TheRepublic.com - Syria News

2 rockets hit Lebanese Hezbollah stronghold

Sun, 26 May 2013 01:44:40 -0400

BEIRUT - Rockets slammed Sunday into two Beirut neighborhoods that are strongholds of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, wounding at least 4 people, Lebanese security officials and media said.

Hezbollah chief commits to victory in Syria

Sat, 25 May 2013 16:15:04 -0400

BEIRUT - The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group vowed to help propel President Bashar Assad to victory in Syria's bloody civil war, warning that the fall of the Damascus regime would give rise to extremists and plunge the Middle East into a "dark period."

Israeli official says Syria cyberattack foiled

Sat, 25 May 2013 10:44:27 -0400

JERUSALEM - An Israeli security expert says Syrian hackers tried to break into the computers of the water system of the city of Haifa.

Saudi Arabia warns against Iran's nuclear program

Sat, 25 May 2013 09:22:13 -0400

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has warned against the danger of Iran's nuclear program to the region's security and said Iran should not threaten its neighbors since countries in the region harbor no ill-intentions to the Islamic Republic.

Syria targeted Israeli jeep going to rebel village

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:56:13 -0400

UNITED NATIONS - UNITED NATIONS - Syria said it targeted an Israeli vehicle that crossed a ceasefire line into its territory earlier this week because it was heading toward a village with a large rebel presence.

Cyr: In Syria, poison-gas accusations raise stakes

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:50:45 -0400

By ARTHUR I. CYR - The brutal continuing civil war in Syria now includes allegations that the Assad regime has used poison gas. Gas employed in war presents an especially horrifying specter, which in turn risks raising the stakes for both sides.

Austria wants EU arms embargo to Syria extended

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:35:19 -0400

VIENNA - The European Union's arms embargo to Syria should be extended while a political solution is sought in its civil war and to maintain the safety of U.N. peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, Austria's foreign minister said Friday.

Kerry, Lavrov to meet in Paris

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:01:28 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan - Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week in Paris to discuss peace talks in Syria.

AP Interview: Syria conflict uproots Palestinians

Thu, 23 May 2013 10:56:06 -0400

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's fighting has uprooted more than half of the country's 530,000 Palestinians - descendants of refugees from a Mideast conflict half a century ago - and their situation is becoming increasingly desperate, the head of a U.N. aid agency said Thursday.

Kerry: US, allies ready to step up aid to rebels

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:04:42 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan - The U.S. and several key allies looked again Wednesday for a strategy to end Syria's civil war, their united efforts unable at the moment to stem the Assad regime's military gains and Washington still unwilling to join those providing the rebels with lethal military aid.

UN: New reports of chemical weapons use in Syria

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:56:43 -0400

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N.'s top Mideast envoy says there are mounting reports of chemical weapons use in Syria.

EU bid to label Hezbollah wing terror group

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:44:55 -0400

BRUSSELS - The European Union is reassessing whether to declare the Lebanese party Hezbollah's military wing a terrorist organization, a move it has long shied from despite pressure from the U.S., officials said Wednesday.

Will Senate bid lure Rogers from his House seat?

Wed, 22 May 2013 03:19:20 -0400

WASHINGTON - Republican Rep. Mike Rogers has pulled off a rare feat in a bitterly divided Congress - a working, productive relationship with Democrats in overseeing the nation's 16 spy agencies.

Schram: White House press corps, go back to basics

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:22:03 -0400

By MARTIN SCHRAM - On days when the president is coming, the White House press room, the East Room and even occasionally the Rose Garden are ornamented with dozens of objects that perform the decorative and utilitarian purpose of potted plants.

Senate panel approves weapons for Syrian rebels

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:25:54 -0400

WASHINGTON - A Senate panel voted on Tuesday to provide weapons to rebels battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the first time lawmakers have endorsed the aggressive U.S. military step of arming the opposition in the 2-year-old civil war.

UN: Drop in Syrians reaching Jordan, unclear why

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:13:02 -0400

GENEVA - U.N. officials said Tuesday that the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Jordan has suddenly fallen from an average of 2,500 a day to fewer than 20, and they are trying to quickly figure out why.

Spain backs sending defensive arms to Syria rebels

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:01:16 -0400

MADRID - Spain favors a partial lifting of sanctions against Syria that would allow the delivery of "defense material" to rebel groups to help protect the population, its foreign minister said Tuesday.

Israeli military chief warns Syrian regime

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:58:12 -0400

JERUSALEM - Israel's military chief issued a stern warning to Bashar Assad on Tuesday, saying the Syrian leader would "bear the consequences" of any more attacks on Israeli forces near the Syrian border.

US slams Russian anti-ship missiles going to Syria

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:38:34 -0400

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration denounced Russia on Friday for providing Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime with anti-ship missiles, saying the weapons would only worsen a war that Washington and Moscow have been promising to work together on stopping.

Syrian hackers compromise FT blog, Twitter feeds

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:46:08 -0400

LONDON - A clutch of Twitter accounts and a blog maintained by the Financial Times were hacked Friday, the latest in a series of cyberattacks claimed by the Syrian Electronic Army, a pro-government group which has regularly targeted media organizations it sees as sympathetic to the country's rebels.

Official: 10 killed in explosion in Turkey

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:46:52 -0400

ANKARA, Turkey - Officials say a container of fuel being smuggled into Turkey from Syria has exploded, killing 10 people.

Rights groups: Syria holds thousands incommunicado

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:46:44 -0400

BEIRUT - About 30 security agents showed up just after midnight, breaking down the door to an apartment in the town of Daraya near the Syrian capital of Damascus. They grabbed a 24-year-old university student and drove off.

CIA chief makes unannounced Israel visit

Fri, 17 May 2013 05:16:09 -0400

JERUSALEM - An Israeli defense official says the head of the American CIA spy agency has made an unannounced visit to Israel.

Syria ex-minister leads rebuilding plan

Fri, 17 May 2013 02:20:37 -0400

BEIRUT - A six-member U.N. team led by a former Syrian planning minister is drawing up a comprehensive postwar reconstruction plan even as the country's civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight.

UN: 3 peacekeepers abducted between Israel-Syria

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:41:31 -0400

UNITED NATIONS - Armed men broke into a U.N. outpost in a buffer zone separating Israel and Syria and abducted three U.N military observers, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said Thursday.