SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Army General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, says he believes Syria could turn into another Afghanistan. The US general made the remarks in an interview on Sunday with al-Hurra, the Arabic-language satellite TV channel, funded by Washington. Dempsey, who is on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, also said "...I have grave concerns that Syria could become an extended conflict" that drags on for many years. Syria has been…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - SOME kinds of argument are new, and some are as old as the cliffs of Dover. As an example of the first sort, take the debate that is going on in many Western countries about how to accommodate Islam, with all its symbols, practices and prohibitions, in a liberal society. As exhibit A of the second category, there is petty Anglo-French bickering, good-humoured or otherwise, which goes back to the Middle Ages. And the…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that it will soon run out of money to cope with the vast needs of internally displaced Syrians as well as refugees in neighbouring countries. UNICEF said on Friday that it would run out of money by June for its operations in Jordan - where it provides water sanitation and hygiene services to about 100,000 refugees living in Zaatari camp. Marixie Mercado, the UNICEF spokeswoman, said: "The needs are rising exponentially, and we are…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - A Syrian government airstrike on a heavily contested neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo has killed at least 15 people, including nine children, activists have said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air raid hit Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoudneighbourhood, which rebels seized parts of last weekend after days of heavy fighting with regime troops. Aleppo is Syria's largest city and a key front in the civil war raging between  President Bashar al-Assad and those trying…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -A shooting incident has claimed lives of three people in a rural house in the US western state of Idaho, where a man and his son were breeding pitbulls. On Saturday, police published a statement saying that the shootings took place in the house in Holbrook near the Utah state line on Thursday afternoon or evening. The victims, identified as Brent Christensen, 61, his son Trent Christensen, 32 and Yavette Carter, 27, were found dead…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The US has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test scheduled for next week, defence officials say. The Minuteman 3 test was put off over concerns it could be misinterpreted by North Korea, amid fears of a conflict. It could be postponed till May, in what correspondents say will be portrayed by Pyongyang as a victory. North Korea has issued a series of unusually strong threats since it was sanctioned by the UN in March…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Recent checks in Russian NGOs are completely in line with the law and have the sole objective of informing the Russian public on these groups’ activities, according to President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with the German broadcaster ARD, Putin said that the recently-approved law on foreign agents that caused the major NGO audit had parallels in international practice. He also noted the extremely disproportionate representation of non-governmental presence from foreign countries in Russia.…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – North Korea has asked foreign countries to consider evacuating their embassies in Pyongyang, amid soaring tension on the Korean peninsula following a month-long war of words between the North and the South. Warnings by the North that nuclear war could break out at any time has prompted the US to strengthen its Pacific missile defences and Russia to express its concerns. Britain is one of several European countries including Russia to receive a letter…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the banking crisis in Cyprus has revealed the unreliability of Western financial institutions. In an interview on Friday with Germany’s state-owned ARD television before an April 7 visit to the European nation, Putin accused Cypriot and European Union leaders of undermining confidence in Europe’s banks by taxing deposits as part of the island country’s international bailout agreement. “Forfeiture of investors’ funds -- including of Russian origin -- wherever…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- UNEMPLOYMENT in the euro area reached a record high in early 2013. According toEurostat, the European Commission's statistical service, unemployment in the 17 member states stood at 12% in February (and in January after a revision), the highest in the euro area's history. Fourteen euro-zone countries had higher rates than a year ago. The biggest increases were in Greece, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain. Eurostat estimates some 19.1m people are unemployed in the euro area, of which 3.6m…