Middle East & North Africa

UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (Xinhua): Heavy fighting in southern Tripoli, including airstrikes and rocket barrages, has taken a toll on civilians and structures alike, forcing more than 50,000 people to leave their homes, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

"We continue to be concerned about the heavy fighting in southern Tripoli," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "There are reports of extensive use of airstrikes and rocket shelling causing more civilian casualties and destruction, and forcing thousands more civilians from their homes."

GAZA, May 3 (Xinhua): Four Palestinians were killed and 51 injured during clashes on Friday with the Israeli army forces in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, medics and security sources said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman, told reporters that two demonstrators were shot dead and 51 injured by Israeli soldiers' gunfire during the weekly anti-Israel protests in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel.

3 May 2019; DW: (Saudi) Authorities have claimed the women's rights advocates were working for foreign intelligence agencies. Several writers and academics who supported the women were also recently arrested.

MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/: Over 1,300 people left the Rukban refugee camp on Wednesday and entered the territory controlled by the Syrian government forces, chief of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria Viktor Kupchishin said on Thursday.

TEHRAN, May 2 (Xinhua): Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Thursday that Iran will never bow to the U.S. anti-Iran pressures, Press TV reported.

"We will find a way (to deal with the U.S. pressures). We have done that for 40 years, and will do that now too," Zarif said in Qatari capital Doha on Thursday.

Zarif, who attended the 16th ministerial meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Doha, warned about the "existential threat" that the U.S. unilateralism poses to the international community.

POWAY, Calif. (AP) — Leaders at a Southern California synagogue knew they needed to increase security around their front door a year before a gunman walked through it and opened fire.

The Chabad of Poway synagogue sought a $150,000 federal grant to install gates and more secure doors, but it took nearly a year for the application to be approved and the money to be distributed. It was awarded in late March.

“Obviously, we did not have a chance to start using the funds yet,” rabbi Simcha Backman told The Associated Press.

TASS, May 2: The Israeli military carried out a series of air attacks against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to the launch of air balloons containing flammable and explosive substances in the direction of the State of Israel, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) reported in its Twitter account on Thursday.

"In response to the explosive and arson balloons launched from Gaza to Israel earlier today, our Air Force recently struck a number of Hamas terror targets in Gaza. We hold Hamas responsible," the IDF Tweeted.

TASS, May 2:  Militants from extremist groups shelled the outskirts of the Jebla city in Syria’s Latakia province on Thursday, the SANA news agency reported.

One Syrian was killed and four others were wounded when a mortar shell exploded near Bakhdarma.

The shelling from multiple rocket launcher systems was carried out by armed groups based in the area close to Turkey in the de-escalation zone in the northwest of the Idlib province.

Doha, May 1 (AFP) Iran expressed renewed support for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Wednesday, as the opposition called for a huge May Day protest after armed clashes erupted in the capital Caracas.

Maduro said he had defeated an attempted coup on Tuesday night led by his opponent, self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido.

Jaipur, May 2 (PTI) A special camp for providing Jaipur Foot to 500 disabled people began in Egyptian city of Asyut on Thursday.

The camp was organised by the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) in association with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Egyptian government.