blast which also damaged nearby buildings, including a closed hotel whose entrance appeared gutted and windows were blown out. The blast also shattered windows at a famous 16th-century Ottoman mosque, Sehzadebasi, wrecked several cars and forced cancella...

    France and the UK have called on the UN to begin air drops of humanitarian aid to besieged areas in Syria. Last month, the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) set a deadline of 1 June for the distribution of urgent humanitarian supplies. But only a small amount of aid was delivered on Wednesday and a convoy to the town of Darayya near Damascus did not carry food. The UN Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the air drops.British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the Syrian government had failed to deliver the widespread humanitarian access called for by the international community. "While air drops are complex, costly and risky, they are now the last resort to relieve human suffering across many besieged areas," he said.He called on Russia and Iran, whic...

    After Mendi Safadi made headlines in Bangladesh after meeting with BNP Opposition Leader Aslam Chowdhury, a meeting that resulted in Bangladeshi officials accusing Safadi of being a Mossad agent and in Chowdhury being arrested for allegedly seeking to overthrow the Bangladesh government, Safadi once again is attacking the Bangladeshi government for its mistreatment of dissidents and minorities. According to him, despite the Awami League governments’ claims that they are secular democrats, their policies towards Hindus are similar to those of the Muslim Brotherhood and even ISIS. After Mendi Safadi, the head of the Safadi Center for Public Diplomacy and International Relations, recently made headlines in Bangladesh after meeting with BNP Opposition Leader Aslam Chowdhury, a...

    Iraqi forces have entered Fallujah under coalition air cover as a new phase begins to win back one of Islamic State's key cities. Troops backed by artillery and tanks went into the city from three directions, commanders told the AFP news agency. The offensive was also confirmed to a crew from Reuters - who reported hearing explosions in the city's southern Naimiya district. "Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation and supported by artillery and tanks," Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi told AFP. "Counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces, the Anbar police and the Iraqi army, at around 4am (0100 GMT), started moving into Fallujah from three directions." The commander said troops were meeting "re...

    Al-Qaeda has re-established its terrorist headquarters in southern Afghanistan and is using it as a base to plan major attacks against the West, the Daily Telegraph can reveal. After more than a decade of hiding across the border in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt, al-Qaeda terrorist cells have moved back into southern Afghanistan following the withdrawal of British and American forces at the end of 2014. “Al-Qaeda has taken advantage of the withdrawal of Western troops to re-establish its headquarters in southern Afghanistan,” said a senior Afghan defence official. “Now they are back they will be determined to use Afghanistan as a base to prepare new attacks against Western targets.” Afghanistan on Sunday said a US drone had killed the Taliban's leader, Mullah Akhtar Manso...

    Yemeni security officials say that a pair of suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in the southern city of Aden. The officials said Monday that the two bombers targeted young men seeking to join the army. One suicide car bomber targeted a line outside an army recruitment center, killing at least 20. A second bomber on foot detonated his explosive vest among a group of recruits waiting outside the home of an army commander, killing at least 25. The Yemeni officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Yemen's conflict pits the internationally recognized government against Shiite rebels who control the capital, Saana, and are allied with a former president. The country also contains active al-Qaida and Islamic State gro...

    A leading Iranian model has been forced to give a public self-criticism after being charged with “promoting western promiscuity” for posting pictures of herself online without a headscarf. Elham Arab, famous for her blonde hair, doll-like looks and wedding dress model shoots, is one of a string of Iranian models caught up in a sting operation code-named “Spider 2”. It is aimed at models and other figures in the fashion industry who have advertised themselves or appeared on Instagram and other social media sites. Before a hearing at the Iranian Revolutionary Court in a case brought by the special cyber-crimes unit, Ms Arab was questioned on camera by the prosecutor, Abbas Doulatabadi. Wearing black chador over her newly dark locks, she said she regretted entering the fashio...