Latest Middle East News
RSS-
Construction begins on new island off Jumeirah Beach in Dubai
Work began on Monday on the development of a man-made island in Dubai, 500 metres directly opposite the Jumeirah Beach Residence complex. To be known as Bluewaters Island, the new development will house five star hotels and resorts, al fresco dining and entertainment zones, and residential apartments and villas. The focal point of the island city, which will cost $1.6 billion, will be a 688 ...
-
Indian passport problem in Saudi Arabia resolved
The problem of Saudi Arabian immigration authorities not accepting newly designed Indian passports has been resolved, according to the Indian embassy in Riyadh. India's Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao raised the issue during a meeting with Saudi Deputy Minister of Interior Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Salem Tuesday and the matter was clarified, local media reported Wednesday "Some cases were reported in ...
-
Saudi Arabia nabs 10 over spying for Iran
Saudi Arabia has arrested 10 people on suspicion of espionage for Iran, the interior ministry announced Tuesday. "Following an initial investigation, the security forces arrested 10 more suspects over involvement in the espionage acts for an Iranian espionage cell, reported Xinhua citing a spokesperson for the ministry. The arrestees, comprising eight Saudis, a Lebanese and a Turk, are linked ...
More Middle East News
RSS-
Syria asserts right to respond to Israeli violations
They Syrian government has said that it holds the right to respond to any Israeli violation against its sovereignty. The Syrian foreign ministry, in a letter to the UN, Tuesday complained against the latest Israeli violation which took place earlier, Xinhua reported. The complaint was made in the wake of an Israeli military vehicle violating the cease-fire being observed between Israel and ...
-
Iran Bars Candidacies of Rafsanjani Ahmadinejad Aide
IA conservative body in Iran has barred two prominent figures from competing in next month's presidential election: moderate former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and a leading conservative allied to current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian interior ministry said Tuesday the Guardian Council of clerics and jurists excluded the two politicians from a final list of eight candidates ...
-
Kerry Mideast Talks on Syria to Include Russian Call for Involving Iran
STATE DEPARTMENT U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in the Middle East this week for talks to promote an international peace conference on Syria. Russia wants Iran to be part of the process. In this fight for control of Syria, Iran is one of the biggest backers of embattled President Bashar al-Assad. So Russia says Iran should be part of the peace process. "Iran has ...
-
Iran allows eight contenders for presidential election
Iranian legislative body has approved eligibility of eight presidential candidates for the June 14 poll in the country, Xinhua reported Tuesday. The candidates, including the country's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and former foreign minister Ali-Akbar Velayati -- for the presidential election have been approved by Iran's Guardian Council of Constitution, semi-official Mehr news agency ...
-
International Watchdog Iran Expands Nuclear Activities
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has made a significant step toward building a reactor that Western experts say could provide a second path to possibly producing material for a nuclear ...
-
Qusair Fighting Drives More Syrians Into Lebanon
AARSAL, LEBANON -- The battle between Syrian government forces, supported by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, and Syrian rebels in Qusair north of Damascus is sending waves of traumatized refugees into neighboring Lebanon. At a refugee camp in Aarsal, a small Lebanese town lying just across the mountains from Syria, most of the people who have arrived in recent days came from Qusair. They were ...
-
Amid Mideast turmoil UN envoy urges concerted action to resume Israeli-Palestinian talks
Print 22 May 2013 – While international attention is understandably on the tragedy that continues to unfold in Syria, it is equally important to ensure the resumption of negotiations aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a senior United Nations envoy stressed to the Security Council today. ';Ending the conflict in Syria is a matter of great urgency and must be the ...
-
Majid Al Futtaim acquires full ownership of Carrefour in the Middle East
Carrefour 's 25 per cent stake in its hypermarket business for EUR530 million (Dh2.50 billion). Under the deal signed today, Majid Al Futtaim will own 100 per cent of Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets' shares, the Dubai-based retailer said in a statement. At the same time, MAF extended its exclusive franchise partnership with the Carrefour Group until 2025. The pair have been partners ...
-
Bahrain opposition group snubs crisis talks
MANAMA, Bahrain -; Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group says it will temporarily boycott talks aimed at easing the Gulf nation's more than two-year unrest because of increased crackdowns by security ...
-
UN New reports of chemical weapons use in Syria
In response, Robert Serry says the United Nations is again urging the Syrian government to allow chemical weapons experts into the country without further delay to investigate the ...
