BEIRUT (AP) — Airstrikes targeted Syria s last major rebel stronghold in the northwestern province of Idlib on Monday, killing at least four people, including a woman and her child, opposition activists said. The attacks come as Syrian government forces turn their focus on another rebel-held town in Idlib, Maaret al-Numan, following gains they made last week. Syrian troops have been on the offensive since April 30, and have also captured all rebel-held areas in the adjoining Hama province, as well as the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib. From the town, they are now pushing north. The opposition s Syrian Civil Defense rescue group, also known as White Helmets, said the airstrikes and artillery shelling targeted the village of in Basqala and nearby locations. Three people died in Basqala and the fourth, a man, in another village close by, Maaret Harmeh. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a higher toll, saying the airstrikes killed six people in Idlib, including three in the village of Basqala on the southern edge of the province. Among the three killed in Basqala were a woman and her child, it said. The differences between the Observatory s death toll and that of the White Helmets could not immediately be reconciled. State news agency SANA said troops are pounding insurgent positions in the town of Maaret al-Numan and several nearby villages. It said insurgents fired rockets in government-held villages, inflicting casualties among the civilian population. Maaret al-Numan, like Khan Sheikhoun, sits on the highway linking Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria s largest. Government forces are trying to eventually open that highway. The months of fighting have also displaced more than half a million civilians toward northern parts of Idlib, already home to some 3 million people, according to United Nations humanitarian officials. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 15 people, including four children, were reportedly killed over the weekend. In Idlib, he said people have sought shelter in more than 100 schools, with hundreds of thousands staying in the open air outside overcrowded camps and reception centers. “As the new school year is scheduled to begin soon, access to education will be compromised for many children,” he said. Also Monday, Turkey s defense minister, Hulusi Akar, said Turkish and U.S. troops will soon begin joint patrols as part of a deal for a so-called safe zone in northeastern Syria. He said a joint helicopter flight has already taken place. Akar made the comments days after announcing that a joint U.S.-Turkish operation center for the safe zone had started working under the command of one Turkish and one American general. Turkey has been pressing for a safe zone, running east of the Euphrates River toward the Iraqi border, to push U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish militias away from its frontier. Ankara considers the Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists linked to an insurgency within Turkey. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday renewed a threat of a Turkish military offensive in the region if the safe zone is not established. “If we are forced into a path that we don t desire, if we are kept waiting, all of our preparations have been completed and we will execute our plans,” Erdogan said. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. By Bassem Mroue This photo released by the activist-operated Thiqa News Agency, shows smoke rising after airstrikes hit the town of Ihsem, in Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. Syrian opposition activists said Monday that airstrikes targeting the country s last major rebel stronghold, the northwestern province of Idlib, have killed three civilians, including a woman and her child (Thiqa News Agency via AP)

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese President Michel Aoun discussed on Monday the “Israeli assault on the southern suburbs of Beirut” with the country s United Nations Special Coordinator, Aoun s office said. Two Israeli drones crashed early on Sunday in the southern suburbs, which are dominated by Hezbollah, prompting the leader of the Iran-backed movement to warn the Israeli army that his group was preparing an immiment response. Aoun met U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Monday to discuss “the latest developments”, the president s office said on Twitter. Separately, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri met Lebanon s interior and defense ministers and with the army chief on Monday to discuss security issues, his office said, though it gave no further details. Hariri, who has said the drones aimed to stir up regional tensions, is also due to meet the ambassadors of the U.N. Security Council s five permanent members, his office said. Israeli drone strikes hit a military position belonging to a Palestinian faction in Lebanon s Bekaa valley early on Monday, the group said. Although Israel has not claimed the Beirut attack, Nasrallah said it was the first Israeli attack inside Lebanon since the two sides fought a deadly month-long war in 2006.

