Twin Bombings Kill 3 in Dagestan

Twin car bombings in the capital of Russia’s volatile Dagestan republic on Monday killed three people and injured at least 44 more, most of them police officers, officials said. (more…)

Tensions between Israel, Syria highest since 1973 war

Fears about a possible escalation of violence between Israel and Syria grew Sunday amid renewed Israeli threats to destroy Syrian weapons caches and Syria’s warnings of retaliation.

After decades of relative calm (more…)

Syria army ‘storms’ rebel town Qusair

Syrian government forces have surrounded the rebel stronghold of Qusair and are storming it from several directions, says Syrian state TV.

Fighting has gone on around the town, near the Lebanese border, for weeks.

Opposition groups say militants from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement are fighting alongside government forces. (more…)

Arab League to hold emergency meeting on Syria

An Arab League committee on Syria will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday ahead of an international peace conference on ending the country’s civil war, the bloc’s deputy leader said on Sunday. (more…)

Surge in US shale oil supply rocks global power balance

A steeper than expected rise in US shale oil reserves is about to change the global balance of power between new and existing producers.

Over the next five years, the US will account for a third of new oil supplies, according to The International Energy Agency (IEA).

The US will change from the world’s leading importer of oil to a net exporter. (more…)

Russia arrests a US diplomat, claims is a CIA agent

Russia’s security services say they detained a U.S. diplomat they claim is a CIA agent after they caught him red-handed trying to recruit a Russian agent. (more…)

Syria wants peace conference details before deciding to go

Syria wants details on a U.S.-Russian proposed peace conference before it decides whether to attend and says the role of President Bashar al-Assad is a decision “only for the Syrian people and the ballot box”, a minister said.

Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi was quoted by state news agency SANA (more…)

US-Russia plan for Syria conference ‘slipping’ to June

An international conference aiming to help broker an end to the Syrian war is likely to be held in early June and not this month as the U.S. works to bring the sides together, a U.S. official said Monday. (more…)

Russian tortured to death for ‘being gay’

A 23-YEAR-OLD man has been tortured to death in Russia in an apparent homophobic attack, investigators say, amid growing fears by rights groups that anti-gay sentiments are on the rise in the country. (more…)

Putin, Netanyahu talks expected to focus on Syria, report

President Vladimir Putin’s talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Russia on Tuesday will focus on the situation in Syria, the Kremlin said, amid growing concerns that Moscow may soon provide Damascus with an advanced anti-aircraft weapon.

Israeli officials say Russia is on the verge of selling S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria (more…)