-
Kerry Complains About Hezbollah Fighters in Syria
Prison Planet.com May 22, 2013 During a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman, Secretary of State John Kerry said Hezbollah is fighting alongside al-Assad’s soldiers in Syria with Iranian support, according ...
-
Israel Extends Palestinians Gaza Fishing Zone
Tel Aviv, May 22 (Prensa Latina) The Israeli Government''s decision to extend the fishing zone in Gaza to six nautical miles (9 kilometers) came into effect today, announced the official media here. The limit exceeds the 4.8 kilometers in force until yeterday, but eight less than those established in the truce agreement signed by Israel, the occupation force, and Hamas, the Islamic ...
-
Irans n-power plant to be launched shortly Russian agency
Moscow, May 22 (IANS ) Iran's first nuclear power plant in Bushehr could start working "shortly", Xinhua reported Wednesday, quoting Russia's state atomic energy agency ...
-
Russia’s Lavrov says Moscow will not succumb to provocations targeted at Syria.
MOSCOW, May 22 (Itar-Tass) - Moscow will not succumb to provocations targeted at Syria and it urges the Syrian government to keep up a consistent political course, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here Wednesday at the talks with visiting Syria’s First Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal ...
-
Bundesliga boss attacks Fifa decision to hold 2022 World Cup in Qatar
The Bundesliga chief executive Christian Seifert said moving the 2022 World Cup to winter could leave Fifa open to a legal challenge. Photograph: Thomas ...
-
Friends of Syria to discuss US-Russia brokered peace talks
US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the Royal Palace on May 22, 2013 in the Jordanian capital Amman. Backers of the Syrian uprising are meeting in Amman to discuss a US-Russian proposal for peace talks, as the brutal two-year conflict escalates close to the border with Lebanon. (Khalil Mazraawi/AFP/Getty ...
-
Iraq Gunmen kill 12 in Baghdad brothel
gunmen burst into the brothel in the well-to-do eastern district of Zayouna, known for being a religiously mixed neighborhood with several similar establishments. Police said another man and woman were also wounded, and that one of the gunmen wrote "Wanted" on the wall of the house. Prostitution ...
-
Michael Jordan Brings The Buzz Back To Charlotte
" Well it applies here. Once upon a time, the Hornets posted 364 straight sold-out games. And some of most recognizable and marketable players in the NBA played in Charlotte. The list includes Muggsy Bogues standing 5'3" was the biggest little man in the league; Larry Johnson, nicknamed Grandmama, once signed the most lucrative contract in the NBA and was the first to make bling ...
-
General says Israel ready to attack Syria should Assad fall
An Israeli soldier stands on top of a tank with other tanks parked at a training ground in the Israeli controlled Golan Heights, near the border with Syria Wednesday, May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Ariel ...
-
Turkey foils alleged attacks on Syrian refugees
In this photo taken Sunday, May 12, 2013, Syrian refugees shelter in a two-story wedding ceremony hall in the Turkish town of Reyhanli, near the border with Syria. (AP Photo/Burhan ...
-
Captive in Iran Women Share Horrors of Evin Prison
The story of Saeed Abedini, the American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his faith, has the world focusing attention on Iran's treatment of Christians. Now two Iranian women -- Maryam Rustampoor and Marzieh Amirizadeh -- are telling their story of persecution. In 2009, Rustampoor had come home from a dentist appointment and was resting on her couch when her doorbell rang. The moment she ...
-
Bahrain To Take Part In Afro-Arab Parliamentary Conference
Manama, May 22 (BNA)-- A Bahraini parliamentary delegation will take part in the 13th Afro-Arab Parliamentary Conference set to be held in Rabat, Morocco, on June 26 and 27, Representatives Council Speaker and Head of the Parliamentary Delegation Executive Committee Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Dhahrani announced as he chaired today the committee's meeting. The delegation will be headed by ...
Cairo Discussed
-
Cairo leading new wave in literature
The publishing industry in Cairo is undergoing a profound change that may have implications for the day-to-day life of Egyptians for years to come, it is a kind of revolution in literature that may one day put Cairo on the map, nestled among those other publishing powerhouses, New York, London, and Chicago primarily, but also regional publishing centers like Johannesburg, Mumbai, and Sydney.
Cairo is already a literature producing city, but it is more commonly associated with Arabic texts, and these pieces of literature are further associated with sweeping assessments of society, societal change, politics and religion on a macrocosmic level. Traditionally, there has also never been much of a local market for literature in Cairo or wider Egypt, leading to an old saying that books are written in Cairo, but published in Beirut and then read in Baghdad. Read more
News from around our Network