Two Israeli drones crashed in a Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital overnight without the militants firing on them, a spokesman for the group said Sunday, saying the first fell on the roof of a building housing Hezbollah s media office while the second landed in a plot behind it. The drones crashed amid heightened tensions between neighboring Israel and Iran, which backs Hezbollah, and shortly after Israeli warplanes attacked targets near the Syrian capital, Damascus. Israeli aircraft buzzed over Beirut on Sunday, hours after the drones crashed, raising fears of a wider conflict. Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif said a small, unmanned reconnaissance drone fell on a building housing Hezbollah s media office in the Moawwad neighborhood in Dahyeh, the group s stronghold in southern Beirut. He said a second drone, which appeared to have been sent by Israel to search for the first one less than 45 minutes later, exploded in the air and crashed in an empty plot nearby, causing damage to nearby buildings. He said the second drone was likely armed judging by the damage it caused. Residents said they heard a loud blast that triggered a nighttime fire. ``We did not shoot down or explode any of the drones, Afif told The Associated Press. He said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will give the official and ``appropriate response in a previously-scheduled televised appearance later Sunday. There was no immediate Israeli comment on Hezbollah s remarks. AP journalists on the scene Sunday said the 11-floor building that houses Hezbollah s media office as well as nearby buildings suffered minor damage and broken glass. On the second floor, where the group has its offices, shattered glass littered the floors and some of the desks were overturned. A portrait of Nasrallah was on a desk littered with glass. A Lebanese army statement said an Israeli drone came down while the other exploded in the sky over Beirut, causing material damage. Israeli warplanes regularly violate Lebanese airspace and have struck inside neighboring Syria from Lebanon on several occasions, angering Hezbollah and Lebanese officials, who have complained to the United Nations. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri described the crash of the two drones as a violation and ``aggression against Lebanese sovereignty. He said the developments overnight constitute a threat to regional stability and an attempt to push the situation toward more escalation. Late Saturday, Israeli warplanes struck targets near the Syrian capital in what the Israeli military said was a successful effort to thwart an imminent Iranian drone strike on Israel. The late-night airstrike, which triggered Syrian anti-aircraft fire, appeared to be one of the most intense attacks by Israeli forces in several years. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, reported that two Hezbollah members and an Iranian militiaman were killed in that attack. But an Iranian general said the Israeli strikes in Syria did not cause any damage or casualties among Iranian forces there. The semi-official ILNA news agency quoted Gen. Mohsen Rezaei on Sunday as calling the Israeli claims a ``lie. Rezaei, a senior commander in Iran s Revolutionary Guard, said ``the defenders of Syria and Iraq will soon give an answer to recent attacks by Israel and the United States. In recent days, U.S. officials have said that Israeli strikes have hit Iranian targets in Iraq, in what would be a significant expansion of Israel s campaign targeting Iranian military entrenchment in the region. Iran supports Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as an array of government-allied militias in Syria and Iraq. Israel has carried out hundreds of attacks in recent years targeting Hezbollah and other Iranian targets in Syria. Israel views Iran as its greatest threat and has said it will not tolerate a permanent Iranian presence in Syria or the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah. Iran and Hezbollah are key military allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad in that country s eight-year-old civil war. Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006. The volatile border between the two countries, which remain technically in a state of war, has been mostly calm since.

Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, has commended the establishment of a committee to implement the objectives of the Human Fraternity Document, according to a Thursday statement by Al-Azhar, the highest institution of Sunni Islamic learning. The document was signed by Pope Francis and El-Tayyeb in Abu Dhabi during the pope s visit to the UAE in February.

