Caption:
A Ukrainian forces serviceman guards their position at the check-point near Slavyansk, Donetsk region on July 4, 2014. (AFP/Genya Savilov)
Ukraine claims victory in rebel stronghold
Donetsk, AP—A rebel stronghold in east Ukraine has been taken by government troops, the country’s president and a spokesman for the rebels said Saturday. President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement that government troops took the city of Slovyansk, a city of...Caption:
Iraq’s Parliament Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi speaks to the media in Baghdad, Iraq, on July 25, 2013. (AP)
Iraq: Nujaifi says won’t seek new term as speaker if Maliki drops premiership bid
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Prominent Iraqi Sunni figure and Mutahidoun coalition leader Osama Al-Nujaifi has said that he will not seek another term as speaker of parliament if Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki abandons his attempts to secure a controversial third term in...Caption:
A burnt poster of Shi’ite cleric Mahmoud Al-Sarkhi at a checkpoint in front of his home in the Shi’ite holy city of Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Ahmed al-Husseini)
Tensions high in Karbala following Sarkhi clashes
Karbala, Asharq Al-Awsat—Tensions remained high in Karbala on Friday following clashes on Wednesday between followers of Ayatollah Mahmoud Al-Sarkhi and Iraqi security forces after Baghdad sought to arrest the Shi’ite cleric. Iraqi security forces destroyed Sarkhi’s...Caption:
Members of the Lebanese Christian Maronite community carry a statue and a sample of the blood of Saint John Paul II to Saint George Cathedral in downtown Beirut May 16, 2014. (Reuters)
