Latest Middle East News
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Muslim writer touts Israeli tolerance of minorities
British author Dr. Qanta Ahmed spoke on Wednesday at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem about the difficulties for minorities in Islamic societies and how Israel is the only country in the Middle East that tolerates them.The event was organized by Alan Schneider, director of the B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem, and cosponsored by the Ecumenical Theological ...
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HSBCs rich pickings in Qatar
"We are number one and we are three times [the size of] number two." This is how Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi, the CEO of HSBC Qatar, positions his bank among the group of international lenders currently plying their trade in Qatar. While this statement shows a strong sense of self-belief, the hefty presence of big local banks in the market means that there is no suggestion that Mostafawi is ...
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‘We Can Blow Things Up’ America’s Power in the Middle East
In an article published May 15, 2013, American historical social scientist Immanuel Wallerstein wrote, "Nothing illustrates more the limitations of Western power than the internal controversy its elites are having in public about what the United States in particular and western European states should be doing about the civil war in Syria." Those limitations are palpable in both ...
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Woolwich suspects friend died in Iraq
Two terror suspects shot by police in Woolwich remain under arrest in hospital. They were named as Michael Adebolajo, originally of Romford, Essex, and Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich, South East LondonThe Ministry of Defence earlier said the soldier killed is 25-year-old Drummer Lee Rigby, of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Drummer Rigby had a two-year-old son and ...
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Police make two further arrests in London soldier killing
British police made two further arrests Thursday and raided houses across London following the brutal murder of a serving soldier who survived a tour of duty in ...
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Obama seeks to shape own political legacy
President Barack Obama laid out new guidelines for drone strikes Thursday and launched a fresh bid to close Guantanamo, warning that a "perpetual" US war on terror would be ...
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New labour law 27000 Indians apply for exit papers to leave Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia for home after a new labour policy came into force in the Gulf Kingdom. The Indian embassy here has released a second list of verification and delivery process of emergency certificates (ECs) for all Indian nationals who have applied at the embassy and at other collection centers across Saudi Arabia. "The schedule currently announced is for the second batch of delivery upto ...
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Russia says Syrian government agrees in principle to conference
Russia and the United States , and criticized what it called attempts to undermine peace efforts. "Damascus has expressed its readiness in principle to participate in ...
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Kerry Urgency needed in Mideast peace process
John Kerry said ahead of a second round of meetings Friday. "I am convinced, with great humility, that this moment is a critical one for the region and particularly for Israel, for Palestine and for Jordan," Kerry said before meeting with Israeli ...
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Marriott says Middle East revenues up 11 in Q1
US hotel giant Marriott International has announced that its RevPAR (revenue per available room) rose by more than 11 percent in the first quarter of ...
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Egypt rulers reconcile with ex-regime tycoons
The prosecution announced that Salem has offered to forego 75 percent of his family's wealth in Egypt, and more than half of its properties and fortune ...
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Twin blasts target military checkpoints in central Syria 2 killed
DAMASCUS, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Two car bombs went off separately at military checkpoints in Syria's central province of Homs on Sunday morning, killing at least two people and injuring many others, the pro-government Sham FM radio said. The first car targeted an army checkpoint near a factory on the Homs-al-Masharfe road, killing one soldier and a civilian, the report said. The second one ...
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Woolwich attack Suspect Michael Adebolajolost friend in Iraq Drummer Lee Rigby feared for his girlfriend in Afghanistan
ONE of the men allegedly behind the brutal slaying of soldier Lee Rigby had to himself be consoled by friends in 2007 after a soldier mate was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Two terror suspects shot by police in Woolwich remain under arrest in hospital. They were named as Michael Adebolajo, originally of Romford, Essex, and Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich, South East London The ...
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Salman Khurshid leaves for Saudi Arabia
Salman Khurshid's visit comes at a time when a number of Indians are leaving Saudi Arabia as a result of the Kingdom's Nitaqat programme, which is meant to regularise foreign ...
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Syria needs Britains help but it does not need our weapons
William Hague this week in the House of Commons, this policy is as follows. The government has not decided to send arms to the "good guys" among the rebels, but it wants the flexibility to do so and in the meantime it believes that not to renew the EU embargo would send a powerful signal to President Bashar al-Assad.Like many fallacies it is superficially attractive, especially when ...