Sudanese Court postponed trial of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir to next Saturday, after concluding first session on Monday. During the court session, witnesses have provided testimonies. Al-Bashir told judges he had received millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia, and repeated previous testimonies. The former president arrived accompanied by heavy security presence. Bashir has been detained since being ousted from power in April after months of protests. He is facing charges of possessing foreign currency, corruption and receiving gifts illegally. Bashir was also charged in May with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters, and prosecutors also want him questioned over suspected money laundering and terrorism financing. On Saturday, pro-democracy activists and the country s military leaders signed a deal paving the way for elections. On 17 July, military generals and protest leaders have already inked a power-sharing agreement which will allow establishment of joint civilian-military ruling council to oversee the formation of a transitional civilian government and parliament to govern for a three-year transition period. The sovereign council was due to be sworn in on Monday. But the spokesman for the Transitional Military Council, Lieutenant General Shams El Din Kabbashi, said the formation of the new ruling body would be delayed by 48 hours on the request of the opposition coalition. According to the power-sharing deal, the opposition coalition is allowed to choose five members and the military another five, with the two sides jointly choosing a civilian as an eleventh member. The body, which will replace the Transitional Military Council, will be headed by a general for the first 21 months, and a civilian for the last 18 months of the transitional period.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany has for the first time allowed children whose parents were suspected members of Islamic State to return to Germany from northern Syria and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said it will push for more such children to come to the country. Like other western countries, Germany faces a tricky decision on how to deal with citizens who went to the Middle East to join groups like Islamic State, which was driven out of its last territorial enclave in March by US-backed forces. Three of the four repatriated German children are orphans, according to German media, but no further details were available. “We will push for more children to leave Syria,” Maas said on Monday. “These are mostly young children … they cannot be made responsible for the actions of their parents and we want to do something to help,” he added. Thousands of Islamic State members, including foreigners, women and children, are being held by Kurdish-led authorities in northern Syria. German intelligence officials say more than 1,000 Germans went to fight in Syria and Iraq where Islamic State once controlled swathes of territory in a self-declared caliphate. Around a third have returned to Germany, another third are believed to have died and the rest are believed to be still in Iraq and Syria. Other western countries including Britain and France are facing decisions on how to handle their citizens who went to join Islamic State. The British government was heavily criticized after it decided to strip a 19-year-old woman of her citizenship in February, leaving her in a refugee camp in Syria where her baby died. Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Frances Kerry

Jordan summoned the Israeli ambassador in Amman, Amir Weissbrod, on Sunday following “Israeli violations” last week at the Jerusalem site known as Temple Mount to Jews and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. Police had initially barred Jews from visiting the site on August 11 in a bid to ease tensions on a day important to believers in both religions, with the Jewish fast day of Tisha B Av coinciding with the start of the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha. Muslims feared Jewish visits would still be allowed, so they staged protests that sparked clashes. Following criticism from far-right Israeli politicians, police opened the site to Jews, leading to further clashes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had decided in advance “in consultation with all the security bodies” to allow Jewish visits. Decisive message Responding to Israel s closure of the gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque and denial of access to Muslim worshippers, Jordan s Foreign Ministry demanded an immediate halt to attempts to change the legal and historical status of the site. Access to Al-Aqsa and the adjoining Dome of the Rock is controlled by Israeli security forces. Changing the status quo Jordan s diplomatic protest came days after Israel s public security minister, Gilad Erdan, reportedly told a radio station that the country should work toward Jews being allowed to pray at the holy site. Erdan said the change should come through “political agreements and not by force,” reported Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Jews are allowed to visit the site but not to pray there. The ban is condemned by some nationalists, including members of Netanyahu s right-wing coalition. Jordan is the only Arab country apart from Egypt to have a peace agreement with Israel.

The Cairo Criminal Court announced on Sunday that the court would issue sentences against 213 alleged members of the militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis on September 2, on charges of assassinating policemen and bombing security facilities. Egypt s top prosecutor said that 213 alleged militants would be referred to trial in a statement on May 2014. He accused the defendants of carrying out 51 “acts of terrorism,” which have left 40 police personnel and 15 civilians dead. Thirteen more defendants were added to the case in January. Of the defendants, 143 are being tried in session. The rest are tried in absentia. All defendants face charges of “establishing, leading and joining a terrorist group, assaulting citizens rights and freedoms, harming national unity and societal peace, spying for the Palestinian Hamas Movement, vandalizing state institutions, murder and possession of automatic weapons, ammunition and explosives.” The defendants are also accused of complicity in an attempt on Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim s life in September 2013.

