Latest Middle East News
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Egypt troops in Sinai sweep mistakenly hit funeral
Egyptian Army soldiers patrol in an armored vehicle backed by a helicopter gunship during a sweep through villages in in Sheikh Zuweyid, northern Sinai, Egypt, Tuesday, May 21, 2013. Egypt's government has built up security forces in northern Sinai as part of an effort to secure the release of six policemen and a border guard kidnapped last week by suspected militants. (AP ...
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Eleven Palestinians have died under PA Hamas detention
Eleven Palestinians have died in Palestinian Authority and Hamas detention centers during 2012, according to a report released Tuesday by the Palestinian Independent Commission For Human Rights [ICHR].Two of the Palestinians died in PA detention centers in the West Bank, while the nine others died in Hamas custody in the Gaza Strip. Seven of the Palestinians who died in detention had been ...
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Report Top politicians banned from Iranian election
DUBAI - Iranian authorities have barred two prominent politicians from running for president, Iranian media reported on Tuesday, leaving the June 14 election to be contested between mostly hardline conservatives loyal to the country's supreme leader.Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close aide to president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, failed to make it ...
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Iran qualifies 8 candidates for presidential election media
Iran's Guardian Council of Constitution, the high legislative body of the country, has approved the qualification of eight presidential candidates, semi- official Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.Reportedly, among the qualified candidates, Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, former foreign minister Ali-Akbar Velayati, senior lawmaker Gholam- ...
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New Zealand Football confirm Jordan clash
Source: Neil Emblem New Zealand Football has confirmed that a New Zealand selection coached by Neil Emblen will play Jordan at North Harbour Stadium on June 4. Jordan - ranked 77 in the world - is set to play Australia in an Asian World Cup qualifier in Melbourne on June 11, and will use the match against New Zealand 'A' at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland as preparation for the ...
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UPDATE 2-Rafsanjani Ahmadinejad ally barred from Iran election
Tue May 21, 2013 3:41pm EDT * Two candidates made last-minute bid to run for election * Both antagonised Iran's clerical elite * Ahmadinejad aide Mashaie says will try to appeal (Adds details, Mashaie response) By Marcus George DUBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - Iranian authorities on Tuesday barred former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a relative moderate, from running in the June 14 ...
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Top figures barred from Irans presidential election
Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a close confidant of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been barred from running in next month's presidential election by the Guardian Council. (Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated ...
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Exclusive Irans frontrunner for president speaks of his life battling US power
Saeed Jalili, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, has declared his candidacy for the June 14 presidential election. The forever revolutionary is fiercely loyal to hardliner Ayatollah Ali ...
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World Brief | Middle East Israel Extends Zone for Fishing Off Gaza
JERUSALEM -- Israel said Tuesday that it would permit Palestinians to fish up to six nautical miles off the Gaza coast, canceling the limit of three nautical miles that was imposed after Gaza militants fired rockets into Israel in ...
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The Lede Former President of Iran Disqualified From Race to Succeed Ahmadinejad State TV Says
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani , a two-term former president who called for greater freedom during protests in 2009, had been barred from running in next month’s election to succeed President Mahmoud ...
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World Bank boosts funds for Syria refugees Africa
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Bank plans substantial new funds to help Jordan cope with the influx of refugees from the civil war in Syria, and hopes new funds for central Africa will cement a peace deal there, the bank's President Jim Yong Kim said on ...
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Iran Employs Thousands Of Sea Mines
ABU DHABI [MENL] -- Iran has stockpiled thousands of mines to shut down theStrait of Hormuz. Gulf security sources said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hasoverseen the production of a range of mines to stop shipping in the Gulf.They said IRGC has stockpiled thousands of mine that could be dumped intothe Strait of Hormuz within ...
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Israel Intel Divided Over Syria
TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel's intelligence community has been divided over thecivil war in Syria, a report said. The Institute for National Security Studies asserted that Israel'smilitary and intelligence community was divided over the Sunni revoltagainst Syrian President Bashar Assad. In a report, the institute said manyin the community prefer that Assad remain in power rather than be ...
