Middle East
Iran to publish Egyptian version of holy Quran in Lebanon - (4 days ago)
Iran Book News AgencySpeaking with IBNA, Mohammad Babaei, executive manager of Iran’s Center for Publication of the holy Quran, stated that although the Egyptian version of the holy Quran follows the writing rules of Egyptian Arabic, it is not specifically intended for Egyptians and will be published for Moslems in countries like Libya, Tunisia, Sudan and, of course, Egypt.As he said, the
Clashes in Lebanon's Tripoli kill 11 - (4 days ago)
AFPAt least 11 people have died and more than 100 been wounded in three days of Syria-related clashes in Lebanon's flashpoint city of Tripoli, a security source said on Wednesday.Fighting between Sunni and Alawite residents of the city was continuing for a fourth day on Wednesday but clashes had become more sporadic, the source told AFP.An AFP correspondent said large parts of the city of 500,000
Gunmen kill 12 at Baghdad brothel: Officials - (4 days ago)
AFPUnknown gunmen shot dead at least seven women and five men at a brothel in Baghdad on Wednesday, security and medical officials said.The attack took place in the capital's eastern area of Zayouna, where a number of brothels are located.An interior ministry official said the gunmen burst into the establishment early in the afternoon and opened fire.Both prostitution and alcohol are prohibited
Recovering Algerian president moved to new Paris facility - (4 days ago)
AFPAlgerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been transferred to a new facility in Paris to continue his recovery after treatment in a French military hospital, France's defence ministry said Tuesday.Bouteflika, 76, was flown to the Val de Grace hospital in Paris three weeks ago following a mini-stroke and speculation has been rife about the state of his health.In a statement, the French
Syria opposition to attend Amman Syria meet: Spokesman - (4 days ago)
AFPThe opposition Syrian National Coalition has received a last-minute invitation to Wednesday's Friends of Syria meeting in Amman, and acting chief George Sabra will attend, a spokesman said.Spokesman Soner Ahmed said "the Coalition received a late invitation and has confirmed its participation in the meeting of the Friends of the Syrian people.""The Coalition will be represented by its interim
Ahmadinejad slams decision to bar ally from Iran vote - (4 days ago)
AFPIran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hit out Wednesday at a decision to disqualify a close ally from a vote to elect his successor, while former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had no objections to his own omission.The conservative-dominated Guardians Council on Tuesday eliminated both Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie and Rafsanjani from a list of eight candidates for the June 14 poll, and those
Syria opposition urges rebels to join Qusayr battle - (4 days ago)
AFPSyria's opposition urged fighters across the country Wednesday to "rush to the rescue" of rebel stronghold Qusayr, while appealing to the international community to set up a humanitarian corridor to the embattled town.Syria's acting National Coalition opposition chief George Sabra issued the call for rebel reinforcements to the town as Syrian troops backed by fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah
Friends of Syria to press for peace talks - (4 days ago)
AFPCountries supporting the Syrian uprising against President Bashar al-Assad meet on Wednesday in Amman to discuss ways to end the bloody conflict, mainly a US-Russian proposal for peace talks.Eleven top diplomats from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, are attending the meeting of the Friends of Syria
Iran bars Rafsanjani from standing for president - (4 days ago)
AFPIran said Tuesday the moderate ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was among those barred from standing in next month's presidential election, provoking a sharp reaction from Washington.Rafsanjani and a controversial aide of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been ruled unsuitable, the interior ministry said.The Guardians Council, a conservative-dominated vetting body, omitted Rafsanjani, who
Iranian Rafsanjani, Ahmadinejad aide excluded from presidential ballot - (4 days ago)
AFPIran’s election authorities have excluded former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a top aide of outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, from the country’s June 14 presidential ballot.Eight candidates won approval to stand -- five conservatives close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as two moderate conservatives and a
Iranians joining Hezbollah in key Syria battle: US - (4 days ago)
AFPIranians 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 force, and we understand there are also Iranians up there," a senior State Department official
Protesters rally for south Yemen independence - (4 days ago)