Delegations of the Declaration of Freedom and Change (DFC) and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front agreed to continue Cairo dialogue on the outstanding points to reach an agreement on the peace document attached to the constitutional document. The Revolutionary Front confirmed at a joint press conference on Thursday held at the end of Cairo talks that Egypt was keen on peace in Sudan. The front also thanked Egypt for its support to Sudanese people, adding that Cairo s initiative complemented the African mediation and the meetings in Addis Ababa and Juba. Revolutionary Front leader Yasser Arman pledged their presence to participate in the celebration on 17 August, which will take place after the return of the delegation of freedom and change to Khartoum, and explain what was discussed in Cairo to the leadership of the forces of change, saying "If the issues are resolved, a delegation from the front will attend to Khartoum." Arman said the meeting with the forces of freedom and change was a continuation of attention to issues of peace and citizenship in Sudan. The Transitional Military Council and DFC forces agreed earlier this month on a constitutional declaration to govern the transitional period following months of political instability. The armed movements -- operating under the Revolutionary Front -- expressed reservations over the document signed with the military council, noting that it failed to include the “peace paper” that was approved in Addis Ababa. Current meetings in Cairo are aimed at resolving this matter. In return, Omar Al-Dukair, a prominent member of the DFC, said the transitional phase in Sudan was necessary to strengthen the state s national identity, end conflicts and build a solid democracy and balanced external relations. The DFC spokesman confirmed that Egypt has made great efforts to achieve the objectives of the Sudanese revolution by hosting DFC meetings with the delegation of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front. "We are keen in the coming period to complete the peace process in Sudan," said Abbas Madani. He added that all parties are serious and eager to achieve peace as soon as possible and to complete the talks in the coming period. The leader of the DFC, Wajdi Saleh, confirmed the existence of a number of outstanding issues during the meetings in Cairo. Saleh said during the press conference that talks between the two sides are continuing to reach a permanent peace agreement. Egypt hosted talks between the forces of freedom and change and the Revolutionary Front after the latter announced its reservation concerning a number of central issues in the constitutional declaration, which was signed on 4 August.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian government forces on Wednesday closed in on a rebel-held town in Idlib that was bombed with sarin in 2017, sources on both sides said, building on their Russian-backed gains since the collapse of a ceasefire this month. The advance toward Khan Sheikhoun threatens to encircle the last remaining pocket of rebel-held territory in neighboring Hama province, including the towns of Morek, Kafr Zeita and Latamneh. Russian-backed Syrian government forces seized new positions from rebels to the west of the town of Khan Sheihkoun, rebel sources and state media said. A rebel commander said the town, in opposition hands since 2014, was in “great danger”. Government forces were now 4 km (2.5 miles) from Khan Sheikhoun, Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. The sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun in 2017 killed dozens of people and prompted President Donald Trump to order a missile strike against the Syrian air base from where the United States said the attack had been launched. An investigation conducted by the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said the Syrian government was responsible for releasing sarin on the town on April 4, 2017. Damascus denies using such weapons. The northwestern Idlib region is part of the last major stronghold of the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. The rebels that control it include the powerful jihadist group Tahrir al-Sham and Turkey-backed factions. Assad s side had struggled to make any gains in the area in an offensive that got under way in late April. But since the collapse of a brief ceasefire this month, it has managed to take several significant positions, including the town of al-Habeet on Saturday. The humanitarian adviser to the U.N. Special Envoy for Syria said the new surge in violence in the northwest threatened the lives of millions after more than 500 civilians were killed since late April.

