General killed as Egyptian forces raid pro-Morsi town

An Egyptian police general has been killed during a raid by security forces on the Muslim Brotherhood stronghold of Kerdasa, near the capital Cairo, security forces fought gun battles in the town as they searched for the killers of 11 police officers in the town last month. 

At least 55 suspected militants were arrested, police say.

Kerdasa is the second big raid on a militant stronghold since the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi in July.

On Monday, security forces arrested dozens of residents during a raid on pro-Morsi supporters in the town of Delga, Minya province, about 300km south of Cairo.

In Kerdasa, General Nabeel Farrag was killed when gunmen opened fire from the rooftops of several schools and mosques they had taken over, the interior ministry was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

source bbc

Yemen violence: Twin attacks on army 'kill 40'

Two car bombs reportedly exploded at a camp in Shabwa province, killing about 30 soldiers and wounding many others.

In a second assault in the area, gunmen shot dead another 10 soldiers in the town of Maifaa,the government is battling al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which frequently targets the military.

In the past year, a major army offensive backed by US drone strikes has forced AQAP and affiliated militant groups out of towns in the south that they seized during the political chaos triggered by the Arab Spring.

BBC Arab affairs analyst Sebastian Usher says the Shabwa attacks, if they were carried out by AQAP, show what they are still capable of, despite having lost a number of their key members to drone strikes.

source bbc

Syria’s opposition risks losing West’s support

A senior opposition official said Washington’s absence at a major opposition meeting in Istanbul this weekend did not go unnoticed: “The Americans did not even bother to send a single diplomat to inform us what they were doing with the Russians.”

Yet diplomats monitoring the meeting said the opposition’s intransigence on adjusting to changing diplomatic priorities could create a rift with the United States. Russian President Putin said on Thursday he hopes the deal will succeed, although it remains unclear how Washington and Moscow will destroy Syria’s chemical arms stockpile. Secretary of State John Kerry says he hopes to see the Security Council act on the plan next week, when the U.N. General Assembly takes place in New York 

source reuters.com

Venezuela’s Maduro granted permission to fly over US after scandal

President Maduro is due to arrive in Beijing this weekend for bilateral talks with the Chinese government. Jaua was adamant that the Venezuelan leader would reach his destination, regardless of any perceived interference.

The incident is the latest diplomatic spat to take place between the United States and Venezuela, who have clashed regularly since Maduro took office in April. 

In July, the Venezuelan president announced that his government was halting attempts to improve relations with the US. The move was in response to comments made by the newly appointed US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, who told a Senate committee that her new role would include challenging the “crackdown on civil society” abroad, including in Venezuela.  

source rt.com

Turkey says Syria faces consequences if it retaliates over chopper downing

Ankara warned the Syrian government Wednesday it would “face the consequences” if it sought to avenge the downing of a Syrian military chopper this week. However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday's bombing at Syria's rebel-held Bab al-Hawa border crossing into Turkey, which wounded at least 12 people, did not appear to be a revenge attack. “Such retaliation against us from within Syrian territory cannot be considered,” AFP quoted Davutoglu as saying. “The Syrian regime should know that it will face the consequences even if it thinks of retaliating,” he warned.

6 jailed in Jordan for trying to join jihadists in Syria

A military tribunal jailed six Muslim extremists Wednesday for trying to join Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front to fight against Syrian government forces, according to a court official. Six Salafi men were jailed to two-and-a-half years each “for attempting to infiltrate Syria and join Al-Nusra and fight the Syrian regime,” he told AFP. The convicts were arrested in December as they tried to cross the border. They were charged with carrying out acts that would expose Jordan and its citizens “to the risk of acts of aggression and revenge.”

150 Islamist militants killed in Nigerian raid – army

Nigeria’s army said that 150 militants and 16 soliders were killed in a raid on a Boko Haram Islamist camp in the northeastern part of the country. “It was a highly fortified insurgent camp with heavy weapons in northeastern Borno State," army spokesman Ibrahim Attahiru said, as quoted by AFP. The offensive was launched in response to the killing of at least 40 government troops in the area by the terrorist organization. Boko Haram has said that it is fighting to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.