New U.S. assessment says Iran has made “substantial and surprising” progress ” White House spokesman: “We would know if and when Iran made … a breakout move toward acquiring a weapon” ” Jerusalem downplays potential damage to Israel if it attacks Iran.

The rift between Israel and the U.S. has grown as the two countries remain at odds over the timetable for a possible military strike against Iran’s nuclear program. The matter has become especially pressing with the release of a purported new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate report, presented to U.S. President Barack Obama last week, which states that Iran has made “substantial and surprising” progress and boosted its efforts to attach a nuclear warhead to ballistic missiles.

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Syrian forces have killed several insurgents during clashes in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour as fighting continues between government troops and armed groups.

The Syrian forces engaged the insurgents in Deir al-Zour on Saturday. There have been clashes in the city for several days.

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Syrian and Jordanian forces clashed along the border overnight in an incident that highlighted international concerns that the civil war in Syria could ignite a wider regional conflict.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped up efforts to tackle the worsening Syria crisis on Saturday when she arrived in Turkey for talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and members of the Syrian opposition.

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Syrian soldiers repelled an attack by rebels on the international airport in the embattled city of Aleppo on Friday, state news agency SANA reported.

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Kenyan military Jets bombed a base run by Islamist al-Shabaab rebels north of Somalia’s Kismayo port on Wednesday, local residents and officials said, but it was not immediately clear whether there were civilian casualties.

Local resident in Birta-Dheer village near Kismayo town confirmed to Shabelle Media by phone the bombardment and said the jets hit the militants’ base near the village early hours on Wednesday. No militant casualty was also reported in the attack.

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The rebel Free Syrian Army has retreated from the embattled district of Salaheddin in Aleppo on Thursday as Assad’s forces advance.

Hossam Abu Mohammed, an FSA insurgent commander said: “We have staged a tactical withdrawal from Salaheddin. The district is completely empty of rebel fighters. Regime forces are now advancing into Salaheddin.”

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Fighting between the Karen National Liberation Army and the government’s Border Guard Force resulted in four BGF being killed two KNLA soldiers wounded. The firefight between the government’s militia and the Karen army broke out on August 5, in Mae Seik village, Papun Township in northern Karen State.

The fighting happened on the same day as the Karen National Union delegates and government representatives met in the Burma border town of Myawaddy, to hammer out details in relation to negotiations about a ‘cease-fire code of conduct’.

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