Thousands gathered in Yemen's main southern city of Aden on Tuesday to call for renewed independence for the south 23 years after it united with the north.Waving the flag of the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and portraits of exiled southern leader Ali Salem al-Baid, the protesters gathered at a square in the Khor Maksar district of Aden, an AFP correspondent reported."We have vowed
Saudi arrests 10 Iran spy suspects: ministry - (4 days ago)
AFPSaudi authorities have arrested 10 more suspects in an alleged Iranian spy ring unveiled two months ago, an interior ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.The eight Saudis, a Lebanese and a Turk bring the number of people arrested to 28, the official SPA news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.However, a Lebanese arrested in March has since been released."The results of investigations by
Algeria’s president is ill, expect no details - (4 days ago)
AFPThe tight-lipped official response to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's latest health crisis sparked conflicting reports and rumours. But beneath the fracas, real fears are simmering about Algeria’s political future.The Twittersphere went berserk over the weekend amid conflicting reports on ailing Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s health more than a month after the
Lawyer dies after heart attack in Dubai court - (5 days ago)
Emirates 24/7Legal professionals in the UAE are saddened by the sudden demise of a practising lawyer who collapsed in a Dubai courtroom on Monday and died of a heart attack.The 50-year-old Egyptian lawyer from Alexandria, Ali Obaid represented an Emirati advocate accused of swindling several million dirhams deposited by the former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra in an escrow account of
Syria names negotiating team for peace talks: Sources - (5 days ago)
ReutersSyrian President Bashar al-Assad has put forward names of five officials from his administration for internationally-sponsored peace talks with the Syrian opposition, European Union diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.The list includes Prime Minister Wael al-Halki and more junior officials. According to a second EU diplomat, Syria's opposition has already rejected some of the officials on
Sudden halt in Syrian refugees into Jordan: UN - (5 days ago)
AFPThe UN said Tuesday the number of Syrian refugees flooding into Jordan had suddenly fallen from several thousand a day to close to zero, warning that fighting may be blocking people in need from coming."In Jordan in the last four days, we have seen a significant drop in the number of (Syrian) refugees arriving," Panos Moumtzis, who heads the UN refugee agency's response to the Syria crisis,
Iran wants in on Syria peace conference - (5 days ago)
AFPIran said Tuesday it is willing to attend an upcoming peace conference on Syria, arguing all influential parties must be included in the process for it to be a success."The condition for success in Geneva is that all countries with influence on events in Syria participate," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi told reporters."I do not think anyone in the world doubts that one of those
Turkey charges prime suspect in car bombings: Report - (5 days ago)
AFPTurkish authorities on Tuesday charged the prime suspect in the twin car bombings that left 51 people dead in a town near the Syrian border, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.The man, who was arrested trying to cross into Syria along with two accomplices, is alleged to have purchased the vehicles used in the bombings. Four other suspects were also charged.Turkish police have arrested
Syria army destroyed Israel vehicle in Golan - (5 days ago)
AFPSyria's army has destroyed an Israeli military vehicle that it said had crossed the sensitive ceasefire line in the Golan Heights, the military declared on Tuesday in a televised statement."Our armed forces have destroyed an Israeli vehicle with everything that it had in it... The vehicle had crossed the ceasefire line and was moving towards the village of Bir Ajam, situated in the liberated
Saudi executes, crucifies 5 Yemenis for murder: SPA - (5 days ago)
AFPSaudi Arabia on Tuesday executed and crucified five Yemenis convicted of murder and forming a gang which carried out robberies across several towns in the conservative Muslim kingdom, the interior ministry said.The five were executed in the southwestern town Jizan, it said, quoted by state news agency SPA, bringing the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year to 46, according to an AFP
Iraq bombings kill five - (5 days ago)
AFPFour bombings in northern Iraq killed five people and wounded 69 on Tuesday, officials said, the latest in a spate of violence that has killed more than 370 people so far this month.Two car bombs exploded in a Turkmen Shiite area of Tuz Khurmatu, a town in Salaheddin province, killing three people, wounding 44 and causing extensive damage to 10 houses, police and a doctor said.And two roadside
