Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is meeting his counterpart Kristian Vigenin on July 7, during his official visit to Bulgaria. He is to mark the 135th anniversary since diplomatic relations were established between Bulgaria and Russia, the Foreign Ministry in Sofia said in a statement to the media.

Amid growing calls for a fresh ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, the country’s president told U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden on Thursday that both Russia and the separatists were rejecting his efforts in this regard. In a phone conversation with Biden, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he had suggested a number of venues, including in Ukraine […]

Syrian activists say rebels have attacked the village of the country’s defense minister and captured parts of it. Activists say the attack began Friday with a suicide bombing that targeted a checkpoint in the village of Rahjan in the central province of Hama.

Turkey condemned the five year entrance ban to Crimea which was made to the head of the National Assembly of the Crimean Tatar People. Refat Chubarov was slapped with a five-year entrance ban by the peninsula’s pro-Russian administration.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian headed to the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday for a two-day visit to take stock of the situation after a rise in violence involving the French deployment in that country. Defence Ministry sources said that Le Drian will be visiting troops serving in CAR as a back-up to […]

Amid requests from both Afghan presidential candidates to broaden the investigation of suspected ballot fraud, the US reaffirmed its support for a “sovereign, unified, and democratic Afghanistan.” State Department

Pakistanآ’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Raheel Sharif visited troops on the front line in North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan and vowed that terrorists will be chased and hunted down across the country till their final elimination, said military.

Iraq’s new parliament postponed its next session for five weeks on Monday, extending the country’s political paralysis in the face of a Sunni Islamist insurgency which claimed the life of an army general on the northwestern outskirts of Baghdad. Citing the inability of political camps to reach “understanding and agreement” on nominations for the top […]

Tunisia said Monday it will host a meeting of foreign ministers from the six countries neighbouring Libya, to discuss ways of helping it deal with political turmoil and rising lawlessness. A meeting of Maghreb countries on the situation in Libya had been scheduled for early June but it was delayed indefinitely because of the lack of “visibility” on the crisis […]

ISIS-led insurgents are creating an Islamic state out of the vast strips of land they control in Iraq and Syria, the militants have announced. Its territory will extend from Syria’s Aleppo, once the economic heart of the country, to the Diyala province in the east of Iraq. The Islamic State for Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which from now is to call itself simply “Islamic State”, will strictly adhere to Sharia law […]

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be his party’s presidential candidate at the vote this August, ruling AKP officials say. The widely expected announcement comes briefly after President Abdullah Gul declared he was not intending to stand for a second term in office, amid speculations he might try to do so and could put Erdogan’s ambitions in

Ukrainain forces say at least 150 rebels have been killed during heavy fighting in the east of the country. According to Kiev officials, the army virtually sealed off the town of Mykolayivka after attacking six posts of separatists.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Libyan counterpart Mohamed Abdulaziz on Sunday, when they addressed the latest developments in the neighbouring country. Abdulaziz arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss his country’s security challenges with his Egyptian counterpart. During the meeting, Abdelaziz discussed Libya’s parliamentary elections, which were held earlier in June and whose results are […]

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will visit Jordan on Tuesday as the first stop of an upcoming Arab tour which will include visits to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from 8 to 11 July. Shoukry will visit the Arab nations to discuss current events of regional importance. A statement released by the foreign ministry noted that […]

Drawn by prospect of multi-billion-dollar deals NEW DELHI, June 29, (RTRS): Western governments are rushing to visit India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, drawn by the prospect of multi-billion-dollar deals as the government prepares to open the nascent defence industry to foreign investment. Senior politicians from France, the United States and Britain arrive over the […]

BAGHDAD, June 28, (RTRS): Iraqi government forces backed by helicopter gunships began an offensive on Saturday to retake the northern city of Tikrit from Sunni Islamist militants while party leaders pursued talks that could end Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s divisive rule. Politicians in Baghdad and world powers warn that unless security forces recover cities lost […]

Al-Shabaab warned of attacks during fasting month MOGADISHU, June 29, (RTRS): Islamist rebels shot dead three members of Somalia’s security forces in the capital on Sunday, police and witnesses said on the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month when insurgents had warned they would stage attacks. The government and African Union peacekeepers have […]

Dozens of worshippers killed MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, June 29, (AFP): Suspected Boko Haram Islamists attacked a series of churches on Sunday near Chibok, the northeast Nigeria town where more than 200 teenage girls were kidnapped in April, with dozens feared dead, witnesses said. Residents said the gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire on worshippers and pursued […]

‘Islam is religion of unity’ RIYADH, June 29, (Agencies): Saudi King Abdullah on Sunday sharply criticised religious extremists, vowing not to let “a handful of terrorists… terrify Muslims”, in a speech marking the start of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. Islam is “religion of unity, fraternity and mutual support” but some people “lured […]

KUWAIT AID RUSH TO DISPLACED IRAQIS BEIRUT, June 29, (Agencies): A jihadist group in Syria has publicly executed and crucified eight rebels fighting both President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the jihadists, a monitor said on Sunday. The report comes amid fierce clashes on the outskirts of Damascus between the Islamic State of Iraq and the […]

Military accused of ignoring distress calls KANO, Nigeria, June 30, (AFP): An attack on churches in northeast Nigeria blamed on Boko Haram killed more than 50 people, an official said on Monday, overshadowing festivities ahead of a last-16 World Cup match against France. Gunmen stormed Sunday services in four villages near Chibok in Borno state […]

Troops recover underground tunnels, IED making factories BANNU, Pakistan, June 30, (AFP): Pakistan’s military launched a ground assault in the North Waziristan tribal area on Monday, beginning a new phase in its offensive against Taleban militants, after nearly half a million civilians fled the fighting. Troops moved on Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, […]

BAGHDAD, June 30, (Agencies): Ruthless jihadists spearheading a Sunni militant offensive in Iraq have declared an “Islamic caliphate” and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief, in a spectacular bid to extend their authority. Iraqi forces meanwhile pressed a counter-offensive Monday against executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, one of a string […]