At least 42 African migrants drown off Yemeni coast
Sana - At least 42 illegal African migrants drowned in the Arabian Sea off the southern coast of Yemen late on Sunday, March 9, the defense ministry said on its website.The ministry's website quoted a local official in Shabwa province as saying the migrants drowned off the coastal town of Bir Ali. A naval patrol managed to rescue 30...UAE summons Iraq ambassador over accusing Saudis of funding terrorism
ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates summoned Iraq's ambassador on Wednesday, March 12, to protest against his prime minister's accusations that its ally Saudi Arabia was funding terrorism, state news agency WAM reported, while Bahrain called the comments "irresponsible."Saudi Arabia has already rejected Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri...Sectarian clashes in Lebanon’s Tripoli kill two
BEIRUT - Fighting between rival sects in Lebanon's second city killed two people including a 10-year-old girl on Thursday, March 13, security and medical sources said, in violence stoked by the war in neighboring Syria.Clashes between Sunni and members of the Shi'a-derived Alawite sect in the northern city of Tripoli broke out after...Former Mubarak PM backs Sisi presidential bid
CAIRO - The last prime minister of fallen strongman Hosni Mubarak reiterated his support Thursday for the army chief as president but also slammed the military for initially backing his candidacy openly.Ahmad Shafik - who lost Egypt's 2012 presidential election - endorsed Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who ousted the Islamist...Netanyahu shape-shifts Iran reality
Benjamin Netanyahu’s tiresome vilification of Iran has taken on the characteristics of a rote obsession that diverges farther and farther from truth, reality and his own ostensible objective. It is as if — in pursuing his real objective of keeping Iran ostracized, preventing any U.S. agreements with it, and keeping the specter of...UAE sentences Qatari doctor to seven years in prison for ties to the Brotherhood
ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates' top court sentenced a Qatari doctor to seven years in prison on Monday, March. 3, for supporting supporting al-Islah, a group banned in the UAE for its link to the Muslim Brotherhood.The Federal Supreme Court in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi found Mahmoud al-Jaidah guilty of cooperating with an "illegal...Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE recall envoys in rift with Qatar, Doha vows “not to bow to pressure”
DOHA - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar on Wednesday, March 5, in an unprecedented public split between Gulf Arab allies who have fallen out over the role of Islamists in a region in turmoil.Qatar's cabinet voiced "regret and surprise" at the decision by the fellow-members of the...Sisi to run for president, court bans Hamas activities
CAIRO - Egypt's armed forces chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signaled on Tuesday, March 4, that he will run for president, saying he cannot ignore the "majority" of Egyptians who want him to do so, state news agency MENA reported.Sisi, who ousted Egypt's first freely elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, in...Tunisia lifts state of emergency in whole country after three years
TUNIS - Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has lifted a state of emergency, which has been enforced since the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, his office said Thursday."The president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces... issued a decree lifting the state of emergency in the whole country from Wednesday,...MEA: Iraqi minister’s son misses flight, forces plane back
BEIRUT - A passenger plane flying from Lebanon to Iraq on Thursday turned back after the Iraqi transport minister's son missed the flight and phoned Baghdad to stop the aircraft from landing, Middle East Airlines (MEA) said.Marwan Salha, acting chairman of MEA, told Reuters the flight, scheduled to leave at 12:40, had been delayed for...Niger extradites Gaddafi’s son Saadi to Libya
TRIPOLI - Muammar Gaddafi's son Saadi, his special forces commander who fled abroad during Libya's 2011 uprising, was imprisoned in Tripoli on Thursday after Niger agreed to send him back from house arrest there.Saadi, who had a brief career as soccer player in Italy and often lived the playboy life during his father's rule, is the first...
