UN: ‘Worst is yet to come’ with 400,000 trapped in west Mosul
March 24th, 20170 MOSUL — About 400,000 Iraqi civilians are trapped in the ISIS-held Old City of western Mosul, short of food and basic needs, as the battle between the militants and government forces rages around them, the United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday. Many fear fleeing because of ISIS snipers and landmines. But 157,000 have...
Israeli ban targeting boycott supporters raises alarm abroad
March 24th, 20170 JERUSALEM — A law barring foreigners from entering Israel if they back boycotts against the country is causing alarm among liberal American Jews and others who perceive an attempt to suppress critical political opinion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government has long campaigned against the Palestinian-led Boycott,...
ISIS claims responsibility for UK parliament attack by British man
March 23rd, 20170 LONDON ― The attacker who killed three people near parliament in London before being shot dead was named on Thursday as British-born Khalid Masood, who was once investigated by MI5 intelligence officers over concerns about violent extremism. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency,...
US bans electronics on flights from eight Middle Eastern and North African countries
March 21st, 20170 Washington, D.C.-Large electronics such as laptops, tablets, e-readers, and portable video players are among the devices that will be banned from flights from eight-majority Muslim countries. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security declared any electronic device larger than a mobile phone would be banned from airlines from these...
Lebanon’s Gumblatt affirms son as political heir
March 19th, 20170 BEIRUT - Lebanon's main Druze leader, Walid Gumblatt, on Sunday publicly confirmed his son Taymour as his political heir, extending the tradition of dynastic politics that plays a big part in the country's sectarian government. Gumblatt, the leading politician of the minority Druze community, took off his Palestinian koufieh...
Lebanese consulate moves to accomodate community growth
March 15th, 20170 SOUTHFIELD — A vast, green vista, dotted with skyscrapers and notable landmarks, unfolds below the large windows of a contemporary office – a landscape reminiscent of millions' homeland of Lebanon. Bilal Kabalan, consul general of Lebanon, looks through binoculars from his office and points out the several observable towns where...
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to be released
March 13th, 20170 CAIRO ― Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown as president of Egypt in an uprising in 2011, will be released from detention in a military hospital, the public prosecutor ruled on Monday, his lawyers and judicial sources said. "He will go to his home in Heliopolis," Mubarak's lawyer Farid El Deeb said, adding the ageing former president...Airstrikes kill at least 30 in north and east Syria
RAQQA — Airstrikes pounded northern Raqqa and the eastern province of Deir al-Zor on Thursday, killing 23 and seven civilians, and injuring more than 80 others in both cities, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based war monitoring group said two warplanes, believed to be Russian, dropped nearly two dozen...
Lebanon appoints new army chief
March 10th, 20170 BEIRUT — Lebanon appointed General Joseph Aoun as army commander on Wednesday, replacing General Jean Kahwaji at the head of a force that has been guarantor of civil peace since the 1975-90 civil war. The Lebanese government also filled several high-ranking security and judicial posts, Information Minister Melhem Riachi said in a...Tens of thousands march in Turkey for women’s rights
ISTANBUL — Tens of thousands of women took to the streets across Turkey on Wednesday, marching for women's rights while some also rallied against expanding the president's powers. In Istanbul more than 10,000 people, mostly women, walked the long Istiklal Avenue, chanting "end male-perpetrated violence." On April 16, the Turkish...Iran indicts nuclear negotiator, holds Iranian American on fraud charges
TEHRAN — Iran has indicted a member of its nuclear negotiating team who was arrested last year on suspicion of spying, and detained an Iranian American on charges of defrauding people under the guise of helping them emigrate, the Iranian judiciary said on Sunday. Authorities have formally charged a dual national who had been a...As drugs flood into Gaza, Hamas getting tougher on smugglers
GAZA — Marijuana and prescription painkillers are flooding into the Gaza Strip as never before, prompting officials from the ruling faction Hamas to seek tougher punishments for smuggling drugs into the blockaded territory. The quantity of drugs seized in Gaza in January was as much as for the whole of 2016, officials said. Eight...China hopes Saudi Arabia, Iran can resolve problems ahead of talks
BEIJING — Describing China as a friend to both Saudi Arabia and Iran, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday he hopes both countries can resolve their differences through talks, ahead of a visit by the Saudi king to China. China has traditionally played little role in Middle East conflicts or diplomacy, despite its...
