| ANSD Updates Thu 23 - 5 - 2019 |
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| Deadly Syrian strike hits market, kills 18 |
| MAARET AL-NUMAN, Syria/ WASHINGTON: Syrian government airstrikes killed 18 civilians, including a dozen people at a busy market, as fierce fighting raged for the militant-held northwest, an activist group said Wednesday. Regime forces battled to repe |
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| Displaced Syrians urge Turkey to open border |
Khalil Ashawi| Reuters
ATME, Syria: Camped on the Turkish border to escape bombardment by Russian and Syrian government forces, many displaced Syrians are angry and frustrated that Turkey has not done more to protect them from the b |
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| Haftar rules out cease-fire in talks with Macron: Elysee |
| PARIS: Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar told French President Emmanuel Macron that conditions for a cease-fire were not in place, although he would be ready to talk if those conditions were met, a French presidency official said. Macron and Fr |
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| Algeria's army chief says he has no political ambitions |
Reuters
ALGIERS: Algeria's army chief of staff said Wednesday he had no political ambitions in response to democracy activists who say that he intends to copy the authoritarian model of Egypt.
The armed forces hav |
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| Yemen’s Houthis launch drone attack on Saudi's Najran airport |
Reuters
CAIRO: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched a drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Najran airport, the group’s Al Masirah TV said early Wednesday.
It said it targeted hangars containing wa |
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| Tunisia frees United Nations expert suspected of espionage |
Associated Press
TUNIS: A United Nations expert monitoring sanctions against Libya has left neighboring Tunisia after being jailed for nearly two months on suspicion of espionage.
The U.N. office in Tunis said Moncef |
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| Italian man set free after almost 3 years of imprisonment in Syria |
Reuters
ROME: An Italian man held hostage in Syria for almost three years has been freed, the Italian prime minister's office said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement said Italian intelligence, police and the |
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| Lebanon: ‘Calm and love’ but still no budget after 18 sessions |
Timour Azhari| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Cabinet once again missed a self-set deadline to complete study of the draft 2019 budget Wednesday during a session that lasted barely three hours, after new proposals were put forward by Free P |
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| Berri ‘optimistic’ about Israel border negotiations |
BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is “optimistic” about the outcome of U.S.-facilitated talks over Lebanon’s disputed southern border with Israel, an MP affiliated with his Amal Movement said Wednesday.
Speaking |
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| Key US official on Mideast peace addresses Security Council |
Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS: An architect of the long-awaited U.S. plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace warned Wednesday that "nothing can be meaningfully fixed" until Gaza's Hamas rulers and Palestinian Islamic Jiha |
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| US envoy Jeffrey calls for cease-fire in Syria's Idlib |
Reuters
WASHINGTON: A cease-fire is needed in Syria's Idlib province where there has been a recent upsurge in violence, and the United States is working towards halting the clashes, which have put tremendous pressure on civilian |
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| AP sources: Pentagon proposing a troop buildup in Mideast |
LOLITA C. BALOLITA C. BALDOR and ROBERT BURNS,Associated Press•May 23, 2019
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move t |
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| Saudi Arabia 'to execute three moderate scholars after Ramadan' |
Samuel Osborne, The Independent 22 May 2019
Three moderate scholars will reportedly be executed in Saudi Arabia after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The three men – Sheikh Salman al-Ouda, Awad al-Qarni and Al |
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| Countries fueling Libya conflict must be stopped: U.N. envoy |
Michelle Nichols,Reuters•May 21, 2019
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Libya is on the brink of a civil war that could "lead to the permanent division of the country," a top U.N. official warned the Security Council on Tues |
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| Lebanon: NGOs sued over Litani pollution crackdown |
Finbar Anderson & Ghada Alsharif| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Two major international NGOs are due to appear in court next week following a complaint by the Litani River Authority, in a dramatic development in a crackdown on pollutio |
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