Trump approved strikes on Iran but pulled back: Reports US military made preparations to strike Iranian targets in retaliation for downing of drone, media reports say.
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Dozens killed in heavy fighting in northwest Syria
Dozens killed in heavy fighting in northwest Syria Eighty-nine fighters and 41 government troops killed in Hama since Tuesday in major battle, UK-based monitor says. Syria has been shattered by eight years of a civil war involving several countries [Alexander Kots/Komsomolskaya Pravda via AP] More than 100 combatants have been killed over the past 48 hours in fighting between Syrian forces and rebels in the country's besieged northwest, a war monitor has said. Ongoing clashes and aerial bombardment centred on the village of Tal Meleh in the north of Hama province , the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday . According to the Observatory, which has a network of sources on the ground in Syria , 89 opposition fighters were dead with 41 fatalities among government forces. Al Jazeera was not able to independently verify the figures in the war zone. Stabilising Syria: UN chief a...
UK: Javid's bid for Downing Street comes to end of the road
UK: Javid's bid for Downing Street comes to end of the road The home secretary failed to get enough votes in the fourth secret ballot of Conservative MPs. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has built a reputation around a hard-line approach to immigration [Russell Cheyne/Reuters] Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid is the latest Conservative figure to drop out of the race to be Britain's next prime minister, receiving just 34 votes in the fourth secret ballot of the party's 313 MPs. Boris Johnson maintains his lead at the head of the field, having received 157 votes, 96 ahead of his nearest rival, now Michael Gove, who currently has the support of 61 Conservative MPs. Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, who has been second in the race since the first ballot, came third in the latest round with 59 votes. Whoever wins the competition to become the leader of the Conservatives, the party that is currently in power, becomes by defau...
Main officers in Turkey's failed coup handed life sentences
Main officers in Turkey's failed coup handed life sentences Accused were charged with crimes against the state, attempting to kill the president and the deaths of 249 people. Turkey blames US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for spearheading the attempted coup in July 2016 [Anadolu] Ankara, Turkey - A key trial of 224 people accused of participating in Turkey's failed coup attempt three years ago came to a close with 17 top generals handed life sentences. Those sentenced on Thursday included the former head of the Turkish air force, Akin Ozturk, who allegedly headed the "Peace at Home Council", which led the coup attempt on July 15, 2016. He was one of the 17 top former military officials who were given 141 "aggravated" life sentences. Ozturk, who pleaded not guilty, had been at the Ankara Akinci Airbase during the time it was used as a command centre for the coup. T he then Chief of General Staff Hulu...
Yemen's Houthi rebels hit Saudi facility with 'cruise missile'
Yemen's Houthi rebels hit Saudi facility with 'cruise missile' Attack by rebel group on facility in southern province of Jizan the latest in string of attacks on Saudi targets. The Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks in Saudi Arabia in recent weeks [Mohammed Huwais/AFP] Yemen's Houthi rebels hit a power station in Saudi Arabia's southern province of Jizan with a "cruise missile", t he group's Al Masirah TV channel reported . On Thursday, the Saudi-Emirati-led military coalition in Yemen confirmed Houthi forces fired a " projectile" at a desalination plant in Al Shuqaiq city, but said no one was wounded and there was no damage caused to the facility. It was not possible to independently confirm if it was a power station or desalintation facility that was hit. In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency , coalition officials said Saudi securi...
Iran's Revolutionary Guard shoots down US drone
Iran's Revolutionary Guard shoots down US drone Elite force says US drone brought down in its airspace, but US officials say it was flying in international territory. Iran has shot down a US drone, raising fears that a major military confrontation could erupt between Tehran and Washington in the Gulf. While Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ( IRGC ) said the unmanned aircraft was brought down by a surface-to-air missile on Thursday after flying into Iranian airspace, US officials said the drone was in the international territory at the time. The different accounts could not be reconciled immediately . "The US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone was brought down" in the country's southern coastal province of Hormozgan, the IRGC's website said. "It was shot down when it entered Iran's airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in the south." Iran's Foreign Ministry ...