Syrian army makes major advances as militants calls for jihadi unification
DAMASCUS - Pro-government forces have made advances throughout Syria in recent days in fighting with rebels around the big cities of Damascus and Aleppo.Some of the key clashes have been close to the Lebanese border, where deadly twin suicide bombings this week hit the embassy of Iran, Syria's main regional ally, in what was widely seen...Hizbullah: “March 14” justifying Beirut terrorist attacks
BEIRUT - Hizbullah’s bloc took an indirect swipe Thursday at the March 14 coalition, which it accused of attempting to justify recent car bombings in the country particularly Tuesday's attack against the Iranian Embassy.Hizbullah, which issued a statement after its weekly meeting in the Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik, also called on...Investigation identifies one of the bombers
BEIRUT - The suicide bombers, who carried out the terrorist attack against the Iranian embassy in south Beirut, killing 25 people, entered Lebanon with fake passports, the investigation revealed.Investigators identified one of the suicide bombers who ravaged the Bir Hasan neighborhood earlier this week as a Palestinian national, as they...Deaths of football fans cloud Algeria World Cup celebrations
ALGIERS - Algeria's celebrations at qualifying for next year's FIFA World Cup in Brazil have been clouded by traffic accidents that have killed at least 12 people, Algerian media reported on Thursday, Nov. 21.In Bejaia, east of the capital, four football fans died when the car they were travelling in after the match collided with a heavy...Saudi police arrest two men for offering ‘free hugs’
RIYADH - Saudi religious police has arrested, on Thursday, Nov. 21, two men who were offering "free hugs" to strangers in the country’s capital, Riyadh. The arrests were made by Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the main Tahlia Street, where the young men were standing with banners saying, "Free...Iraqi militia launches mortar attack on Saudi border
RIYADH - Six mortar bombs landed near a border post in northern Saudi Arabia in an attack claimed by an Iraqi Shi'a militia, which said on Thursday, Nov. 21, that it was warning the kingdom to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs.The mortar rounds hit desert on the far northwestern fringes of the kingdom's oil-producing region on Wednesday,...Car bomb kills 25 in northeast Iraq
BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded in a busy market in northeastern Iraq on Thursday, Nov. 25, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 30, according to medics.Iraq is suffering its worst wave of violence in at least five years, with insurgents targeting mainly Shi'a Muslim civilians in attacks on public places such as shopping areas...Egyptian army chief Sisi won’t rule out presidential bid
CAIRO - Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi, held open the possibility he might run for the presidency in an interview published on Thursday, Nov. 21.Sisi, 59, deposed the Islamist Morsi in July following mass protests against his rule. He has since emerged as a popular...
Reuters survey exposes lack of women’s rights in the Arab world
November 15th, 20130 CAIRO — Egypt is the worst country for women in the Arab world, closely followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen, according to gender experts surveyed in a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll released on Tuesday.Comoros, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan and Qatar came top of the survey, which assessed 22 Arab states on violence against women,...Syria: Militants capitulate in Damascus countryside
Damascus – The city of Damascus is no longer in danger. This is the conclusion come to by military sources directly involved in the battles in the governorates of Damascus and the Damascus countryside since July 2012.Since then, the opposition militants announced more than one raid against the capital, but their plans have all...Nasrallah: Hizbullah will stay in Syria as long as needed
Hizbullah will keep fighting in Syria's civil war alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces as long as necessary, the group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday, Nov. 14.Hizbullah has helped turn the tide in Assad's favor this year, leading the recapture of the town of Qusair and fighting alongside his forces south of...Fuel shortage causes sewage swamps in Gaza
GAZA CITY — Children waded through sewage submerging the streets of a central Gaza neighborhood on Thursday, Nov 14, a day after one of the blockaded Palestinian enclave's largest waste water treatment plants stopped for lack of fuel.Fetid muck, which bubbles up from manholes and overflows from the idle plant when waste goes...Israel’s nuclear ambiguity prodded
OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM — As Palestinian-Israeli peace talks and nuclear talks on Iran’s disputed nuclear program continue, a unique international conference, “A Middle East without Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs),” was held in Jerusalem.The topic is taboo because Israel maintains a veil of “studied ambiguity” on its...Rashida Tlaib raises funds for state senate campaign
DEARBORN — About 75 people attended a fundraiser in support of Democratic State Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s campaign for state senate on Nov. 7 at Habib’s Cuisine here. Tlaib is running for Michigan State Senate in the 4th District. She will face off against incumbent Sen. Virgil Smith, who currently represents the state’s fourth...Secretary of State proposes tough disclosure rules for campaign ads
LANSING — Making a point that the public has a right to know who is behind some of the most negative advertising in political campaigning, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, proposed a sweeping new disclosure rule.“In a country where free speech is protected, these ads are part of the political landscape and we can’t stop them —......
Qatar makes military service mandatory for men
DOHA — Qatar's government has approved a draft law making it compulsory for men in the Gulf state to do military service for up to four months, media reports said on Thursday, Nov. 14.Under the proposed legislation, the first of its kind in Qatar, it would be mandatory for men aged between 18 and 35 to serve in the military for...Suicide bomber attacks Iraqi Ashura pilgrims, killing 35
BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber blew himself up during a Shi'a Muslim religious ritual in the eastern Iraqi city of al-Sadiya on Thursday, Nov. 14, killing at least 35 people and wounding 75, a senior official and security sources said.No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which came on the day of Ashura, a holy ritual...Egypt’s Sisi expects new defense cooperation with Russia
CAIRO — Egypt's top general hailed a new era of defense cooperation with Moscow on Thursday, Nov. 14, during a visit by Russian officials, sending a message to Washington after it suspended some military aid.Relations between Cairo and the United States deteriorated after the army overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on July 3....Lebanon aid chief arrested on corruption charges
BEIRUT — The head of Lebanon's governmental aid body, through which millions of dollars are funneled, and his wife have been arrested on embezzlement charges, judicial sources said on Monday, Nov. 11.The criminal investigation against High Relief Council (HRC) Secretary General Ibrahim Bashir comes as Lebanon appeals for direct aid to......
Israeli settlers torch cars, spray threatening graffiti in West bank village
Israeli settlers torched two Palestinian cars in a West Bank village on Thursday, Nov. 7, locals told Ma’an news agency. According to Ma’an, a group from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba set fire to the vehicles in a village near Hebron. The cars belonged to two brothers. The settlers also sprayed threatening graffiti...Saudi rounds up thousands of illegal immigrants
RIYADH - Saudi authorities rounded up thousands of illegal foreign workers at the start of a nationwide crackdown, ultimately aimed at creating more jobs for locals, media reported on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Hundreds of thousands of workers have already left the kingdom following a grace period of seven months during which authorities told......
Protesters seek to halt Libyan gas exports to Italy
TRIPOLI - Libyan demonstrators encamped at a gas terminal in the west of the country demanded, on Wednesday Nov. 6, a halt to gas exports to Italy, raising the stakes in their protest for greater political rights.The protesters from the minority Amazigh, or Berber, ethnic group had been inside the port for more than a week."The Mellitah...Saudi bank to launch $10 billion Islamic bond program in Dubai
DUBAI - The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) ISDBA.UL will set up a $10 billion (sukuk) issuance program on the Nasdaq Dubai exchange, a boost to Dubai's efforts to become a top center for Islamic finance in competition with other cities.It would be the Jeddah-based IDB's third sukuk program - it already issues Islamic bonds in London and......