LONDON (Reuters) – A highly placed Gibraltarian government source denied on Tuesday an Iranian news agency report which said the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 would be leaving the British overseas territory on Tuesday. British Royal Marines seized the tanker on July 4 off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of violating EU sanctions by taking oil to Syria, which Tehran denies. Iran s semi-official Fars news agency quoted unidentified Gibraltar authorities as saying the tanker would bee freed on Tuesday evening. A senior Gibraltarian government source said that report was not correct. Earlier, Gibraltar said it was seeking to de-escalate the situation.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the PLO, accused Israel of provoking religious and political tension after Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters Israeli police fired sound grenades to disperse Palestinians during confrontations on Sunday outside Jerusalem s al-Aqsa mosque where tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers gathered for the Eid al-Adha holiday, witnesses said. A Palestinian ambulance service said that at least 14 Palestinians were taken to hospitals for treatment. Israel s Kan public radio said four police officers were injured. Facing off with police in the packed compound outside Islam s third-holiest site, Palestinians chanted "With our soul and blood we will redeem you, Aqsa". Scuffles ensued and the crowd fled as the sound grenades exploded and smoke wafted through the compound, witnesses said. Revered by Jews as Temple Mount, the site of two biblical Jewish temples, and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, the area is one of the most sensitive sites in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tensions had mounted at the flashpoint complex at the start of Eid al-Adha as the holiday overlapped this year with the Jewish fast day of Tisha B Av, amid calls by Jewish nationalist and religious politicians for Jews to visit the holy compound. In a statement, police said they had deployed forces at the site in anticipation of disturbances and "dispersed rioters". It put the number of Muslim worshippers at the site at some 60,000. Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, accused Israel of provoking religious and political tension. "The storming of al-Aqsa mosque compound by Israeli occupation forces this Eid morning is an act of recklessness and aggression," she said in a statement. The compound is situated in a part of Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that has not been recognised internationally. In an effort to avoid friction at the site, police barred the entry of non-Muslim visitors, including Jews, before the clashes erupted. After the confrontations died down, Jerusalem District Police Chief Doron Yedid said on Kan radio that he had lifted the ban. Jewish visitors then entered the area under heavy police guard and no serious violence was reported. Eid al-Adha commemorates God s testing of Abraham s faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son. Tisha B Av marks the destruction of the two temples.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli police fired sound grenades to disperse Palestinians during confrontations on Sunday outside Jerusalem s al-Aqsa mosque where tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers gathered for the Eid al-Adha holiday, witnesses said. A Palestinian ambulance service said that at least 14 Palestinians were taken to hospitals for treatment. Israel s Kan public radio said four police officers were injured. Facing off with police in the packed compound outside Islam s third-holiest site, Palestinians chanted “With our soul and blood we will redeem you, Aqsa”. Scuffles ensued and the crowd fled as the sound grenades exploded and smoke wafted through the compound, witnesses said. Revered by Jews as Temple Mount, the site of two biblical Jewish temples, and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, the area is one of the most sensitive sites in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tensions had mounted at the flashpoint complex at the start of Eid al-Adha as the holiday overlapped this year with the Jewish fast day of Tisha B Av, amid calls by Jewish nationalist and religious politicians for Jews to visit the holy compound. In a statement, police said they had deployed forces at the site in anticipation of disturbances and “dispersed rioters”. It put the number of Muslim worshippers at the site at some 60,000. Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, accused Israel of provoking religious and political tension. “The storming of al-Aqsa mosque compound by Israeli occupation forces this Eid morning is an act of recklessness and aggression,” she said in a statement. The compound is situated in a part of Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that has not been recognized internationally. In an effort to avoid friction at the site, police barred the entry of non-Muslim visitors, including Jews, before the clashes erupted. After the confrontations died down, Jerusalem District Police Chief Doron Yedid said on Kan radio that he had lifted the ban. Jewish visitors then entered the area under heavy police guard and no serious violence was reported. Eid al-Adha commemorates God s testing of Abraham s faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son. Tisha B Av marks the destruction of the two temples. Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Susan Fenton The Dome of the Rock is seen in the background as Israeli police clash with Palestinian worshippers on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount as Muslims mark Eid al-Adha, in Jerusalem s Old City August 11, 2019. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

