Lebanon shuts down 40 Syrian-owned businesses in Bekaa Valley
BEIRUT — Forty Syrian-owned businesses, along the road connecting Chtaura, Bar Elias, and Masnaa in the Bekaa Valley shut down, following a decision by the area’s public prosecutor. After the establishments were informed by police stations that their legal status was not up to date last month, Lebanon’s Internal Security...Russia warns of disaster if Syrian nuclear reactor is hit
A military strike on Syria could lead to a nuclear catastrophe, if a missile were to hit a reactor, near Damascus, containing radioactive uranium, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman revealed, on Wednesday Sept. 4."If a warhead, by design or by chance, were to hit the Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) near Damascus, the...With Brotherhood out, popular military controls Egypt’s future
CAIRO - Workers in blue overalls clamber over scaffolding around Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, whitewashing its charred walls to restore a semblance of normalcy to the corner of Cairo where the struggle for Egypt reached a bloody climax this month.After a stunning reversal in which the army seized upon a tide of public discontent to...Bomb hits Yemen military bus in Sanaa
SANAA — A bomb tore through the side of a bus carrying Yemeni air force personnel to their base in the capital Sanaa on Sunday, Aug. 25, killing at least one officer and wounding several others, state media reported.Witnesses told Reuters that as many as six people died when the device, planted on the vehicle, exploded and blew...Violence kills 86 in Baghdad in one day
BAGHDAD — A series of car bombings and other attacks across Baghdad on Wednesday, Aug. 28, killed 86 people and wounded 263, police and medical sources said, extending the worst wave of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq for at least five years.It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks, which appeared coordinated, but Sunni...Saudi Arabia criminalizes domestic violence
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has passed landmark legislation, aimed at protecting women, children and domestic workers against domestic abuse, a human rights official said on Thursday, Aug. 29, in a move aimed at reducing hidden violence against women in the kingdom.The "Protection from Abuse" law is the first of its kind in the...Tunisia Interior Ministry: Islamist radicals planned murders, Islamic state
TUNIS — The freshly banned jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia was planning a series of political assassinations in Tunisia in its effort to establish an Islamic emirate in North Africa, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday, Aug. 28.The ministry disclosed Ansar's plans one day after Prime Minister Ali Larayedh declared it a terrorist...Algeria takes two Gitmo detainees
Algiera — Two Algerian detainees at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been transferred to Algeria, the U.S. Defense Department said Thursday, Aug. 29.The Algeria's News Agency said the detainees have undergone preliminary interrogation by Algerian prosecution, awaiting their arraignment in front of a judge....Egyptian soldiers will no longer swear loyalty to president
Egyptian soldiers will no longer swear loyalty directly to the president of the republic, according to a published decree, a symbolic change analysts said underlined the military's independence from any civilian control.Officers will vow to "execute the orders of my leadership," according to the amended oath of allegiance, that removes...State begins re-examining thousands of votes in Detroit mayoral race
DETROIT — The Board of State Canvassers has began the process of reexamination of the thousands of Detroit write-in ballots from the Aug. 6 Mayoral Primary, after a unanimous vote on Tuesday, August 27 allowed state workers to open certain ballot boxes and begin re-examining write-in ballots for mayor.The move is an effort to finalize...
Pressure mounts on Obama to act over alleged Syrian chemical attack
August 23rd, 20130 On Thursday Aug. 22, president Barack Obama faced growing calls at home and abroad for forceful action against the Syrian government, over accusations that it carried out a massive deadly chemical weapons attack.While the White House said it was "appalled" by reports of hundreds of people gassed near Damascus on Aug. 21, it made clear...U.S. arms industry would lose big from Egypt aid cut-off
UNITED NATIONS — The United States, which has refused to cut off its hefty 1.3 billion dollars in annual military aid to Egypt, continues to argue that depriving arms to the 438,500-strong security forces will only “destabilize” the crisis-ridden country.There is perhaps a more significant – but undisclosed – reason for...As Egypt smolders, churches burn
CAIRO — Churches across Egypt are being attacked heavily, following the brutal killing last week of supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.The Coptic Christian rights group, Maspero Youth Union estimates that as many as 38 churches have been “completely” devastated by fires across nine governorates since Aug. 14....
From Boston to Beirut: A comparison of “terror”
August 23rd, 20130 The Western media have double standards when it comes to “terrorism.” Within hours after two bombs were detonated at the Boston Marathon last April, many in the media had christened it a “terrorist attack.” Meanwhile, the August 15 bombing in south Beirut that killed at least two dozen is a “blast” that occurred in a...Yemen asks U.S. for drones to fight al-Qaeda
Sanaa — Yemen has asked the United States to supply it with drones, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said on Thursday, Aug. 22, to help it fight an al-Qaeda threat that recently forced Western countries to temporarily close diplomatic missions in Sanaa.State news agency Saba also quoted Hadi as telling police cadets that 40 suspected......
Bomber hits Iraq military headquarters, killing 14
Baghdad — A suicide bomber drove a vehicle ,packed with explosives, to a military headquarters in western Iraq and blew himself up outside of it on Thursday, Aug. 22, killing at least 14 people, police said.The attack, which appeared to be the latest incident in a wave of violence by Sunni insurgents against the Shi'a-led government,...Saudi beheadings bring execution tally to 60 this year
Riyadh —On Tuesday, Aug. 22, two nations were convicted of murder and armed robbery, beheaded by the sword, the interior ministry said. Ibrahim al-Qanbar and Ahmed al-Musalam were found guilty of attacking a labor camp and opening fire on residents, killing Mohammed al-Shuja and wounding another person, the ministry...Jordan to build nuclear power plant
Amman — Jordan's Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the go-ahead for a first nuclear research reactor to meet its energy needs.The five-megawatt reactor will be built at the Jordan University for Sciences and Technology near the northern city of Irbid, commission chief Majad Hawwari said."The approval of the project came after two...Tunisian Islamists accept union plan to resolve crisis
TUNIS - Tunisia's governing Islamists edged closer to negotiations with secular opponents on Thursday,Aug. 22, by agreeing in principle to a plan for a transition toward new elections proposed by the powerful trade unions.Rached Ghannouchi, chairman of the Islamist Ennahda party, said negotiations would quickly resolve the standoff that......
Rockets fired at Israel from south Lebanon
Lebanese soldiers stand near the area where rockets were launched from southern Lebanon to Israel in Housh, Tyre August 22, 2013. REUTERS/Ali HashishoBeirut — The Israeli military said several rockets were fired at northern Israel from southern Lebanon on Thursday, Aug. 22, but one was intercepted by an anti-missile shield and three...Egypt: Mubarak under house arrest, Brotherhood leader in jail
Cairo — Egypt’s ex-president Hosni Mubarak was released from jail Thursday, Aug. 22, after a court ordered him freed, pending trial.Mubarak was taken from Cairo's Tora prison by helicopter to a military hospital in southern Cairo, where he is to remain under house arrest. Members of the April 6 Youth Movement and activists wear......
State board rejects County Clerk’s modified version of Detroit election results
DETROIT — On Tuesday morning, it appeared that Benny Napoleon may have actually been the top vote-getting candidate in the Detroit Mayoral Primary Race when the Wayne County Clerk’s Office, headed by Clerk Cathy Garrett, announced that it was throwing out more than 20,000 votes.But later that evening, the Wayne County Board of...Israel to recruit students as undercover agents on social media
Tel Aviv - Israel is set to recruit students to work undercover in "covert units" at universities. The students will post messages on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on the Israeli government’s behalf — without identifying themselves as government agents.The students participating in the project will be part of the public diplomacy arm......
