• 'Don't race on our blood': Protesters try to put the brakes on Bahrain's Grand Prix

    Mazen Mahdi / EPA

    Traffic comes to a stop due to a blockade of burning tires on the outskirts of the Bahraini capital Manama on April 18, 2013.

    Mazen Mahdi / EPA

    A protester flashes the victory sign after setting tires on fire to block a road on the outskirts of the Bahraini capital Manama on April 18.

     By Reem Khalifa, The Associated Press

    Organizers of Bahrain's Grand Prix said Thursday that sporadic protests against the race and violent unrest across the Gulf nation do not pose a threat to the premier international event in the kingdom.

    Anti-government groups have stepped up protests against the race in attempts to embarrass authorities, but the demonstrations have been mostly isolated to areas that are hotbeds of opposition to the ruling royal family. Rights groups also are using the race to criticize Bahrain's arrests and other security crackdowns.

    Bahrain has faced more than two years of violence between the Sunni-led government and majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice. 

    Read full story

    Mazen Mahdi / EPA

    A bulldozer used by the police to clear the streets passes graffiti in memory of killed protesters that reads "Don't race on our blood," in Duraz village, north of the Bahraini capital Manama, on April 18.

    Hasan Jamali / AP

    A riot police officer jumps a fence to extinguish a tire fire set by Bahraini anti-government protesters in Sehla, Bahrain, on April 18.

    Social media websites share video of clashes between protesters and riot police in Bahrain where anti-government groups are stepping up attacks ahead of the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

     

    Comment

    Show more
    Explore related topics: , , , , , ,

  • Powerful winter storm brings snow, havoc to Mideast, leaving 8 dead

    Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images

    The city of Istanbul is covered with snow on Jan. 9, after a storm blanketed Turkey's commercial hub, a city of 15 million, paralyzing daily life, disrupting air traffic and land transport.

    Ammar Awad / Reuters

    Palestinians play with snow during a snow storm in the West Bank village of Halhul near Hebron on Jan. 9. At least 8 people have died due to a winter storm in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian territories. Meteorological agencies in Israel and Lebanon both called it the worst storm in 20 years.

    Reuters

    A man walks on snow after a heavy snowstorm in the desert near Tabuk, 932 miles from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Jan. 9.

    By Barbara Surk, Jamal Halaby, The Associated Press -- The fiercest winter storm to hit the Mideast in years brought a rare foot of snow to Jordan on Wednesday, caused fatal accidents in Lebanon and the West Bank, and disrupted traffic on the Suez Canal in Egypt. At least eight people died across the region.

    In Lebanon, the Red Cross said storm-related accidents killed six people over the past two days. Several drowned after slipping into rivers from flooded roads, one person froze to death and another died after his car went off a slippery road, according to George Kettaneh, Operations Director for the Lebanese Red Cross.

    The unusual weather over the past few days hit vulnerable Syrian refugees living in tent camps very hard, particularly some 50,000 sheltering in the Zaatari camp in Jordan's northern desert. Torrential rains over four days have flooded some 200 tents and forced women and infants to evacuate in temperatures that dipped below freezing at night, whipping wind and lashing rain.

    "It's been freezing cold and constant rain for the past four days," lamented Ahmad Tobara, 44, who evacuated his tent when its shafts submerged in flood water in Zaatari. A camp spokesman said that by Wednesday, some 1,500 refugees had been displaced within the camp and were now living in mobile homes normally used for schools.

    Read the full story.

    AFP - Getty Images

    A visitor climbs the steps of Baalbek's Bachus temple as snow covers the Roman ruins of the historic town in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley on Jan. 9, following a fierce storm which has whipped the region this week with temperatures dropping dramatically and snow falling on across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel.

    Said Khatib / AFP - Getty Images

    A Palestinian man uses his donkey cart to transport people across a flooded street in the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Jan. 9.

    Afif Diab / Reuters

    Syrian refugees play with snow outside their tents during a winter storm in al-Marj, in the Bekaa valley on Jan. 9. The worst winter storm in two decades has hit the eastern Mediterranean this week, bringing destruction and death to Syria and its neighbors who are already dealing with a refugee crisis from the country's civil war.

    Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images

    A seagull stands on Galata Tower on Jan. 9. Heavy snowfall blanketed Turkey's commercial hub Istanbul, a city of 15 millions, paralyzing daily life, disrupting air traffic and land transport.

     

  • New Syria rebel chief tries to unite anti-regime militias for final push against Assad

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Syrian rebels attend a training session in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria, Dec. 17, 2012.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Syrian rebel fighter Ibrahim Iaaa, 20, a former construction worker, poses for a picture after a training session in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria, Dec. 17.

    By Karin Laub
    Associated Press

    MAARET MISREEN, Syria -- The new Syrian rebel chief said he's been moving between safe houses since taking up command, even changing quarters twice in one night when he feared regime spies.

    Grappling with largely untrained and at times undisciplined fighters, Salim Idris said in an interview that he is trying to turn local militias into a united force of some 120,000 men for a final push against President Bashar Assad.

    The challenges keep him awake at night, said Idris, a former general who defected from the Syrian army five months ago and was chosen as rebel chief of staff in a meeting of several hundred field commanders this month in Turkey.

    Idris is "very afraid" a cornered Assad might unleash chemical weapons on the fighters. He said old friends of his still in the regime have warned him that the military, which already fired several Scuds, is training more ready-to-fire missiles on rebel strongholds in Syria's northwest. Full story…

    EDITOR'S NOTE: All images made available to NBC News on Dec. 19.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Syrian rebels listen to their trainer on how to use a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria, Dec. 17.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    A Syrian rebel prepares for a video interview at headquarters in Maaret Ikhwan, near Idlib, Syria, Dec. 12.

    There is a growing sense of desperation at refugee camps along the Jordanian border. Refugees say in Syria you die from warfare, but in the camps it is a slow death caused by hunger and sickness. ITN's Emma Murphy reports.

    •Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

  • Blasts hit Iraq's Kirkuk, disputed territories

    Emad Matti / AP

    Residents survey damaged houses following an overnight car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 17, 2012. On Sunday a series of blasts struck Shiite Muslim targets in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk, home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen, Each ethnic group has competing claims to the oil-rich area, the Kurds want to incorporate the area into their self-ruled region in Iraq's north, but Arabs and Turkomen are opposed, police said.

    Reuters reports — Bombs and mortar blasts struck two cities in Iraq's disputed territories on Sunday, killing at least nine people at a time of escalating tension between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north.

    A string of bombings hit Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed city at the heart of a dispute between the Arab-led central government in Baghdad and ethnic Kurds who run their own regional authority to the north of the country. Full story…

    AP

    People inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in al-Mouafaqiyah, a village inhabited by families from the Shabak ethnic group, near the city of Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 17.

    Marwan Ibrahim / AFP - Getty Images

    A youth inspects destruction following two bomb blasts near a Shiite place of worship in the flashpoint town of Tuz Khurmatu in the Kirkuk province of Iraq, Dec. 17.

    Related content:

    •Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

  • With truce holding, children in Gaza return to school for the first time since fierce fighting began

    Bernat Armangue / AP

    Palestinian schoolchildren walk through debris past a damaged school in Gaza City on Nov. 24, 2012. The school was damaged in an Israeli strike that targeted a nearby building.

    Reuters reports: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children headed back to school for the first time Saturday in 10 days, in another indication normal life was returning after cross-border violence in which 166 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed. Full Story

    Ahmed Zakot / Reuters

    Palestinian school girls inspect their school, which witnesses said was damaged in an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City on Nov. 24.

    Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images

    Palestinian schoolboys look through a hole at their damaged school, run by the United Nations, in Gaza City, on Nov. 24.

    Slideshow: Israel and Gaza: 8 days of violence

    Bernat Armangue / AP

    Israel's military said it had accomplished its objectives while Hamas claimed victory after the two sides exchanged deadly airstrikes and rocket attacks for over a week.

