Mursi giving military powers to arrest civilians ‘dangerous’: Amnesty
Monday, 10 December 2012
The rights group Amnesty International called Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi’s security decree “a dangerous loophole which may well lead to the military trial of civilians,” AFP reported. Mursi has given Egypt's army the powers of arrest and ordered it to “cooperate” with police until after the results ... Read More
Instead of black gold, Libya eyes olive oil
Monday, 10 December 2012
Libya is turning to olive oil -- the green gold of the Mediterranean -- to compete with its North Africa neighbors, conquer European markets and diversify its hydrocarbon-dependent economy. “Libya has decided to promote the quality of its olive production to make its olive oil more competitive and increase exports to ... Read More
Nine Syrian judges defect amid opposition gains
Monday, 10 December 2012
Nine Syrian judges and prosecutors have defected in a video posted on online as opposition gains on the frontlines have helped drive a surge of diplomatic efforts among Gulf Arab states and the West to support the opposition and its newly-formed umbrella group. The Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights ... Read More
Taliban suicide bombers kill eight in Pakistan
Monday, 10 December 2012
Four Taliban suicide bombers attacked a police station in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least eight police and local residents, security officials said. The Pakistan Taliban took responsibility for the attack near Bannu in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, close to the border with Afghanistan, a hotbed of insurgency ... Read More
Sudanese refugees face hostility from host communities
Monday, 10 December 2012
A rise in the number of refugees pouring into camps in Sudan’s Maban County could lead to conflict as a result of pressure on local residents, humanitarian officials have warned. About 110,000 refugees escaping fighting in Sudan’s Kordofan and Blue Nile states have arrived in Maban so far. Many in the crowded camps also ... Read More
Syrian Free Army names Salim Idris new chief of staff
Monday, 10 December 2012
The opposition Free Syrian Army elected a new military command, replacing Colonel Riad al-Asaad with Brigadier General Salim Idris, Al Arabiya television reported early on Monday Idris told Al Arabiya in a telephone interview that the new command was elected by hundreds of rebels. Because they "are the real fighters on ... Read More
Costa Salafis speak against Mursi, demand religion out of politics
Sunday, 09 December 2012
A unique group of Egyptian Islamists have come out to speak against President Mohammed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, urging them not to mix religion with politics. The group members who chose to name themselves after widely-known coffee chain, Costa, have emerged on the political scene to express opinions contradicting ... Read More
Mursi, Brotherhoods hijacking Egypt: National Salvation Front
Sunday, 09 December 2012
Egypt’s main opposition group the National Salvation Front (NSF) rejected on Sunday constitutional referendum, accusing President Mohammed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood movement of “hijacking” the country. “We do not recognize the draft constitution because it does not represent the Egyptian people,” the statement said. ... Read More
Egypt prosecutor orders probe in opposition leaders’ ‘treason’ case
Sunday, 09 December 2012
Egypt’s new Prosecutor General, Talaat Abdullah, on Sunday ordered a probe in a complaint against opposition leaders and former presidential candidates Amr Moussa, Mohammed ElBaradei and Hamdeen Sabbahi of grand treason and sedition. The daily Youm7 newspaper reported that the complaint contained allegations that the three ... Read More
The outcome of Mursi’s dialogue amid Egypt’s political storm
Sunday, 09 December 2012
The six-hour meeting held on Dec. 8, 2012 between the Egyptian presidency and a few representatives of the opposition ended with a decision to cancel the controversial constitutional declaration and issue a new one. Although the outcome of the meeting reveals the presidency’s willingness to resolve the crisis that has so far ... Read More
Saudi Aramco says cyber attack targeted kingdom’s economy
Sunday, 09 December 2012
Oil giant Saudi Aramco said on Sunday that an August cyber attack on its computer network targeted not just the company but the kingdom’s economy as a whole. The interior ministry, which joined Aramco’s investigation into the attack that affected some 30,000 of the firm’s computers, said it was carried out by ... Read More
Sham II: New fighting machine of Syria fighters
Sunday, 09 December 2012
From a distance it looks rather like a big rusty metal box but closer inspection reveals the latest achievement of Syrian opposition fighters: a home-made armored vehicle waiting to be deployed. Sham II, named after ancient Syria, is built from the chassis of a car and touted by opposition fighters as “100 ... Read More
Egypt’s Mursi annuls controversial decree, opposition says not enough
Sunday, 09 December 2012
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Saturday annulled a constitutional declaration he issued last month expanding his powers, but the effects of that declaration would stand, an official told a Cairo news conference. A referendum on a draft constitution would however still go ahead as planned on Dec.15, the ... Read More
Syrian opposition chief calls for talks to form transitional government
Sunday, 09 December 2012
Syrian opposition coalition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib called Saturday for talks between all opposition groups to form a transitional government, saying his recently-formed coalition does not seek to hold on power and that it would dissolve after the country hold free elections. In a televised speech shown on Al Arabiya, ... Read More
'We would never use WMDs against our people': Syrian Foreign Ministry
Saturday, 08 December 2012
Syrian told the United Nations on Saturday that it would never use chemical weapons against its peoples and warned that opposition fighters could use chemical weapons, following international threats of military intervention if President Bashar al-Assad uses the WMDs. “No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and ... Read More
Egyptian army back in the spotlight as crisis deepens
Saturday, 08 December 2012
Generals in Egypt are back on the media spotlight with speculations that the country’s most powerful men may once again step in the political crisis and push the president aside to claim the reigns. In a replay of the Jan. 25 revolution, protesters on Saturday mounted military tanks in Cairo calling on President Mohammed ... Read More
Powerful Brotherhood figure vows to protect Mursi’s ‘legitimacy’
Saturday, 08 December 2012
A powerful figure of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood vowed on Saturday that his movement was “prepared” to protect the “legitimacy” of President Mohammed Mursi and called for the constitutional referendum to go ahead as planned on Dec. Read More
Angelina Jolie greets Syrian refugees in Jordan
Friday, 07 December 2012
Angelina Jolie meets with Syrian refugees in Jordan who had fled from conflict in their home country. UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie travelled to the Jordan-Syria border overnight Wednesday-Thursday to meet frightened and exhausted Syrian refugees who had just completed the perilous crossing to safety in Jordan. She ... Read More
Activists accuse Arab states over climate change at U.N. talks
Friday, 07 December 2012
Arab nations have failed to use U.N. talks on climate change to put forward any meaningful measures on tackling the problem in their own countries, delegates and environmental activists said on Wednesday. Delegates from 200 nations have gathered in Qatar for two-week talks to try to agree a symbolic extension of the U.N. ... Read More
The Last Horseman: ‘El Ultimo Jinete’ ode to Arabian nights
Friday, 07 December 2012
Spanish musical ‘El Ultimo Jinete’ (The Last Horseman) took audiences in a magical adventure centuries back from the deserts of the Middle East to Victorian England on Wednesday, in Teatro del Canal, Madrid Spain. Spain’s Queen Sophia and Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan were one of the many ... Read More