SUQAYLABIYAH, Syria (AP) – An argument between two men in a Christian town in central Syria led to sectarian attacks that caused widespread damage to homes, shops and cars in a reminder of religious violence that followed the fall of longtime leader Bashar Assad two years ago.
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks rallied to the edge of their all-time high and crude oil prices eased. The S&P 500 rose 1.2% Tuesday, bringing the index within 0.2% of its record set in January. The Dow gained 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2%.
BEIRUT (AP) – A United Nations inquiry said Friday that there is “no indication” Syria has investigated violations its forces committed during sectarian clashes last summer in which at least 1,700 people died, the vast majority from the Druze religious minority.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – The woman was furious. Standing in the muddy lane sloping up the hill in one of the Afghan capital’s poorer neighborhoods, she pulled her headscarf aside to reveal thick grey-white hair. “You see this hair? Even I with my white hair, I have to carry water.”
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) – Crowds of Syrians rallied Sunday to protest authorities’ efforts to limit the sale and consumption of alcohol in Damascus, reflecting rising anxiety in the cosmopolitan capital that Syria’s new Islamist government may threaten long-held secular freedoms.
ISLAMABAD (AP) – Hopes rose for renewed talks between the United States and Iran on Wednesday, as the U.S. military said its blockade of Iranian ports was in full effect and Tehran threatened to retaliate by strike targets across the war-weary region.
AL BASOUTA, Syria (AP) – Abdul Rahman Omar fled his village in the Afrin district in northern Syria eight years ago as a Turkish offensive against Kurdish fighters swept across the area. Now he is among hundreds of Kurds who have recently returned to Afrin. He joined neighbors in celebrating the spring festival of Nowruz for the first time since their return.
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:
On one of the holiest days on the Islamic calendar, Iran fired on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states, insisting that it can still build missiles and issuing a new threat: to deny safety to its enemies in “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide. Israel meanwhile pounded Tehran with airstrikes as Iranians marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
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