    Launch slideshow

     

    Related content on PhotoBlog:

     

     

     

  • Palestinians take to the streets to celebrate cease-fire with Israel

    Suhaib Salem / Reuters

    Palestinians celebrate a cease-fire with Israel on Nov. 21 in Gaza City.

    By NBC News staff and wire reports:

    Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire Wednesday, ending eight days of fighting that killed more than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis.

    Hundreds took to the streets of Gaza City to celebrate the cease-fire, NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reported. Celebratory gun fire erupted across the city, whose streets gradually filled with crowds waving Palestinian flags. Ululating women leaned out of windows and fireworks lit up the sky. Full Story

    Mohammed Salem / Reuters

    Palestinians celebrate in Gaza City.

    Bernat Armangue / AP

    Palestinians celebrate the Israel-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza City.

    Bernat Armangue / AP

    Armed Palestinians celebrate the cease-fire.

    Slideshow: Israel, Gaza violence escalates

    /

    Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.

    Launch slideshow

     

    Related content on PhotoBlog:

    Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

  • Syrians flee into Turkey after Syrian jet bombs border town

    Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images

    Smoke rises after Syrian aircraft bombed the strategic border town of Ras al-Ain, Syria, on Nov. 12, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar.

    Reuters reports: A Syrian warplane bombed the rebel-held town of Ras al-Ain on Monday, just yards from the Turkish frontier, sending scores of civilians fleeing for safety into Turkey. Helicopters also strafed targets near the town, which fell to rebels on Thursday during an advance into Syria's mixed Arab and Kurdish northeast. There was no word on casualties. The jet struck within meters (yards) of the border fence that divides Ras al-Ain from the Turkish settlement of Ceylanpinar, sending up plumes of black smoke. Full Story

    Mira / AFP - Getty Images

    Syrian nationals cross the border into Turkey after Syrian aircraft bombed the strategic border town of Ras al-Ain on Nov. 12.

    Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images

    A Syrian man argues with a Turkish soldier as he tries to cross the border after Syrian aircraft bombed the strategic border town of Ras al-Ain, Syria, on Nov. 12.

    Resit Dag/ Anadolu Agency / EPA

    An explosion after a Syrian aircraft bombed Ras al-Ain, Syria, is seen from at the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar on Nov. 12.

    Murad Sezer / Reuters

    Syrians from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain cross the border fences to flee into Turkey in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar on Nov. 12.

    Murad Sezer / Reuters

    People from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain cross the border fences to flee into Turkey at the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar on Nov. 12.

    Bulent Kilic / AFP - Getty Images

    Turkish soldiers in the border town of Ceylanpinar.stand guard after Syrian aircraft bombed the strategic town of Ras al-Ain, Syria, across the bornder on Nov. 12.

    n jets and helicopters attacked a rebel-held town just feet from the Turkish border, sending scores of civilians fleeing into Turkey. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Related content on PhotoBlog:

    Slideshow: Syria uprising

    /

    A look back at the violence that has overtaken the country

    Launch slideshow

  • Ultra-Orthodox Jews perform Kaparot ritual

    Uriel Sinai / Getty Images

    An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman swings a chicken over her family during the Kaparot ritual in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sept. 20, 2012. The Jewish ritual is supposed to transfer the sins of the past year to the chicken, and is performed before the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, the most important day in the Jewish calendar, which this year will start on the sunset of Sept. 25.

    Uriel Sinai / Getty Images

    An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man swings a chicken over his family during the Kaparot ritual in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sept. 20.

    Jim Holander / EPA

    An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy peers around the corner of a slaughter house to watch chickens that have had their feathers burned off in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem, Sept. 20. The chickens are bought for the purpose of performing the Kaparot ritual and then butchered under Kosher laws. The meat is usually donated to charity.

    Jim Holander / EPA

    An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man carries live chickens he purchased at a market in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem to perform the Kaparot ritual, Sept 20. The photograph was taken through a black mesh curtain.

