Syria protests over Israel attack, warns of “surprise”
The foreign ministry summoned the head of the UN force in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to deliver the protest a day after Israel hit what Syria said was a military research center and diplomats said was a weapons convoy heading for Lebanon."Syria holds Israel and those who protect it in the Security Council fully responsible for...Parliament majority achieved by King in Jordan
AMMAN - Tribal leaders, pro-regime loyalists and independent businessmen looked set to sweep Jordan's parliamentary election that was shunned by Islamists, according to initial results released on Thursday.Analysts say the new parliament will be dominated by loyalists who will carry out King Abdullah II's orders, dashing hopes of real...Victory close to defeat for Netanyahu
JERUSALEM — As expected, Benjamin Netanyahu has been ensured another term in office. Against all expectations, he could have been defeated. Now, he faces uncertainty over the kind of governing coalition he will lead and thus the kind of policies he will carry out. And he faces a lingering question: can any prospective coalition...Human Rights Watch: Syrian rebels burn and plunder religious sites
The Syrian opposition said on Monday it had postponed a decision on forming a government-in-exile at its meeting in Istanbul.Sources at negotiations in Istanbul said that the head of Syria’s opposition coalition has flown to Qatar to secure promises of financial aid for a transitional government.“It seems that there won’t be a...Tareq Aziz appeals for Pope’s help to end his misery
BAGHDAD — Tareq Aziz, the late Saddam Hussein's ailing former deputy premier now on death row, is suffering from depression and plans to ask the Pope to call for his speedy execution, his lawyer said Wednesday.Badie Aref said Aziz, a Christian, believed he was being treated well in prison, but was suffering from ill health and simply...Aid groups seek $716 million to battle humanitarian crisis in Yemen
DUBAI — Yemen needs $716 million in aid this year, or 22 percent more than 2012's requirements, UN agencies said on Tuesday, after improved security enabled a reassessment of the humanitarian situation. "We are hoping that we will be able to raise the whole amount so that we can comprehensively meet the needs and save lives," said...Gaza student wins first prize in international math competition
GAZA — Gaza’s children affirmed their place at the forefront of creativity and innovation last week, as a 14-year-old girl from Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, took first place in an international math competition featuring the best young brains from all around the world.In recent years in Gaza, creativity and achievement has...Morsi explains to U.S.: My comments on Israel taken out of context
CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Wednesday that comments on Israel attributed to him before he was elected, slammed as deeply offensive by the United States, were taken out of context."The president stressed they were taken from comments on the Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and stressed the...
Digging for water, but striking oil
January 18th, 20130 ABU DHABI (IPS) — The volatile politics of the Middle East have long been dominated by the fluctuating fortunes of a single commodity: oil.But when the oil-blessed region runs out of water, there could be a change in the political landscape, triggering potential conflicts. The world’s future wars, experts predict, will be over water,...Saudi clerics protest female Shura Council appointments
RIYADH — A group of hardline clerics protested outside the royal palace in Riyadh against the king's decision to appoint 30 women to the kingdom's top advisory body, a YouTube video posted on Wednesday showed.The footage of Tuesday's demonstration showed clerics protesting what they said were "dangerous changes in the country and these...Once strong Syria industry is crumbling
ALEPPO, Syria — Once cogs in a dynamic industrial engine that helped power Syria's economy, the factories in a sprawling zone in the heart of battle-ravaged Aleppo now stand largely silent, the workers mostly fled.In their place, thousands of people sheltering from the violence that has swept Syria's northern commercial capital since...Saudi clerics protest female Shura Council appointments
RIYADH — A group of hardline clerics protested outside the royal palace in Riyadh against the king's decision to appoint 30 women to the kingdom's top advisory body, a YouTube video posted on Wednesday showed.The footage of Tuesday's demonstration showed clerics protesting what they said were "dangerous changes in the country and these...State Department denies Syria’s use of chemical weapons despite media reports
A classified State Department cable relayed US officials’ beliefs that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against opposition rebels but an investigation on Monday concluded that Assad was in fact using riot-control gas.Foreign Policy’s “The Cable” reported Tuesday that a secret diplomatic cable provided...NGO: Israel sanctions illegal West Bank settlement
Israel has quietly "legalized" an unauthorized settlement in the West Bank, an Israeli watchdog said on Wednesday, in the sixth such move within a year.Peace Now's Hagit Ofran said the move to legalize the Nofei Nehemia outpost, south of the Palestinian city of Nablus, was taken "a few days ago" in contravention of Israel's commitments...
Assad peace plan draws disparate responses from West, Russia
January 11th, 20130 The U.N. peace envoy for Syria said on Wednesday that Bashar al-Assad could have no place in a transitional government to end civil war, the closest he has come to calling directly for the embattled president to quit.A peace plan agreed by major powers in Geneva last year envisages an interim administration. "Surely he would not be a......
Syria is many conflicts rolled into one. It is also at the center of two regional struggles
"Shame on you! Shame on The Independent!" boomed the voice of a Syrian intellectual in my phone half an hour after I had returned from Damascus to Beirut. He was so incoherent in his rage that it was difficult to know his precise objections, but my sin seemed to be that I had been in Damascus, talked to members of the Syrian government...
Hizbullah chief calls for ‘humanitarian’ approach to Syria displaced
January 5th, 20130 Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah urged the government to take a strictly humanitarian approach to Syria's displaced in Lebanon Thursday, days after Energy Minister Jibran Bassil recommended sealing the borders between the two countries.Nasrallah's remarks came during a speech to mark the 40th day since Imam Hussein's...The ‘flattening’ of Gaza
GAZA CITY (IPS) — On Nov. 17, four days into Israel’s eight-day assault on the Gaza Strip, deputy Israeli Prime Minister Eli Yishai publicly called for the Israeli army to “blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages, destroying all the infrastructure including roads and water”.The following day, Gilad Sharon, son of former Israeli Prime...Cash-strapped Palestinians urge Arabs to pay pledged funds
RAMALLAH — The Palestinian government in the West Bank on Wednesday urged Arab nations to deliver on pledges to supply the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA) with $100 million a month.Already mired in a financial crisis, the PA has suffered further with Israel's decision to withhold the transfer of tax and tariff funds it......
The unmaking of Syria: Beneath the fog
Everything about Syria is steeped in miasma: Is this conflict politically and sociologically definable as a civil war? Has it become a sectarian war? How strong and widespread is the Salafist (and global Jihadi) presence? Was militarization wise or did the opposition have no choice in this regard? Are the armed groups able to defeat the...Human Rights Watch: Israel violated laws of war by targeting media, civilians in Gaza
Israeli army attacks on journalists and media centers in Gaza during last month’s military operation violated the laws of war, Human Rights Watch has said.Two Palestinian cameramen were killed and at least 10 media personnel were wounded during the conflict. Four media facilities and four private companies were also damaged, and a......
Brahimi heads to Damascus with questions, plan for compromise
Moscow has admitted the possibility that the Syrian opposition may emerge victorious as government forces continue to lose more territory as the conflict rages on, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.“We must face the facts: the current tendency shows that the government is progressively losing control over an...Constitutional poll polarizes Egypt
CAIRO— This Saturday, Egyptians will head to the polls to vote on a controversial draft constitution. The referendum has divided this nation – still pulsing with the revolutionary fervor that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak in early 2011 – with most Islamist parties and groups supporting the proposed national charter, while......