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Obama does not foresee U.S. ground troops in Syria
Visiting U.S. President Barack Obama said here Friday he does "not foresee" a circumstance under which Washington would send ground troops to war-torn Syria. "I do not foresee a scenario in which boots on the ground in Syria -- American boots on the ground. (It) would not only be good for America but also would be good for Syria," Obama said at a news conference in the Costa ...
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Egypts cash-strapped rulers woo former regime tycoons
Almost three years after an uprising fuelled bythe old regime's venality, Egypt's cash-strapped Islamist government is makingamends with businessmen who offer to pay their way back into the ...
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Sale of Russian weapons to Syria destabilising says John Kerry
The sale of S-300 air defence systems by Russia to Syria would be "destabilising" for the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry said."S-300 missiles coming from Russia, or other countries, Iranian missiles, are destabilising to the region," Kerry said."The United States is committed, not only in its defence of Israel, but in its concerns for the region to try to ...
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US drone strikes and estimated deaths in Pakistan and Yemen since 2002
President Barack Obama said he will engage Congress in exploring a number of options for increased oversight of lethal drone strikes outside of war zones like Afghanistan. The official U.S. figures of number of strikes and estimated deaths remain classified. But, according to the New America Foundation which maintains a database of the strikes, the CIA and the military have carried out an ...
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Obama warns of new terror threats
Sept. 11 , 2001, the country is more secure and fewer U.S. troops are in harm's way, Obama said while speaking at the U.S. Defense Department's National Defense University in Washington. However, he warned: "Now, make no mistake, our nation is still threatened by terrorists. From Benghazi to Boston, we have been tragically reminded of that truth. But we have to recognize that the ...
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Poll 71.610.7 Support privatization of the ports in principle
Poll: 71.6%:10.7% Support privatization of the ports in principle Dr. Aaron Lerner Date 24 May 2013 Representative sample 500 adult Israeli Jews surveyed 22 May 2013 by New Wave for Yisrael Hayom. Statistical error +/- 4.4 percentage points Pubilshed in Yisrael Hayom 24 May, 2013. Do you support the privatization of the ports in principle? Support 71.6% Oppose 10.7% Don't know 17.7% ...
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Obama lifts ban on transferring Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen
Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen , a step toward his goal of closing the US military-run prison that he said "has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law." Nearly 100 of the 166 terrorist suspects held at the prison in Cuba are from Yemen and have had nowhere to go even if they had been cleared for transfer. Obama wouldn't send them home, and ...
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Egypt denies Morsi intents to run cabinet
Egyptian presidency denied Friday the circulated rumors that President Mohamed Morsi intended to hold the post of prime minister in an imminent cabinet reshuffle, official news agency MENA reported. "There is deliberation over assigning the post to another figure," MENA quoted presidential spokesman Omar Amer as saying. "Qualification will be the basic criteria for the upcoming ...
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5 al-Qaida members killed in U.S. drone strike in Yemens south
ADEN, Yemen, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. drone strike killed at least five members of the Yemen-based al-Qaida offshoot in the southern province of Abyan on Saturday, a government official told Xinhua. "About five terrorists were killed when a drone strike targeted an al-Qaida convoy that was passing through a desert road in the town of Jaar in Abyan province," the government source ...
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8 killed 8 policemen kidnapped in Iraqs violence
RAMADI, Iraq, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Eight people were killed in separate attacks across Iraq on Saturday, while gunmen kidnapped eight policemen in the western province of Anbar, the police said. In western Iraq, two people were killed in clashes between tribesmen and Iraqi security forces near the city of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, when the tribesmen apparently believed that a police unit ...
Israel Focus
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Biggest construction project in Israeli history
The Port of Ashdod is the gateway to the economy of Israel, it has played a central role in the development of the state and will play a central role in future development, hence the reason for an ambitious $500 million expansion project currently underway in two stages (in the picture, green represents stage 1 and brown stage 2).
The Port of Ashdod is currently undergoing the largest construction project ever undertaken in the history of Israel. In 1999, Israel news media reported that the government wanted to double the cargo capacity of Ashdod, an ambitious construction project was therefore envisioned, involving the building of new piers, new docks, warehouses and cargo handling equipment. It was to take place in two stages, with the total project costing around $500 million. Read more
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