Rising Democrat David Knezek eyes State Senate seat
March 7th, 20140 Caption: State rep Knezek was joined by community members at Crestwood High School where he announced his bid for State Senate last month. PHOTO: Sean MurphyDEARBORN HEIGHTS — There is no doubt that David Knezek is a rising star in Michigan's political landscape. As the youngest Democratic state representative in a...Phil Cavanagh announces campaign for Wayne County Executive
DETROIT — State Representative Philip Cavanagh (D-Redford Township) officially announced his entry into the 2014 campaign for the office of Wayne County Executive on Monday, Mar. 3 at the historic Fisher Building. "For too long now, our region has squandered time and opportunities by electing those who have put political...
If two-state solution fails, what’s next?
March 7th, 20140 WASHINGTON - The failure of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could lead to a significant shift in public opinion in the United States regarding Israel’s future, according to a new poll released Monday, March 3.When asked about two options in the event the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict was no longer...
Syrian army closes in on Yabroud
March 7th, 20140 DAMASCUS - Government troops are tightening their grip on the last rebel stronghold near the border with Lebanon a day after taking control of a key village in the area, a Syrian field commander told reporters Tuesday, March 4.The Syrian army and Hizbullah fighters have seized a string of towns and villages in the rugged Qalamoun......
Israeli bill separating Muslim and Christian Arabs draws criticism
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — A new Israeli law giving Muslim and Christian Arab citizens separate representation on a national employment commission drew fierce criticism from the Palestinians on Tuesday, Feb. 25."This law aims to create a new reality among our people based on religion and not national identity," Palestine Liberation...Twelve dead in Qatar restaurant gas explosion
DOHA - Twelve people, including two children, were killed on Thursday, Feb. 27, when a gas tank exploded at a Turkish restaurant in the Qatari capital Doha, authorities in the Gulf Arab state reported.About 30 others were injured in the blast at the Istanbul Restaurant that one security source said was accidental.Another security source...Seven Egyptian Christians found shot execution-style in eastern Libya
BENGHAZI — Seven Egyptian Christians were found shot dead on a beach in eastern Libya on Monday Feb. 24, after they were abducted from their apartments, security officials and local residents said.A police officer told Reuters the bodies were found with gunshots to the head outside Benghazi in the east, where assassinations,...Hollywood star Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugee children in Lebanon
BEIRUT - Hollywood star and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) envoy Angelina Jolie met orphaned Syrian refugee children in Lebanon and called for an end to the war across the border, on Monday, Feb. 24. Syria's nearly three-year war has forced millions to flee the country, most of them to neighboring countries like Lebanon,......
Israeli airstrike tests Hizbullah readiness, group vows to respond
BEIRUT - Hizbullah on Wednesday, Feb. 26, confirmed an Israeli air raid two days earlier on one of its positions in Lebanon and vowed to respond "at the appropriate time" to the "blatant aggression"."On Monday night... the Israeli enemy's warplanes bombarded a Hizbullah position on the Lebanese-Syrian border, near the area of Janta in...At least 31 killed in Baghdad motorbike market bombing
BAGHDAD - At least 31 people were killed and 51 wounded when a motorcycle rigged with explosives detonated in Baghdad's Sadr City, on Thursday, Feb. 27, Iraqi medical and police sources said. The motorcycle was parked in a second-hand market in the Shi'a Muslim neighborhood that sells used bikes and was filled with people, mostly young......
Iraqi leaders give conflicting answers on reported Iran arms deal
BAGHDAD - Iraqi officials gave contradictory accounts on Tuesday, Feb. 25, about whether or not Baghdad had agreed to buy $195 million worth of arms and ammunition from Iran as reported by Reuters, a deal that if confirmed could damage Iraqi-U.S. relations.The Defense Ministry denied any such deal had been made, while a senior Iraqi...Egypt’s bread ‘smart cards’ could solve subsidy-abuse problem
CAIRO — A device resembling a credit card swiper is revolutionizing some of Egypt's politically explosive bread lines and may help achieve the impossible -- cutting crippling food import bills.Authorities who hope to avoid protests over subsidized loaves sold for the equivalent of 1 U.S. cent have turned to smart cards to try to manage......