In a statement on Monday, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi extended his condolences to the families of victims and branded the explosion that killed and maimed so many at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) a "cowardly terrorist incident." Immediately following the Ministry of Interior s first statement addressing the explosion, in which the blast was blamed on a car collision, speculation swirled as to whether such a powerful explosion could have been the result of a car accident. Soon afterwards the Interior Ministry clarified its earlier statement, saying one of the cars involved in the collision was “carrying explosives prepared for use in a terrorist attack”. The later statement also said initial examinations showed the blast occurred when the explosive-laden vehicle collided with three vehicles while driving the wrong way down the street in front of the NCI, and that the vehicle implicated in the explosion had been reported stolen months before in Menoufiya. “Initial investigations indicate that the banned Muslim Brotherhood s militant group Hasm was behind the preparation of the car which it planned to use in a terrorist operation,” said the Interior Ministry statement. Security experts agree the site of the explosion, the NCI, was not the intended target. Major General Fouad Allam, former head of the National Security Apparatus, says most likely the explosives were being moved to another location for a pre-planned attack. Brigadier General Khaled Okasha, director of the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies (ECSS), agrees. “I suspect the driver of the car noticed enhanced security measures in Al-Qasr Al-Aini Street. He was driving a stolen car, laden with explosives, and in his panic tried to avoid the tightened security by driving the wrong way down the Nile Corniche,” Okasha told Al-Ahram Weekly. Okasha speculates the terrorist operation for which the explosives were originally destined would have taken place in the next few hours or days. “Hasm would not venture to transfer this quantity of explosives unless the operation was going to be conducted within a few hours or days,” he says. Eid Al-Adha, one of the two most important religious holidays in the Islamic calendar, falls on Sunday, and in recent years such holidays in Egypt have all too often been accompanied by terrorist acts. The number of fatalities, and the damage caused to the NCI, indicates a large quantity of explosives. Allam estimates that around 300kg must have been needed to cause such a large blast. “It is a cause of great concern that such a large quantity of explosive material could reach the centre of Cairo, and in a stolen car, without being detected,” he says. “We need to overhaul the ways in which stolen vehicles are traced and identified, even when their colour and plates have been changed.” The use of a bomb-laden car, warns Okasha, suggests “Hasm is developing its capabilities.” The group, he says — Hasm essentially operates as the Muslim Brotherhood s armed wing — appears to be cloning Islamic State (IS) operations. “An alliance between terrorist groups has grown steadily apparent. There has been a degree of openness between terrorist groups in recent years. It is possible that IS elements have trained Hasm operatives and what we are seeing is a transfer of expertise.” Since 2013 Egypt has been fighting an insurgency led by IS, formerly known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis in Sinai. Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed, the vast majority in North Sinai. Though Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has been at the forefront of militant groups launching attacks against security targets smaller militant groups — most notably Hasm and Lewaa Al-Thawra — emerged in 2016, carrying out terrorist operations in Cairo and Giza governorates. Hasm claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist acts in their first two years of existence, and military experts were unanimous in concluding the group was an offshoot of the Brotherhood. In February 2017 the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters designated Hasm a terrorist group. Their first major operation, the failed assassination attempt on former mufti Ali Gomaa, was in August 2016. A second failed assassination, this time on the prosecutor-general s deputy Zakaria Abdel-Aziz, was staged in October of the same year. Abdel-Aziz s convoy was driving in New Cairo when a car bomb exploded near the motorcade. There were no injuries. In the attempt on Gomaa s life, the cleric escaped unharmed when four masked gunmen exchanged fire with his bodyguards while he was on his way to Al-Fadel Mosque, 50 metres from his home. On Monday Hasm denied any links to the explosion and in a statement it ironically extended its “sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims”. Okasha believes Hasm s denial of responsibility is little more than a public relations exercise. Aware of the public outrage that followed the deadly explosion in which many of the NCI s patients were caught up, the group opted to wash its hands of any involvement, in public at least. “The bombing caused great pain among the public, and I think Hasm decided it was better to distance itself from any involvement in such a barbaric act,” says Okasha. Popular TV host Amr Adib has managed to raise LE71 million to renovate the NCI during his talk show on MBC Masr TV. Donors have included public figures such as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who donated LE50 million. Other top donors include Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, who donated LE1 million, businessman and construction tycoon Hisham Talaat Mustafa, who donated LE10 million, as well as companies and groups like Garhi Steel, which donated LE3 million.

Egypt s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Monday has donated LE100,000 for the families of those dead and injured from a Sunday car bombing in front of the National Cancer Institute. The Egyptian Interior Ministry on Monday said that a car loaded with explosives caused the explosion in front of the National Cancer Institute, with the Hasm terrorist group responsible for the attack. The explosion on Sunday night killed 20 people and injured 47 others. The Interior Ministry said in its statement that the car had been reported stolen months ago from the Monufiya governorate. It exploded while colliding with other cars when moving against traffic. The initial investigations revealed that the military arm of the Muslim Brotherhood group in the Hasm movement prepared the bombing car to carry out the attack. The explosion killed 20 people and injured 47 others, according to the last statements by ministries of interior and health. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly conveyed his condolences to the families of the explosion s victims on Monday. He also followed up the injured victims at the hospitals. Madbouly telephoned Minister of Higher Education Khalid Abdel Ghaffar, to coordinate for the immediate rehabilitation of the National Cancer Institute, partially damaged in the explosion. The Arab Contractors Company will be in charge of the rehabilitation work.

