More than 20 million children in the Middle East need immediate help, the UN children’s agency said. 　　Sunday is Universal Children’s Day and UNICEF has called for the rights of every child to be protected. 　　“More than 20 million children, who have been affected by wars and clashes in the... More

　　By the thousands they came, fleeing bombs, brutality and hardship. At day, they tore through muddy fields; at night, they huddled around small fires. Young and old, they passed through barbed wire, crammed inside trucks and braved rough seas in flimsy boats. 　　Along the way, they saw loved ones -... More

　　When the Russian intervention into the Syrian conflict accelerated in mid-2016, many analysts and partisans declared the "Battle of Aleppo" to hold the key to the future of the Syrian conflict. 　　Decisive victory one way or another, or the re-establishment of a military stalemate, would dramatically affect the course of... More

　　Abuses of power committed by Israel's Civilian Security Coordinators (CSCs), civilian guards of the illegal settlements, continue to contribute to settlement expansion into Palestinian-owned land across the occupied West Bank, according to an Israeli rights group. 　　In following the behavior of the CSC guards over a decade, rights group Yesh... More

　　More than two years after the 2014 war, displaced citizens are still struggling to survive. 　　Samia Qudaih and her husband, Mohammed Baraka, have been struggling to survive with their son and five daughters in the al-Zanah area of Gaza, east of Khan Younis, for the past two years. In preparation... More

　　The last time Gholam saw his wife and two children was in the brief moment before a high wave split their boat in half and catapulted the dozens of people on board towards the sea. 　　In the chaos of October 16, 2015, Gholam, an Afghan refugee from Kabul, held his... More

　　By Stanley L Cohen 　　Two weeks ago, the world stood fixated at a largely symbolic gesture by the United Nations in which it found the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank of Palestine to be illegal. Or did it? 　　Although the UN Security Council, with rare uniformity, chastised Israel... More

　　More than 1,250 Catholic priests accused of child sex abuse in Australia with few allegations pursued in cover-up drive. 　　About seven percent of Catholic priests in Australia were accused of sexually abusing children between 1950 and 2010, but few allegations were investigated, an inquiry in Sydney has heard. 　　The scathing... More

　　Famine has been declared in two counties of South Sudan, according to an announcement by the South Sudan government and three UN agencies, which says the calamity is the result of prolonged civil war and an entrenched economic crisis that has devastated the war-torn East African nation. 　　The official classification... More

　　When Israeli military jeeps approached the village of Budrus last month, every resident was notified within minutes. 　　Through the speakers of the village's mosque, a warning was issued: Israeli forces had entered the area and were preparing to demolish a house. 　　Men, women and children rushed towards the site of... More

　　More than 2,500 refugees in Germany were attacked last year, according to a report by the interior ministry, raising fears over the safety of those who have fled war and persecution. 　　In a statement on Sunday, the interior minister citing police figures said that Germany recorded more than 3,500 attacks... More

　　Six years to the day since protesters poured into the streets of Daraa, Damascus and Aleppo in a "day of rage" against the rule of Bashar al-Assad, Syria's uprising turned global war is far from over. 　　Six years of violence have killed close to half a million people, according to... More

　　The Iraqi army on Sunday resumed operations in Mosul after a one-day pause, amid growing concerns over an escalating civilian death toll as fierce fighting reaches the city's most densely populated areas. 　　The offensive was briefly put on hold after local officials and residents in west Mosul said suspected US-led... More