Army presses ahead in its campaign to overcome anti-regime revolt, prepares to intervene in Al-Bukamal. The Syrian army on Sunday set its sights on the town of Zabadani near the Lebanon border as it pressed ahead in its campaign to overcome an anti-regime revolt, a human rights activist said. In the east, on the frontier with Iraq, security forces were also reported to be preparing to intervene in... 

The Arab Spring may be a great source of inspiration for popular movements around the world. However, a study assessing social, political and economic freedoms points to a steady, global shift towards authoritarianism. Above, Red Shirt anti-government protesters gather in Bangkok in April 2010. Over the past six months, the world has watched as the Middle East, a region that long seemed immune to democratic... 

At least 41 protesters were killed today and another 120 wounded as security forces opened fire on marchers in several areas around Syria. The deaths were the highest single day toll in weeks. But so too was it the biggest march yet, with estimates that around one million Syrians took part in demonstrations nationwide. The largest rally was in Hama, where 500,000 took part in the rally. The largest... 

Yesterday’s report that the US killed eight in a combined drone and warplane attack on a Yemeni police station in the southern town of Wadyia has been dramatically revised upwards, with reports now putting the death toll at 50. Yemeni reports say that the police station, which had been taken over by an opposition faction (which controls much of that province) and some media outlets termed all 50... 

Turkish relations with the European Union “will freeze” if Cyprus takes over the EU presidency in July 2012 without a solution to the divided island, Turkey’s foreign minister said Wednesday. Ahmet Davutoglu made his comments as the European Union’s enlargement chief said in a visit to Ankara that he wanted to see “a new momentum” in Turkey’s membership process now that Turkish parliamentary... 

Syrian pro-democracy activists report that security forces opened fire on a demonstration in the Damascus suburb of Qatana today, killing at least 20 people, while another seven were reported killed not far from the Turkish border. The killings, if confirmed, would make today the deadliest day in over a month, as the Syrian regime has increasingly avoided massive killings that have only served to... 

Dissatisfaction was the biggest common factor for the thousands who rallied in Cairo’s Tahrir square yesterday. Elsewhere in Egypt several smaller rallies took place to help defend the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and to show anger at the new military rulers’ slow pace of reforms. There were men on stages calling for faster trials for ministers associated with the regime. A separate... 

At least 10,000 civilians have been sentenced in military trials since Egypt’s January 25 uprising that ousted president Hosny Mubarak, a human rights group said Monday. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information called on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to reconsider, saying the activists jailed in military prisons do not get a fair trial. There has been an uptick in protests to pressure... 

With Prime Minister Erdogan’s Islamist AK party having seized its third landslide election victory in Turkey, many throughout the international community have been watching to see what will be next on the Turkish agenda. Now there are strong indicators in the Turkish media that Turkey is planning on literally doubling the size of its army – this coming from the nation that already has the... 

An Iranian surface-to-sea missile. Iran plans to test-fire new “supersonic surface-to-sea missiles” as part of its war games in the Persian Gulf in the coming days, says a senior Iranian military commander. Commander of the Aerospace Division of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that the new missiles have been designed to target ships and... 

A photo of an Iranian-built naval cruise missile system. Iranian commander Brigadier General Ali Razmjou says the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has deployed short and medium range missiles in the Persian Gulf. “A considerable number of speed vessels, and vessels that can carry different kinds of missile and torpedo launchers have joined the IRGC’s Navy,” Razmjou said on Sunday. He... 

Despite the many threats to confront the activists onboard the Freedom Flotilla II, organizers have said they will go ahead with their attempt to break the siege. One of the chief organizers said Israel issues repeated threats against the flotilla because it is afraid of the truth, a Press TV correspondent reported. He further added that the plan to get humanitarian aid and construction material into... 

Kavoshgar 4 (Explorer 4) satellite carrier. Head of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli says the country plans to send a live monkey into space onboard the country’s domestically-made Kavoshgar 5 (Explorer 5) satellite carrier. “Kavoshgar 5, with a weight of 285 kg, will blast off into space with a living creature (a monkey) in the next Iranian calendar month (that begins on July 23),” IRNA... 

Tripoli says the arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is just a cover for continued NATO bombings, while the court itself has no authority over Libya. “This court is nothing but a cover for the military operations of NATO. NATO that tried time and again and declared it frankly that it would assassinate the brother leader and his family. These actions... 

The Summit Conference Hall in the Iranian capital, Tehran. The second day of the International Conference on the Global Fight against Terrorism has kicked off in the Iranian capital, Tehran. The anti-terrorism conference, headed by Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, commenced in Tehran’s Summit Conference Hall on Saturday with a message by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah...