Activists say Islamic State militants destroyed a temple at Syria’s ancient ruins of Palmyra
BEIRUT — Islamic State militants have destroyed a temple at Syria’s ancient ruins of Palmyra, activists said Sunday, realizing the worst fears archaeologists had for the 2,000-year-old Roman-era city after the extremists seized it and beheaded a local scholar.
Palmyra, one of the Middle East’s most spectacular archaeological sites and a UNESCO World Heritage site, sits near the modern Syrian city of the same name. Activists said the militants used explosives to blow up the Baalshamin Temple on its grounds, the blast so powerful it also damaged some of the Roman columns around it.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday night that the temple was blown up a month ago. Turkey-based activist Osama al-Khatib, who is originally from Palmyra, said the temple was blown up Sunday. Both said the extremists used a large amount of explosives to destroy it.
Both activists relied on information for those still in Palmyra and the discrepancy in their accounts could not be immediately reconciled, though such contradictory information is common in Syria’s long civil war.
UAE frees British hostage held by al-Qaida in Yemen as militants advance amid conflict
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that its military freed a British hostage who was kidnapped 18 months ago by al-Qaida in Yemen, which has expanded its reach amid fighting between Shiite rebels and their opponents.
A statement carried by the UAE’s official WAM news agency identified the British hostage as Robert Douglas Semple, after initially referring to him as Douglas Robert Semple. It said Semple, 64, had been working as a petroleum engineer in the Yemeni province of Hadramawt when he was kidnapped in February 2014. The statement did not say where Semple had been held in Yemen or provide any details on the rescue.
Yemeni security officials contacted by The Associated Press said they were not aware of any Yemeni forces assisting in the operation and did not have details about how Semple was released, suggesting his handover may have been negotiated among local tribesmen before the involvement of Emirati forces.
Senate Democratic leader Reid says he’s going to support Obama’s Iran deal
WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Sunday threw his full support behind President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran, saying “it is the best path to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
“I strongly support the historic agreement and will do everything in my power to ensure that it stands,” said Reid, D-Nev., in a news release.
Reid is the 27th Senate Democrat to back the deal and the highest ranking in the Senate. His support will make it difficult for opponents to muster the veto-proof numbers needed in the Senate, and therefore, in Congress to scuttle the agreement.
Republicans and the Israeli government furiously oppose the deal signed by the U.S., Iran and five world powers, which seeks to keep Iran from building a nuclear bomb in exchange for billions in international sanctions relief. They say Obama’s agreement makes too many concessions to Iran and could actually enable that country to become a nuclear-armed state.
But it is looking less and less likely that opponents can garner sufficient support. Congress plans a vote next month on a resolution disapproving of the deal, which Obama has threatened to veto. Opponents would then need two-thirds majorities in the House and the Senate to override.
By wire sources