Iraq aims to drive ISIS from west Mosul within a month, Baghdadi in hiding
March 10th, 20170 MOSUL — Iraqi forces aim to dislodge ISIS militants from west Mosul within a month, despite grueling urban combat in densely populated terrain, the head of the elite Counter Terrorism Service told Reuters on Thursday. As Iraqi forces advance deeper into west Mosul, they are facing increasingly stiff resistance from ISIS militants...
Media blackouts muddle objectivity
March 6th, 20171 DEARBORN— In political science, the “CNN effect” refers to the effect of round-the-clock 24 hour coverage on wars and humanitarian crises. The term credits such coverage as being instrumental in mobilizing and manufacturing opinion and influencing foreign policy. Yet, security consultant and analyst Joshua Geis joins numerous......
Obama transferred $221 million to Palestinian Authority in his final hours in office
January 26th, 20170 WASHINGTON — In his last hours in office, the Obama administration transferred $221 million to the Palestinian Authority that despite opposition from GOP members of Congress, officials say. A State Department official and several congressional aides told the Associated Press that the outgoing administration and former Secretary of...
Lebanese security forces foil suicide attack in Beirut’s crowded street
January 21st, 20170 BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese security forces arrested a would-be suicide bomber inside a crowded cafe in one of the busiest neighbourhoods in the capital Beirut on Saturday night, security sources told AFP. The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a man wearing an explosive bomb belt had been detained by authorities after...
Most ISIS leaders in Mosul killed
January 21st, 20170 MOSUL — Most ISIS commanders in Mosul have been killed in battles with Iraqi government forces that raged over the past three months in the eastern side of the city, an Iraqi general said on Thursday. The fight to take the western side of Mosul, which remains under the jihadists' control, should not be more difficult than the...
Assad hopes for ‘reconciliation’ deals with rebels
January 19th, 20170 DAMASCUS — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he believed peace talks in Kazakhstan would lead to local "reconciliation" deals with rebels, a sign of his confidence in a process launched by his Russian allies after the opposition's defeat in Aleppo. Assad told a Japanese TV station he hoped the conference would be a platform......
Israel deliberately forgets its history
Every Israeli knows that he or she is the direct and exclusive descendant of a Jewish people which has existed since it received the Torah in Sinai. According to this myth, the Jews escaped from Egypt and settled in the Promised Land, where they built the glorious kingdom of David and Solomon, which subsequently split into the...Palestinian group considers end of two-state strategy
WASHINGTON An informal group of prominent Palestinian academics, politicians, entrepreneurs and activists has published a report that raises questions and offers solutions regarding Palestinian national strategy. It follows a growing sense of doubt that two decades of negotiations will culminate in an outcome fair to......
Israel pushes ahead with settlement expansion
September 6th, 20080 JERUSALEM (IPS) Israel has published tenders for the construction of 1,761 illegal housing units for Israeli settlers in occupied east Jerusalem alone, according to the Israeli rights group Peace Now. The expansion plans come despite promises by the Israeli government at last year's peace summit at Annapolis, Maryland (in the...‘Switzerland of the Middle East’ looks for revival
BEIRUT (IPS) Lebanon was long dubbed the 'Switzerland of the Middle East' for its advanced banking sector. It lost its status 23 years ago at the dawn of the 1975 civil war, which lasted 15 years. The country has since been unable to regain the title, in spite of the brief economic revival witnessed in the 1990s. Since 2005,......