The U.N. Security Council has condemned in the strongest terms "the cowardly terrorist act in Cairo that killed at least 20 people and injured others. Council members said in a statement Tuesday that the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of Sunday s "reprehensible acts of terrorism must be held accountable and brought to justice. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also strongly condemned "the terrorist attack, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. A car packed with explosives being driven to carry out an attack exploded in a collision in Cairo in the deadliest attack in the Egyptian capital in over two years. The Security Council said "terrorism threatens international peace and security and reiterated that "any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

Egypt s interior ministry said in a statement on Monday that a car involved in a deadly blast caused by a traffic collision in front of the National Cancer Institute in central Cairo carried explosives that were set to be used in a terror attack. At least 20 people were killed and 47 were injured including some in critical condition, in a blast caused by the car collision on midnight Monday in front of the NCI building in Manyal neghbourhood. The ministry said the explosives laden vehicle was reported stolen a few months ago in Menoufiya. According to the ministry, the vehicle was on its way to carry out a terrorist operation, although the site of the planned attack is unclear. The ministry said that the terrorist group Hasm, which is affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood, was behind the blast.

Sudan s Transitional Military Council (TMC) and protest leaders Sunday signed a hard-won constitutional declaration that paves the way for a promised transition to civilian rule following more than seven months of often deadly street rallies. The agreement, signed at a ceremony in Khartoum, builds on a landmark July 17 power-sharing deal and provides for a joint civilian-military ruling body to oversee the formation of a transitional civilian government and parliament to govern for a three-year transition period. Protest movement leader Ahmed Rabie and the deputy head of the ruling military council, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, signed the declaration at the ceremony attended by African Union and Ethiopian mediators. "We turned a tough page of Sudan s history by signing this agreement," Daglo, who flashed a victory sign after making a short speech, told reporters. The signing was met by a wave of applause in the hall as representatives from both sides shook hands. Overnight, thousands of jubilant Sudanese already took to the streets of the capital to celebrate when the deal was announced before dawn. A formal signing in front of foreign dignitaries is due to take place on August 17 -- the date on which ousted president Omar al-Bashir is due to go on trial on corruption charges -- another protest leader, Monzer Abu al-Maali, told AFP. The next day, the TMC and protest leaders are expected to announce the composition of the new transitional civilian-majority ruling council, he said. "Members of the ruling sovereign council will be announced on August 18, the prime minister will be named on August 20 and cabinet members on August 28," Abu al-Maali told AFP. Sunday s accord was the result of difficult negotiations between the leaders of mass protests which erupted last December against Bashir s three-decade rule and the generals who eventually ousted him in April. On Saturday, the Arab League welcomed the agreement saying the signing of the constitutional declaration "would launch a new and important phase in line with the Sudanese people s aspirations". Sudan s head of the TMC Abdel Fattah al-Burhan lauded the "long-awaited deal" in an interview on Saudi broadcaster Al-Hadath. Demonstrators among the crowds that took to the streets in the early hours hailed victory in their struggle for a new Sudan. "For us, the revolution succeeded now and our country set foot on the road towards civilian rule," said 25-year-old Ahmed Ibrahim as he joined the cavalcade of vehicles that criss-crossed the streets of Khartoum, horns blazing. Fellow protester Somaiya Sadeq said she hoped there would now be justice for those who had given their lives. "We have been waiting for a civilian state to seek fair retribution from the murderers of our sons," she told AFP. The Ethiopian special envoy to Sudan Mohamed Darer said that the constitutional declaration puts the basis of the transitional period, including a civil, democratic rule that gives equality to all Sudanese people. "We have shown to the whole world that the Africans can solve their problems without foreign interference ", he stressed.

