UN Security Council votes to deploy peacekeepers in Mali
UNITED NATIONS — Despite qualms about embroiling peacekeeping troops in the global fight against Islamist extremists, the U.N. Security Council voted Thursday to establish a force for Mali, where militants controlled much of the north until France intervened in January.
Dozens are killed in fierce outburst of Syrian violence
BEIRUT — Some of the worst violence in months racked Syria on Monday with residents of southern Damascus fleeing heavy shelling, several smaller towns shattered by air attacks, and at least two car bombs.
Attacks continue during failed holiday truce in Syria
BEIRUT — The declared four-day holiday truce between the warring factions in Syria ended on Monday much as it had begun — with airstrikes, artillery barrages and other firefights around the country that made a mockery of the cease-fire.
Lebanon and Jordan move to contain Syria-related violence
BEIRUT — Lebanon and Jordan moved aggressively Monday to squelch the spread of violence from Syria’s deadlocked civil war, the most significant register yet of alarm over the strife spilling over Syrian borders.
Heavier weapons push Syrian crisis toward civil war
WASHINGTON — With evidence that powerful new weapons are flowing to both the Syrian government and opposition fighters, the bloody uprising in Syria has thrust the Obama administration into an increasingly difficult position as the conflict shows signs of mutating into a full-fledged civil war.
Antagonists in Syria accuse each other of subverting truce
BEIRUT — Syria’s official media reported a series of attacks against government buildings Monday, including two bombings that targeted two key security headquarters in the northern city of Idlib and a small rocket assault on the Central Bank in downtown Damascus.
UN observers prove little deterrent to Syrian attacks
BEIRUT — Syrian government forces engaged in an extended game of cat and mouse against U.N. observers Monday, attacking cities like Hama after the monitors left and adopting a low profile as the monitors visited the Damascus suburbs.
As fighting rages, Syria votes on a new Constitution
BEIRUT — As fighting churned on in major cities on Sunday, Syria held a referendum on a new constitution, an offer of reform that critics have dismissed as too little too late and Western leaders called a farce.
Siege paralyses Syrian city as shelling and toll mount
BEIRUT — The embattled Syrian city of Homs remained under siege for a sixth day Thursday, with sporadic tank shells ripping into contested neighborhoods, residents cowering at home and medical supplies dwindling, according to telephone interviews with residents.
Syria calls the Arab League’s sanctions ‘economic war’
DAMASCUS, Syria — The Arab League declared “economic war” on Syria when it leveled broad trade sanctions against it, Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said Monday, warning that the country could use its strategic location to retaliate.
In Egypt, Mubarak loyalists are ousted but still feared
MANSOURA, Egypt — Mortada Mansour, the man accused of directing the notorious Battle of the Camel during the Tahrir Square protests in February, came to a courtroom in this provincial city to defend the right of former regime stalwarts to run in the coming parliamentary elections.
Palestinians’ UN bid moves closer to rejection
The Palestinian bid for membership at the United Nations, which was doomed from the start by the threat of a U.S. veto, moved another notch closer to rejection on Thursday at the Security Council, diplomats said.
Egypt’s generals stumble in new leadership role
CAIRO — Egypt’s ruling military council answered a long-standing demand of the protest movement by forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq on Thursday, but the fitful pacwe of change has left all sides more anxious than ever about the rocky transition ahead.
Two popular Iranian opposition leaders are mysteriously missing
CAIRO — The mystery over the whereabouts of the two main Iranian opposition leaders, Mir Hussein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, deepened Monday with contradictory reports over whether they had been jailed on the eve of a nationwide protest or remained under extreme house arrest, completely cut off from the outside world.
Global food prices continue to rise, last month record high, says U.N.
UNITED NATIONS — Global food prices are moving ever higher, hitting record levels last month as a jittery market reacted to unpredictable weather and tight supplies, according to a U.N. report released Thursday.
Iran angrily defends nuclear program at conference
UNITED NATIONS — The United States and Iran used the U.N. General Assembly’s famous green marble podium Monday to trade punches over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, adding sudden drama to the normally staid opening of the international conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
China’s U.N. Envoy Objects To Tougher Penalties for Iran
Imposing tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program is a poor idea while diplomatic negotiations remain possible, Zhang Yesui, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, said Tuesday.