Middle East failing to protect domestic workers
Montevideo, Uruguay – The Middle East depends heavily on domestic workers, but trails other regions in adopting critical reforms to protect their rights, the International Domestic Workers Network (IDWN), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Human Rights Watch said Oct. 27. The groups released a report, assessing...Syria: Building up for war in Qalamoun
It appears that the much-hyped “Great Battle of Qalamoun” will only take place in the media. While the Syrian army does not deny that it has been mobilizing troops in the vicinity of the Qalamoun district, a Qusair-like battle is not inevitable. Instead, gradual advances are taking place to spare Qalamoun large-scale...Egyptian students protest after Brotherhood leader arrest
Egyptian police fired teargas at protesting students at Cairo's al-Azhar University on Wednesday, Oct. 30, hours after authorities announced the detention of Muslim Brotherhood leader Essam El-Erian, part of a crackdown against the Islamist movement.Erian, deputy leader of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, was taken into...Lebanon gets its first ‘sect-less’ baby
BEIRUT — Opponents of sectarianism in Lebanon are celebrating what they are calling the first child born without a religious sect. Nidal Darwish and Kholoud Sukkarieh announced Saturday, Oct. 26, that their one-month-old son Ghadi had been registered without a religious affiliation. In January, the couple celebrated the first civil...Israel plans to build 3,500 more settler homes in West Bank
Throughout the years, Lebanon’s demographics have experienced periodic influx. But particularly in the last two years, the demographic shift has been so overwhelming due to the flood of Syrian refugees in desperate need for shelter. The situation is highly charged, if not perilous, considering Lebanon’s unmanageable sectarian...
Dearborn Heights voters to choose Mayor, four council members
November 1st, 20130 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The municipality race in Dearborn Heights this year has been rather low key, leading up to the General Election on November 5. The City did not have a primary, as not enough candidates pulled petitions to warrant one.Several key positions are up for election in the City this year. Two candidates are running for...Juliette Kayyem: I am driven by my background
Juliette Kayyem, a daughter of Lebanese immigrants, has spent most of her career in public service. She says her Arab American roots are the motivation for her involvement in the public sphere. She has worked in government and for the public because of — not despite —her family's background.Kayyem has served as a civil rights...Saudi court convicts Jordanian of spying for Israel
RIYADH — A Saudi court convicted a Jordanian citizen of spying for Israel and sentenced him to nine years in jail and 80 lashes, a pro-government Saudi newspaper reported on Wednesday, Oct. 30.The Arabic-language al-Riyadh newspaper did not identify the Jordanian but said the Riyadh criminal court found him guilty of "writing to...Sectarian clashes kill dozens in north Yemen
SANAA — The death toll from a Houthi Shi'a attack on a mountain town in northern Yemen held by their Salafi Sunni Muslim rivals has risen to 24, a Salafi spokesman said on Thursday, Oct. 31, as the two sides fought for a second day.Abu Ismail al-Hajouri said more than 100 people were also wounded in Damaj, which he said the...Gunmen steal $55 million from Libyan central bank
TRIPOLI — Gunmen stole $55 million in a heist on a van carrying local and foreign currency for the Libyan central bank on Monday, Oct. 28, state news agency Lana said.Ten armed men stopped the van in the coastal city of Sirte, carrying 53 million Libyan dinars ($43.49 million) and foreign currency worth $12 million. The van was coming...Israel on the lookout: Lebanon haunted by the ghosts of Civil War
Throughout the years, Lebanon’s demographics have experienced periodic influx. But particularly in the last two years, the demographic shift has been so overwhelming due to the flood of Syrian refugees in desperate need for shelter. The situation is highly charged, if not perilous, considering Lebanon’s unmanageable sectarian...Saudi warns women against defying driving ban
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia has warned that it will take measures against activists who go ahead with a planned weekend campaign to defy a ban on women drivers in the conservative Muslim kingdom.The women organizing the campaign have been posting online footage of themselves driving in Saudi cities, and have called on Saudi women with foreign...Saudi Arabia warns of rift with U.S. over Iran, Syria
RIYADH - Upset at President Barack Obama's policies on Iran and Syria, members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family are threatening a rift with the United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the kingdom to its lowest point in years.Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief is vowing that the kingdom will make a "major shift" in...
Syrian opposition sets preconditions to attend Geneva II
October 25th, 20130 DAMASCUS - Syria is set to hand over a detailed plan for destroying its chemical arsenal, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said, as a rebel attack near Damascus triggered widespread power outages.The plan is the next step for Damascus under the terms of a U.S.-Russian deal to head off military strikes on...Iraq province takes first steps to energy independence
BAGHDAD - Iraq's northwest Nineveh province has started talks with oil companies and is drafting terms to attract investment in its significant oil and gas reserves, steps that are certain to antagonize the central government.Nineveh Governor Atheel Nujaifi says Baghdad has focused on the giant southern oil fields and has paid little......
Qatari poet sentenced to 15 years in prison for insulting emir
DOHA - A Qatari court on Monday, Oct. 21, upheld a 15-year jail sentence handed down to a poet, convicted of criticizing the former emir and attempting to incite revolt, a relative said.In his verses, Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami praised the Arab Spring revolts that toppled four authoritarian leaders. He also criticized Qatar's former...Ten killed in Tunisia clash
TUNIS - At least eight Tunisian policemen and two Islamist militants were killed on Wednesday, Oct. 23, when they clashed during a raid by security forces in Sidi Bouzid in the south of the country, security sources and state television said.Tunisian authorities say Ansar al-Sharia, one of the Islamist militant movements to emerge since...Bahraini court temporarily releases opposition leader
MANAMA - A senior Bahraini opposition politician was temporarily freed on Thursday, Oct. 24, by the court, which tried him on charges that include inciting terrorism, in a surprise conciliatory ruling in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state.Khalil al-Marzouq, a former parliament member, was detained in September by police investigating his...Syrian man in limbo for 16 days at Dubai airport
DUBAI - A Syrian man has been stranded at Dubai airport for 16 days in a case with echoes of the Tom Hanks film "The Terminal."Wasfi Tayseer Jarad has been stuck at the airport's Terminal 2, since being freed from prison after serving time for a drug conviction and being issued a deportation order, the English-language Gulf News reported......
Detroit mayoral candidates square-off in heated debates
DETROIT — This week, mayoral candidates Benny Napoleon and Mike Duggan squared off in public debates to discuss which of their campaign platforms would best be suited to turn around Detroit's fragile government, neighborhoods and economy.Words got heated between the two at the first debate, which took place on Sunday, October 22. While...Truck bomb targets Iraqi minority, killing 15
Baghdad — A suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives blew himself up in a village in northern Iraq, killing at least 15 members of the country's Shabak minority early on Thursday, Oct. 17, police said.It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but Sunni Islamist militants have in the past targeted......
Sharp increase in Israeli West Bank settlements
RAMALLAH-- Israeli construction in the West Bank increased by 70 percent, from January to June, compared to the same period in 2012, an anti-settlement advocacy group said. A report released by the group, Peace Now, said more than 340,000 settlers live in the West Bank, more than triple the number who lived there 20 years ago when the...Bomb found in south Beirut on eve of Eid
BEIRUT — Lebanese security forces defused a car bomb on Monday in the southern suburb of Beirut.The discovery of a bomb happened on the first night of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha and two months after a car bomb killed 20 people in the area and looked like the latest sign of growing sectarian tensions in Lebanon, exacerbated by......