Several people have reportedly lost their lives in fresh fighting in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. According to Ukrainian officials, the clashes broke out on Wednesday when pro-Russian activists in Luhansk attempted to seize a military unit in the flashpoint region. Ukraine’s National Guard forces said there have been several losses among their ranks. The…

Saudi Arabian authorities have condemned a teenage Shia protester to death over an alleged attack on security forces during the 2011 anti-government protests in the Eastern Province. On Wednesday, a Saudi court convicted the young protester of several charges, including causing sedition, rioting, and attacking Saudi forces. Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was detained nearly 30…

Iranian ambassador to Ireland Javad Kachoueian has described the West’s imposition of sanctions against Iran as an act of “self-punishment.” The sanctions against Iran are a form of “self-punishment” by the West, the envoy said in an interview with the Irish Times published on Wednesday. Kachoueian said that the West, as a result of the…

Security forces in Bahrain have attacked anti-regime protesters in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom, as the ruling Al-Khalifa continues its crackdown on the opposition. Regime troops fired tear gas and bird shot at the protesters who gathered on Tuesday to commemorate the death of 14-year-old Seyed Mahmood Seyed Mohsen. The teenager was killed last week…

The United States trains foreign-backed Takfiri militants operating inside Syria in Qatar, a new documentary reveals. Militants interviewed in the documentary, scheduled to be aired on Tuesday night on PBS, said they are trained by American trainers in a secret base in Qatar to attack Syrian government troops and vehicles. According to the documentary, militants…

Ukraine’s President-elect Petro Poroshenko has a “very stark” choice ahead amid the ongoing massive push by Ukrainian ground and air forces and reports of civilian casualties. “[On the one hand] he…has to decide whether he will follow through the path of the interim administration in trying to crush the self-defense forces in the east by…

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the arrogant front is spreading Iranophobia and Shia-phobia to cover up its own problems and to protect the Israeli regime. Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in an address to senior Iranian officials as well as ambassadors from Islamic countries in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on…

Russia has called on Ukraine to put an end to violence against people after dozens of civilians were killed in clashes in the main airport of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk. Russia President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for an immediate end to military operations in eastern Ukraine, accusing Kiev of carrying out “punitive” operations against…

Nine university professors have been arrested in Saudi Arabia over alleged links to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, which is banned in the Saudi kingdom. Saudi newspaper Okaz reported on Monday that the professors, two from Saudi Arabia and the rest from neighboring countries, had been involved with “foreign organizations” based on “voice recordings and emails” related to…

Moscow has urged Kiev to halt its military operations in eastern Ukraine amid reports of civilian casualties during a full-scale assault on pro-Russian protesters there. The Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement urging the Kiev government to stop what Moscow calls Ukraine’s military operations against its own people. The Russian ministry also called on the…