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Egypt Sends Troops Into Sinai
CAIRO [MENL] -- Egypt has begun sending thousands of troops into theturbulent Sinai Peninsula. Officials said the Egyptian Army was sending scores of combat units inSinai for another counter-insurgency offensive. They said the armyreinforcements were searching for seven officers abducted on May 16 near theborder with Israel and the Gaza ...
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Qusayr battle reveals widening scope of proxy war in Syria
MUSCAT - Iranians are working alongside Hezbollah fighters to back Syrian troops battling to retake the rebel stronghold of Qusayr amid fears of a civilian massacre, a US official said ...
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Syria Terrorists attempt to murder PM
Monday April 29, Damascus. The Syrian terrorists, backed by the FUKUS Axis (France, UK, US) have perpetrated a failed bomb attack against the Syrian Prime Minister, Wael al-Halaqi. Until what point will the West continue to cavort with murderers, rapists and torturers? Is this an "ethical" foreign ...
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UPDATE 1-Chevron nears sale of Egypt Pakistan downstream assets -sources
Tue May 21, 2013 2:59pm EDT By Dinesh Nair DUBAI May 21 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp is in advanced talks to sell most of its downstream assets in Egypt and Pakistan, three sources said, with the planned disposals seen raising around $300 million for the U.S. oil major. Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, is conducting a separate sale process for its assets in both countries, the banking ...
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Iranians joining Hezbollah in Qusayr Syria battle US
Iranians are working alongside Hezbollah fighters to back Syrian troops battling to retake the rebel stronghold of Qusayr amid fears of a civilian massacre, a US official said Tuesday. ';It is the most visible effort we have seen by Hezbollah to engage directly in the fighting in Syria as a foreign ...
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Kerry Visits Oman Seeking Syria Peace Consensus
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has held talks in Oman on his latest stop in a campaign to help arrange an internationally-sponsored Syrian peace ...
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Jordan Army Turns Back Syrian Refugees at Border
A girl wears a headband in the colors of the Syrian revolutionary flag and painted her face with hearts during a protest in front of the Syrian embassy in Amman, Jordan, May 17, ...
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Key commander 30 other Hizbullah fighters killed in Syria battle with Sunni rebels
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA -- A senior Hizbullah commander has been killed in heavy fighting in Syria. Arab diplomatic sources said the Hizbullah commander was leading units in the battle for the strategic Syrian town of Qusair on May 19. The sources identified the commander as Fadi Al Jazar, one of at least 30 Hizbullah fighters killed in the battle with Sunni ...
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Hunger poverty rates in Egypt up sharply over past three years - UN report
21 May 2013 – Poverty and food insecurity in Egypt have risen significantly over the last three years, according to a joint reports released today by the United Nations food agency and partners. An estimated 13.7 million Egyptians or 17 per cent of the population suffered from food insecurity in 2011, compared to 14 per cent in 2009, according to the report by UN World Food Programme ...
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Kerry ramps up diplomacy for Syria peace conference
LONDON // International players are gearing up for a first major diplomatic effort on Syria in 11 months to try to kick start negotiations between the warring parties. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, will today meet allies of the United States and members of the so-called "Friends of Syria" group in Jordan's capital to discuss Russian-American plans for a peace conference ...
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Irans moderate ex-president Rafsanjani barred from standing for elections
TEHRAN // Iran's electoral watchdog has barred moderate ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from standing in a June 14 presidential election, the interior ministry said yesterday. Eight candidates won approval to stand - five conservatives close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as two moderate conservatives and a reformist. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, a close but ...
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Livni says stalemate harmful for Israel as Palestinian narrative gains traction
JERUSALEM // Israel's chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians said yesterday the current stalemate was harmful for Israel. Tzipi Livni told a parliamentary committee that resuming negotiations was "first and foremost an Israeli interest". She spoke days before the US secretary of state John Kerry was expected to arrive in Israel for his latest push to restart long-dormant ...
Cairo Discussed
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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
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