Iran accused the United States on Thursday of "childish behaviour" driven by fear after Washington imposed sanctions on its foreign minister, escalating tensions between two foes at loggerheads over Gulf shipping and Iran s nuclear programme. Fears of a Middle East war with global repercussions have risen since the United States ditched world powers 2015 nuclear deal with Iran last year and revived sanctions on Tehran. The Islamic Republic has retaliated by resuming uranium enrichment seen in the West seen as a potential conduit to developing atomic bombs. Iran denies any such intent. After several attacks on tankers - blamed by Washington on Tehran, which denied responsibility - the United States is trying to forge a coalition to secure Gulf waters, though European allies have been loath to join for fear of provoking open conflict. European parties to the nuclear pact have called for diplomacy to defuse the crisis, but Tehran and Washington have taken hard lines and on Wednesday the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Iran s foreign minister in a likely further blow to any chances for troubleshooting dialogue. "They (Americans) are resorting to childish behaviour... They were claiming every day We want to talk, with no preconditions ...and then they sanction the foreign minister," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on state television. Zarif, a pivotal player in the nuclear deal who was educated and lived for years in the United States, dismissed the action and said it would not affect him as he had no property or other interests in America. US afraid of Zarif s words, Iran says "A country which believes it s powerful and a world superpower is afraid of our foreign minister s interviews," Rouhani said, alluding to numerous interviews that Zarif - a fluent English speaker - gave to American media when he visited New York for a United Nations conference in July. "When Dr Zarif gives an interview in New York, ... they (Americans) say Iran s foreign minister is misleading our public opinion," Rouhani said. "What happened to your claims of liberty, freedom of expression and democracy?" Rouhani added: "The pillars of the White House are made to tremble by the words and the logic of a knowledgeable and self-sacrificing man and diplomat." U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Zarif was being sanctioned because he "implements the reckless agenda of Iran s Supreme Leader...(We are) sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its recent behaviour is completely unacceptable". In a tweet earlier on Thursday, Zarif said peace and dialogue were an "existential threat" to hawkish politicians allied with U.S. President Donald Trump who take a hardline stance against the Islamic Republic. Zarif has in the past said that a so-called “B-team” including Trump s national security adviser John Bolton, an ardent Iran hawk, and conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could goad Trump into a war with Tehran. In repudiating the nuclear deal reached by predecessor Barack Obama, Trump said he wanted to secure a wider accord that not only limited Iran s nuclear activity but also curbed its ballistic missile programme and reined in its support for powerful proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. Trump intensified sanctions in May to try to strangle Iran s oil exports, the lynchpin of its economy. Fears for Gulf oil shipping The security of shipping in the Gulf, through which about a fifth of the world s oil passes, has shot up the international agenda since May when Washington accused Iran of being behind explosions that holed six tankers over several weeks. In July, Iran seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf s outlet to the open seas, in apparent retaliation for Britain s seizure of an Iranian ship accused of violating European sanctions by taking oil to Syria. In a sign of increasing jitters over security in the Gulf, Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday it was not taking any British-flagged tankers through the Strait of Hormuz for the time being. The U.S. Embassy in Berlin said on Tuesday the United States had asked Germany to join France and Britain in a mission to protect shipping transiting the strait and "combat Iranian aggression". Germany rebuffed the request. "Germany will not take part in the sea mission presented and planned by the United States," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. The Gulf situation was serious and everything should be done to avoid conflict, he said. "There is no military solution."

Four children were among 14 civilians killed in an airstrike on Al-Thabet market in Yemen s northern Saada province on Monday, according to Houthi authorities, amid conflicting accounts of what happened. A Houthi-run hospital report, released by spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam, held the Saudi-led coalition responsible for the incident and said it also wounded 26, including 14 children. In response, coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki told CNN that: "The targeting of Al-Thabet market by the terrorist, Iran-backed Houthi militia is a deliberate attack against innocent civilians." The Saudi-backed Yemeni government s information minister, Moammar al-Eryani, also blamed the explosion on the Houthis in a tweet Monday, and said that the rebels used Katyusha rockets. The United Nations International Children s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Yemen said it was "disheartened with reports of the killing and injury of children" in a Twitter post. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree blamed the Saudis and condemned the attack in a statement. "The Al-Thabet market crime in the Qataber district in the province of Saada that was committed against civilians proves the failure of the Saudi regime in the military and humanitarian fields as they deliberately committed a massacre against civilians," Saree wrote. The conflict in Yemen began in early 2015 when Houthi rebels -- a minority Shia group from the north of the country -- drove out the internationally-recognized government and forced its president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, to flee. The crisis quickly escalated into a multi-sided war, with neighboring Saudi Arabia leading a coalition of Gulf states against the Houthi rebels. The coalition is advised and supported by the US, among other nations. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project found in June that the total number of reported fatalities in Yemen since 2015 is more than 91,000.

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood journalist Omar Hassan has posted on Facebook an audio recording of a meeting of group leaders in Turkey where a leading member is accusing other high level members of financial corruption. In the recording, a leading member believed to be Amir Bassam, accuses the current MB secretary-general Mahmoud Hussein, the MB representative in Africa Mahmoud El-Beheiry, and the MB spokesperson Ibrahim Mounir of being corrupt.