Hezbollah sends new fighters to bloody Syria battle - (5 days ago)
AFPDozens of people, mostly combatants, have been killed in ongoing battles for the Syrian town of Qusayr, a watchdog said Tuesday, as Hezbollah sent new elite fighters to the rebel stronghold.Meanwhile, in northern Lebanon, new shells launched from inside Syria injured nine people, an official said."At least 31 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since Sunday, as well as 68 rebel fighters, six
Israel fires back at Syria after gunshots at its troops - (5 days ago)
ReutersIsraeli troops shot at a target across the Syrian frontier on Tuesday in response to gunfire that struck its forces in the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said.A statement said a military vehicle was damaged by shots fired from Syria but that there were no injuries. It said that soldiers "returned precise fire".Gunfire incidents across the frontier from Syria have recurred in past
Tunisia Femen activist arrested for 'immoral gestures' - (5 days ago)
AFPA young Tunisian activist who sparked controversy in March by posting topless pictures of herself online has been arrested for allegedly making "immoral gestures," the interior ministry said on Monday."The young girl was placed under arrest yesterday (Sunday) in Kairouan... because of immoral gestures," ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told a news conference, without elaborating."Our
Friends of Syria to push for peace conference - (5 days ago)
AFPThe Friends of Syria group, which backs the Syrian uprising, meets on Wednesday in Amman for a new round of talks expected to focus on a US-Russian bid to resolve the country's brutal conflict.The group "will hold talks paving the way for the international conference on Syria in June, in order to reach a political solution to the Syria crisis", Jordan's foreign ministry said in a
Assad foes must come to Syria meeting without conditions: Russia - (5 days ago)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that it is crucial for Syrian opposition representatives to take part in a peace conference without setting any preconditions, apparently referring to demands for President Bashar al-Assad's exit.Lavrov also reiterated that Iran must be among nations invited to the conference that Russia and the United States are trying to organise to seek a
Father of shot Gaza boy disputes Israeli report - (5 days ago)
AFPThe father of a Palestinian boy shot dead in Gaza in 2000 said Monday he was willing to have his son exhumed to disprove an Israeli report denying he was killed by Israeli gunfire.The report released on Sunday by Israel is "completely fabricated," Jamal Al-Dura, whose son Mohammed was killed almost 13 years ago, told AFP."The Israelis are lying and trying to cover the truth," he said, adding
Lapid speaks of removing some settlers from occupied Palestinian territories - (5 days ago)
ReutersFinance Minister Yair Lapid, whose new centrist party is the second largest in Israel's government, said on Monday thousands of Jewish settlers would have to be removed from occupied land under any peace deal with the Palestinians.But, echoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position, Lapid said Israel intended to hold onto major settlement blocs in the West Bank when final borders are
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BBC SportWhen it's put to him that he might be the most talented athlete in the world to hold a racquet, a bashful Ramy Ashour admits "that's pretty great".The 25-year-old Egyptian is more than just the current squash world number one - his elastic, unorthodox brilliance and charisma could be the key to squash breaking out beyond its four walls and regaining a place on the wider sporting
Ministers in Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's cabinet following the recent reshuffle (new appointees are in italics): 1. Minister of Agriculture Ahmed Mahmoud Ali El-Gizawi2. Minister of Antiquities Ahmed Eissa3. Minister of Aviation Wael Maadawi4. Minister of Communication Atef Helmy5. Minister of Culture
AP— April 15, 2013: Two bombs explode in the packed streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 140.— January 17, 2011: A backpack bomb is placed along a Martin Luther King Day parade route in Spokane, Washington, meant to kill and injure participants in a civil rights march, but is found and disabled before it can explode. White
The convenient marriage between Iran and the Arab left would have been unthinkable only a few years ago, given the traditional ideological paradoxes between patriarchal Persian Shiism, on the one hand, and leftist orthodoxy on the other.Indeed, a casual viewer of Hizbullah's Al-Manar television, or the Iranian-funded Al-Mayadin TV, these days would probably think that the two Shia propaganda