    •Sign up for the NBCNews.com Photos Newsletter

  • Muslim youth observe holy month of Ramadan

    Ali Ali / EPA

    Palestinian refugee children play in between makeshift tents in the Al-Zaiton neighbourhood before breaking fast on the Holy month of Ramadan, in the Gaza Strip. Tuesday, Aug. 2012. Muslims throughout the world are celebrating the fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar by refraining from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activities from dawn to dusk.  Continue reading the full story.

     

    Related stories:

  • Long lines for fuel in Gaza as energy crisis continues

    Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images

    Palestinians wait in a queue to fill containers with fuel at a petrol station in Gaza City on April 2, 2012. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) began transferring emergency supplies of fuel to the Gaza Strip where an electricity crisis has hit medical services hard.

    Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images

    Palestinians wait in a queue to fill containers with fuel at a petrol station in Gaza City on April 2, 2012.

    Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images

    A Palestinian boy waits along with other residents wait in a queue to fill containers with fuel at a petrol station in Gaza City on April 2, 2012.

     AP reports: At the root of the two-month-old crisis is a standoff between Hamas and neighboring Egypt over the delivery and payment for fuel.

    Fuel smuggled from Egypt through tunnels under the border used to be the main source of energy for Gaza, including the territory's only power station that provides 60 percent of the electricity.

    Hamas now wants Egypt to deliver fuel to Gaza through a passage above ground, trying to establish a precedent Hamas hopes could evolve into a full-fledged trade route with Egypt.

  • Photographer captures a different side of Ramallah

    Julien Goldstein

    Ramallah, Palestine. May 2011.
    At the outskirts of Al-Manara Square, Ramallah's main square, young people from the new Palestinian middle class drive around in expensive cars.

    The work of French photojournalist Julien Goldstein on the Palestinian city of Ramallah drew our attention because it shows a side of the West Bank that is not always seen in the Western press. While points of conflict – border checkpoints, Israeli settlements, and a crippled economy – often attract cameras, Goldstein sought better understanding of this area by looking away from the “news” and covering everyday life.

    The Palestinian territories are back in the global news this week. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas plans to request full membership to the United Nations as an independent state when the General Assembly next week – setting the stage for a diplomatic clash with Israel and the United States. Read more.

    Goldstein worked extensively in the Middle East, but hadn’t previously focused on Israel and Palestine because “I thought everything was already done on this country,” he said. But last year, he decided he could do something different. He wrote in an email to msnbc.com: “I wanted to work deeply in this country, to understand people and life apart from the conflict. How do they live, what do they think, what are their jobs? It was a quiet situation there so I could work out of the news.”

    Goldstein continued: “I decided to start with the settlements in East Jerusalem. While I was there working with the settlers and the Palestinians I started to hear a lot of things about Ramallah, how they are building a de facto capital, the nightlife there, the growth of the economy.”

    He and writer Constance de Bonnaventure traveled to Ramallah and found a city full of energy. “Of course there is this nightlife, the gym clubs... But moreover there is this Palestinian youth which is well educated in major American universities. There is this city which is full of energy, there are discussions in a cafe around a pizza! I was impressed. … But we had to be careful. Of course it's impressive but we can’t forget all of the problems the Palestinians face due to Israeli control. The economy is increasing but is it really a sustainable development?” Goldstein sought new understanding, but he also found new questions raised by taking a look at daily life.

    Goldstein recalls an experience from early in his reporting that opened his mind to looking outside the “news.” He wrote:

    “I was there during the reconciliation of Hamas and Fatah which was extremely important news. I thought that people are going to demonstrate. I went to the central square in Ramallah and saw something like 100 journalists and 20 people demonstrating. I then understood that the Palestinians are like other people, of course they will fight for their rights but they also want to live a normal life. It was the perfect illustration of my story. We can understand this country not only by covering the news but also by covering usual stories.”

    See the slideshow

    More coverage:
    Video: Israelis and Palestinians discuss their views on the Palestinians push for statehood at the U.N.
    World blog: Palestinians face US counteroffensive on UN vote

     

Older posts