Pushing Syria, Israeli peace
Damascus — French Ambassador Jean-Claude Cousseran will arrive in the Syrian capital Damascus as special envoy of the French president at the beginning of September to monitor the peace process between Syria and Israel and probe ways of re-launching talks on the Syrian-Israeli track. Cousseran will begin his mission by embarking on a...ELECTION IN EGYPT: Brotherhood struggles against shut doors
CAIRO (IPS) – As Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood gears up to contest November parliamentary elections, some analysts note the relatively few gains made by the Brotherhood-led opposition over the last five years in an assembly dominated by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Mohammed Badie is the Muslim Brotherhood's eighth...Wikipedia wars: Palestinians and Israelis take their fight to online media
RAMALLAH (IPS) – Palestinians and Israelis are using the media as a new battleground in their war to win hearts and minds across the globe, even as the protracted conflict in the Mideast drags on with no apparent end in sight. This latest move by the foreign ministry follows two right-wing groups the Israeli settler movement...Under daily blackouts, Lebanese wait to see the light
Most of the owners of large generators work hand-in-hand with politicians, for whom the current situation is lucrative and who prefer not to find solutions, she said. In addition, in many poor areas where the government does not have full authority, electricity is often stolen by residents who connect illegally to an electricity...
STALEMATE IN IRAQ: U.S. and Iran favor Maliki as Iraq PM
September 11th, 20100 BAGHDAD – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has the backing of Washington and U.S. arch-foe Iran to keep his job, six months after he narrowly lost an election to ex-premier Iyad Allawi, politicians said Tuesday. The United States has consistently denied having any favored candidate for the premiership but amid growing impatience...ELECTION 2010: State parties hold conventions, select candidates for November showdown
DEARBORN — With about two months to go until the November 2 general election, top Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder and top Democratic candidate Virg Bernero have both officially announced their running mates in what should prove to be a crucial election for one of the union's most financially-challenged states. Snyder...Democratic Egypt needed for two state solution
WASHINGTON — The Egyptian Association for Change - USA and the Coalition of Egyptian Organizations call on President Obama to discuss Egypt's future with President Mubarak. Mr. Obama's invitation to the Egyptian President to participate in the peace talks on September 2, 2010 does not address the severely deteriorating situation in...
Middle East peace talks open in U.S.
September 3rd, 20100 WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton, U.S. secretary of state, has formally opened a summit in Washington for direct talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders, saying the U.S. "cannot and will not impose a solution." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) looks on as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and President...The mosque and the Muslim vote
In recent weeks, Republicans have expressed surprisingly muted criticism of President Obama’s handling of the Ground Zero mosque controversy. Some GOP leaders - everyone from anti-Zionist Pat Buchanan to libertarian Grover Norquist - have gone so far as to warn the party that it would be a "mistake" to “overdo” their attacks on the...UN treads cautiously in probe of Lebanon border firefight
Lebanese soldiers stand on the Lebanese side of the border.UNITED NATIONS — Three weeks after a fatal exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon along the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has yet to make recommendations on easing tension at the border. The incident, the...Yemen ‘abandons’ human rights
Yemeni authorities have carried out grave human rights abuses as part of an internationally-backed crackdown on a range of security threats facing the country, rights groups have said. In a report issued on Wednesday, Amnesty International says that growing U.S. concern over al Qaeda's presence in Yemen, combined with domestic...
Palestinian patients suffer from political rivalry
August 29th, 20100 RAMALLAH — Cancer patient Ahmed Abu Fuad needs chemotherapy to survive. Muhammad Subeh needs an eye-transplant while paramedic Alaa Sarhan desperately needs surgery to remove shrapnel from his body. But these Gazans are unable to leave the area to seek the required medical treatment elsewhere, and it is not because of the Israeli...Egypt blames security for art theft
CAIRO — Egyptians are still searching for the $50m work of art that has gone missing from the Mahmoud Khalil museum. Egypt's top prosecutor has said that security lapses are to blame for the theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting from a Cairo museum. Prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud said on Sunday that none of the alarms and...Obama plays down plan for post-2011 Iraq troop presence
WASHINGTON – When the Barack Obama administration unveiled its plan last week for an improvised State Department-controlled army of contractors to replace all U.S. combat troops in Iraq by the end of 2011, critics associated with the U.S. command attacked the transition plan, insisting that the United States must continue to assume...Last U.S. combat brigade leaves Iraq
... But 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in the country in an advisory capacity The last U.S. combat brigade has withdrawn from Iraq, more than seven years after the U.S.-led coalition invaded the country in a war that has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 U.S. troops. The brigade left the country in the early hours of Thursday......
For Palestinians in West Bank, daily trips to work become major expeditions
HIRBET DEIR (IPS) — For Muhammad el-Baradiyeh, 38, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is always a blessing. In fact, every day of the month-and-a-half prior to Ramadan has been good for Muhammad. Thanks to a permit granted by the Israeli authorities, he's been able to work inside Israel and save extra money he'll need for the holiday....
Food cartels feast on Ramadan profits
August 22nd, 20100 CAIRO (IPS) — Opportunistic food traders have been blamed for soaring food prices across the Middle East that have added a financial burden on families observing the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. A man distributes juice to people for free as charity, a few minutes before they break their fast, in Cairo August 17, 2010. Muslims...
Hizbullah unveils ‘Israeli footage’ of Hariri murder site
August 13th, 20100 Nasrallah during August 9 video news conference.BEIRUT— Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Monday unveiled footage allegedly intercepted from Israeli surveillance planes of the site of the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri prior to his 2005 assassination. "Such footage generally comes as the first leg of the execution...Homeless take on Israeli forces
RAMALLAH (IPS) — A bruising battle of will is taking place between Israeli security forces and Palestinians recently made homeless after two Palestinian villages were razed, leaving hundreds homeless. An Israeli Bedouin women speaks to a police officer in front of the ruins of a structure razed by authorities in the southern......
King Abdullah may have just dodged overthrow from family coup
August 13th, 20100 BussinessInsider.com – Did King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia narrowly avoid being overthrown by a close member of his own royal family? That seems to be a rumor circulating around some political and intelligence circles in Washington as well as in the Middle East. A Saudi official, however, denied the allegations saying it was most likely...Bernero accepts three debates, challenges Snyder to others
Lansing Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Virg Bernero agreed to participate in three debates across the state today and said that he would work with Republican nominee Rick Snyder to accept others.The three dates include a join WXYZ/WWJ/Crain’s Detroit Business debate on October 21, a WOOD-TV debate on September 21, and......
Morocco to shut 1,000 mosques at risk of collapse
RABAT — Morocco will shut more than 1,000 unsafe mosques in a bid to avoid a repeat of a minaret collapse in February that killed 41 people, the ministry of religious affairs said Tuesday. "The regional commissions (of the ministry) have inspected 19,205 mosques and decided to completely close 1,256 mosques and partially close 416...Morocco to shut 1,000 mosques at risk of collapse
RABAT — Morocco will shut more than 1,000 unsafe mosques in a bid to avoid a repeat of a minaret collapse in February that killed 41 people, the ministry of religious affairs said Tuesday. "The regional commissions (of the ministry) have inspected 19,205 mosques and decided to completely close 1,256 mosques and partially close 416......
