Rebels have captured large parts of a Syrian police academy near Aleppo, after a fierce battle resulting in heavy loss of life, activists say.

Ibrahim Rubaish, an al-Qaeda leader, was shown in a video posted on YouTube calling to use arms and weapons to release all detainees in Saudi Arabia.

The Syrian opposition expects to begin receiving weapons from some European countries in the near future, according to one of its spokesmen.

Israel’s prime minister accused his Turkish counterpart on Thursday of making a “dark and false” statement by calling Zionism a crime against humanity.

Iraq’s finance minister drew cheers from anti-government protesters Friday when he announced that he will resign from the government, further intensifying the country’s political crisis nearly a decade after the US-led invasion.

The leader of a Kurdish armed group imprisoned by Turkey is set to call for a long-sought ceasefire next month as part of a renewed push for peace with the Turkish government, according to officials.

Feeling cold, hungry and scared, Syrians are seeking refuge in burial undergrounds to escape the raging fighting between President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces and opposition fighters.

The United States (US) State Department has added the Mullah Nazir Group, a Taliban subgroup based in South Waziristan, and an important deputy commander to the list of ‘foreign terrorist’ entities and individuals.

Hamas warned of the seriousness of the visit by U.S.A President Barack Obama to Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing that “it is a political disaster that Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims should not be silent towards.”

The Egyptian authorities have suspended all hot air balloon flights near Luxor and launched an investigation following the deaths of 19 tourists in a crash.