TheRepublic.com - Rebellions and uprisings News

Hezbollah pulled more deeply into Syria civil war

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:48:25 -0400

BEIRUT - Hezbollah was pulled more deeply into Syria's civil war as 28 guerrillas from the Lebanese Shiite militant group were killed and dozens more wounded while fighting rebels, Syria activists said Monday.

Jordan: Arab Spring clears way for press freedoms

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:52:18 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan - The Arab Spring uprisings that toppled four Arab leaders have forced Mideast governments to allow more freedom of expression and of the press, Jordan's prime minister said Monday, but critics charged that Jordan itself is not doing enough.

M23 rebels clash with soldiers in eastern Congo

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:47:36 -0400

GOMA, Congo - Clashes erupted Monday in eastern Congo between government troops and a rebel group believed to be backed by neighboring Rwanda, escalating to the use of mortars and rocket launchers in the first fighting between the groups since the M23 rebels overtook and later retreated from the provincial capital of Goma last year.

51 die in 2 South Sudan clashes; army retakes town

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:05:19 -0400

JUBA, South Sudan - Twenty-four people died in a battle between South Sudan's military and rebel fighters the government believes to be supported by neighboring Sudan, while a tribe-on-tribe cattle-raiding attack elsewhere in the country killed 27 people, officials said Monday.

Page hopes work will help him lead Congo

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:20:52 -0400

LINCOLN, Nebraska - Pages in the Nebraska Legislature usually are young students, observing and learning about state government while they assist senators and run errands.

Egypt police close Gaza border to protest kidnap

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:32:19 -0400

CAIRO - Dozens of disgruntled border policemen forced the closure of Egypt's main crossing point into the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest the abduction of their colleagues by suspected militants, underscoring the lawlessness and crisis of authority in the country two years since the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

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.

Hints of political change on horizon in Algeria

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:55:40 -0400

ALGIERS, Algeria - The Arab Spring may finally be en route to Algeria.

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.

Syrian troops flush out rebels from prison

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:35:29 -0400

BEIRUT - Syrian government troops on Thursday flushed out rebels who had stormed a prison compound in the northern city of Aleppo in a bid to free hundreds of political prisoners inside.

Attacks against Lebanese Alawites deepen fears

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:06:06 -0400

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanese members of the Syrian leader's Alawite sect fear their tiny community will be a casualty of the civil war raging in the neighboring country.

Politics commandeer stage in Mideast TV contest

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:33:04 -0400

BEIRUT - TV singing contests around the world tend to serve up light, glitzy entertainment with a dash of emotional drama. But in the Middle East's version of "American Idol," it's the region's troubles that often take center stage.

Syria-linked group blamed in Turkey blasts; 43 die

Sat, 11 May 2013 19:11:13 -0400

REYHANLI, Turkey - In one of the deadliest attacks in Turkey in recent years, two car bombs exploded near the border with Syria on Saturday, killing 43 and wounding 140 others. Turkish officials blamed the attack on a group linked to Syria, and a deputy prime minister called the neighboring country's intelligence service and military "the usual suspects."

Egyptian man disguised as woman is harassed

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:02:03 -0400

CAIRO - Waleed Hammad dressed conservatively for his secret mission into the world of sexual harassment and abuse on the streets of Cairo, donning a long tan skirt and sleeved shirt, and at times covering his head like many Egyptian women.

In CAR, diamonds are a rebel's best friend

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:06:44 -0400

NDELE, Central African Republic - Armed with rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles, Seleka rebels who ousted Central African Republic's president six weeks ago are solidifying their control over the country's lucrative diamond industry and have even been selling some of the stones, witnesses here in the isolated and violent north say.

Thousands flee eastern Congo town amid violence

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:39:08 -0400

GOMA, Congo - Thousands of people have fled the town of Pinga in eastern Congo following renewed fighting between local armed groups, and nine members of Doctors Without Borders' Congolese staff have gone missing, the aid group said Friday.

Syrian president showing renewed confidence

Wed, 01 May 2013 18:12:21 -0400

BEIRUT - Syrian President Bashar Assad and his allies are showing renewed confidence that the momentum in the civil war is shifting in their favor, due in part to the rapid rise of al-Qaida-linked extremists among the rebels and the world's reluctance to take forceful action to intervene in the fighting.

Syrian prime minister escapes bombing in Damascus

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:10:45 -0400

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's prime minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the heart of the heavily defended capital Monday, state media said, laying bare the vulnerability of President Bashar Assad's regime.

Egypt court overturns suspension of Muslim cleric

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:27:47 -0400

CAIRO - A Cairo administrative court on Monday overturned a ministerial decree suspending a Muslim cleric from preaching in a mosque overlooking Tahrir Square after a citizen complained that his sermons were critical of the current Islamist president.

Pattern seen in alleged chemical arms use in Syria

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:17:47 -0400

BEIRUT - The instances in which chemical weapons are alleged to have been used in Syria were purportedly small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq that killed thousands.

Mexican teachers attack political party offices

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:14:50 -0400

ACAPULCO, Mexico - Striking teachers in Mexico's Guerrero state attacked the offices of four political parties and a building of the state's education department Wednesday after the legislature approved an education reform without meeting their demands.

Qatar faces backlash among rebel groups in Syria

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:27:46 -0400

BEIRUT - In a war-battered suburb of Damascus, a commander for one of the smaller nationalist brigades fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad grumbles about the lack of ammunition for his men. He blames Qatar, saying the oil-rich Gulf state directs its backing to rebels with a more Islamist ideology.

Egypt hard-liners criticize lashing for drunk man

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:27:34 -0400

ASSIUT, Egypt - A hard-line Islamist group on Tuesday criticized a decision by an Egyptian prosecutor who cited the Quran as he ordered police to flog a man with 80 lashes for public drunkenness.