'False pretext' used in Afghan war
The leader of an Afghan political group wanted by the US has said that Washington used a false pretext to launch its war on Afghanistan, on the eve of the eighth anniversary of the conflict. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who leads a faction of the Hizb-e Islami group, said that the war... More

Jan 29, 2026
UN: Israel terrorized Gazans in war
Israel "punished and terrorized" civilians in Gaza in a disproportionate attack in its three-week war on the territory earlier this year, a United Nations report has found. Judge Richard Goldstone, who led the inquiry, said he found evidence Israel targeted civilians and used excessive force in the assault, which was... More

Jan 29, 2026
Majority of Turkish people "want new civilian constitution"
Two-thirds of Turks would vote in a referendum to reform Turkey's judiciary, which country's hardline secularist bloc want to block, a poll showed on Saturday. Such backing would suffice to pass planned constitutional changes that could raise tensions between judiciary and military, on the one hand, and the AK Party... More

Jan 29, 2026
'A prescription for civil war'
Abu Abdullah has never been charged with a crime, but he has been arrested by Palestinian security forces so many times in the past two years that he has lost count. He has been arrested at work, in the market, on the street, and, more than once, during violent raids... More

Jan 29, 2026
As Afghan civilian deaths rise, NATO says, 'Sorry.'
In the Afghanistan war, NATO forces chief Gen. Stanley McChrystal publicly apologized Tuesday for 27 Afghan civilian deaths in a US airstrike. The coalition has begun saying 'sorry' more quickly to civilian deaths, as part of a new hearts and minds strategy. In a video distributed Tuesday in Dari and... More

Jan 29, 2026
'My Husband jailed for protesting Israel's wall'
By Majida Abu Rahmah On International Human Rights Day in 2008, my husband Abdallah Abu Rahmah was in Berlin receiving a medal from the World Association for Human Rights. Last year on the same day, 10 December, Abdallah was taken away at 2am by Israeli soldiers who broke into our... More

Jan 29, 2026
'The building of a steel wall is a new war on Gaza'
Khaled Mishaal, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, stated Monday that the building of the steel wall on the Palestinian-Egyptian borders is a new war against Gaza people and their resistance. In a televised statement, Mishaal recalled remarks made by UNRWA commissioner-general Karen Abu Zaid in which she described this... More

Jan 29, 2026
'They kept pumping bullets into us'
The Iraqi government is under increasing pressure to aggressively pursue the prosecution of American military personnel accused of killing Iraqis. The recent decision by Ricardo Urbina, a district judge, to dismiss charges against five security contractors accused of gunning down 17 Iraqis, including women and children, in September 2007 has... More

Jan 29, 2026
Israel strips 4577 Palestinians of right to live in Jerusalem
Israel stripped 4,577 Palestinians of right to live in Jerusalem in 2008, blocking residency status, at a faster rate than at any time in the history of the Jewish state, an Israeli rights group said on Wednesday, citing official Israeli statistics. "Revocation of residence has reached frightening proportions," said Dalia... More

Jan 29, 2026
US Rocket System back in use days after killing 12 civilians
The details of the Sunday rocket attack on a house full of women and children in Marjah remain shrouded in mystery, but one thing is certain: the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HiMARS), barred from use by NATO after the killings amid reports of failures, has been returned to duty.... More

Jan 29, 2026
Nigeria Muslims: 'Our homes were razed'
Awalu Mohamed was one of the first to arrive in the mining village of Kuru Karama to discover burned human remains and corpses thrown into communal wells and sewage pits. "There are so many, many corpses," says Mohamed, of the Jamatu Nasril Islam aid group. He described how 62 corpses... More

Jan 29, 2026
Besieged Gazans raise money for Haiti
Palestinians, living in the Gaza Strip under years of Israel siege, are in efforts to donate what little they have to help those struck by the earthquake in Haiti. The reason for the destruction might be different, but Palestinians say they understand Haiti's pain. Gaza is still considered under Israeli... More

Jan 29, 2026
Israel 'cutting Palestinian water'
Israel is denying Palestinians adequate access to clean, safe water while allowing almost unlimited supplies to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, human rights group Amnesty International has said. "Swimming pools, well-watered lawns and large irrigated farms in Israeli settlements... stand in stark contrast next to Palestinian villages whose... More

Jan 29, 2026