Latest Middle East News
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Little for Kerry to gain from Mideast visit
United States preoccupied with wider regional threats, tackling the deadlock behind the 65-year conflict has been put on the diplomatic back burner. Nonetheless, the U.S. Secretary of State will be landing in Israel Thursday, with the stated aim of resuming long-stalled negotiations. The visit will be his fourth such trip since taking over the State Department from Hillary Clinton in February, ...
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Stagnant development projects imperil Kuwait’s stock market boom
DUBAI: Kuwait’s stock market boom could run out of steam if the government doesn’t push ahead soon with long-delayed infrastructure projects aimed at diversifying the ...
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Egypt boosts FX sale for imports as SP warns on inflation
Egypt’s central bank sold an unspecified amount of dollars after offering a record $800 million to local lenders at a currency auction to finance imports as Standard & Poor’s warned of accelerating inflation. The benchmark Eurobonds fell. The regulator, which normally offers $40 million at each auction, sold the U.S. currency at a weighted average of 6.972 pounds at its second ...
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Egypt factories hit by subsidy cuts highlight Cairo’s fiscal dilemma
AL-SAFF, Egypt: Hundreds of soot-stained factory chimneys dot the horizon in the industrial city of Al-Saff, south of Cairo, but only a few spew black smoke. Two years after the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian industry is struggling as political instability has scared off foreign investors and hit domestic confidence and the government has started slashing energy ...
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Iran expands nuclear enrichment capability
Iran further expanded its nuclear enrichment capability by installing hundred advanced centrifuges in a uranium enrichment plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on ...
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Israel finds more hostility in Britain
(2 mins ago) A senior Israeli minister described the ';animosity'' shown towards the state by British media, non-governmental organizations and academics, as ';disguised anti-Semitism,’’ in an interview published in today's Daily Telegraph in London. Yuval Steinitz, Israel's intelligence and strategic affairs minister, said he was ...
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Iran’s Nuclear Program Is Seen Making Progress in I.A.E.A. Report
International nuclear inspectors reported on Wednesday that Iran had increased its nuclear production while negotiations with the West dragged on this spring, but the new information suggested that Tehran had not gone past the "red line" that Israel's leaders have declared could incite military ...
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US Lawmakers Pledge to Back Israel Against Iran
The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a resolution affirming America's firm opposition to Iran's nuclear ambitions, and pledging full support for Israel in the event of an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. The chance to slam Iran’s government and speak up for Israel brought a rare moment of complete bipartisan unity to the Senate. Republican ...
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Turkey translates Prophets sayings for 21st Century
ANKARA - Scholars around the Muslim world were alarmed five years ago by news reports that Turkey planned a new, possibly heretical compilation of the Prophet Mohammad's sayings that might scrap those it thought were out of date.Turkish religious leaders and theologians received anxious calls asking about Western media reports they would edit a "radical" new set of hadiths, ...
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Death toll reaches 13 in north Lebanon city fighting
Gunfire broke the calm in northern Lebanon's Tripoli on Wednesday, a day after fierce battles rocked the port city, bringing the casualties to 13 killed and 126 injured, a security source said.The source added two soldiers were among the dead and that tens of homes were damaged in the fighting.Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed that the army has been authorized to take necessary ...
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Palestine urges UN Security Council to end provocations by Israel
Palestine has asked the UN Security Council to press Israel to end its "provocations," including restricting access to holy sites in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian envoy told reporters on ...
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Hollande and Cameron alter position on Syria solution
British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande, adjust their earpieces during a press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Photograph: Thibault ...
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West may boost Syria rebels if Assad wont talk peace
1 of 5. Soldiers open a road that was blocked by supporters of Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir during the funeral of Saleh Ahmed Sabagh, a Hezbollah member, in the port-city of Sidon, southern Lebanon May 22, ...
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Obama to announce plans to lift ban on sending Guantanamo detainees to Yemen
President Obama will announce Thursday that the White House plans to lift the ban on sending detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Yemen, Fox News confirms, a move that could effectively resume efforts to close down the prison That effort, however, has been stymied because many countries don't want the detainees or are unwilling or unable to guarantee that once transferred, detainees who may ...
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Iran pushes ahead with nuclear plant IAEA
/enpproperty--> VIENNA-- Iran further expanded its nuclear enrichment capability by installing hundred advanced centrifuges in a uranium enrichment plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday. In a report, the UN nuclear watch dog said Iran continues to install the IR-2m centrifuges, which could promote its uranium enrichment significantly, in Natanz enrichment ...
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US House panel backs stiff new Iran sanctions
Iran could face tightened sanctions within months after a US congressional panel Wednesday adopted a measure targeting the nation's auto and mining industries as well as its foreign currency ...
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Kuwaits ASCO secures $342.2m in financing for Al Amiri Hospital expansion
A joint venture led by Kuwait's Associated Construction Co (ASCO) has signed a financing agreement with the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) to finance the KD98m ($342.2m) Al Amiri Hospital expansion project, Kuna has reported. The hospital expansion project involves the construction, maintenance and provision of medical equipment for a new tower at the hospital, doubling the existing capacity ...
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Iran crude exports to S. Korea down 44.4 in April
South Korea's oil import from Iran have dropped 44.4% year-on-year in April to 4.18 million barrels, Reuters has reported. The country's crude imports from Iran last month rose 4% compared with that of March, data from the state-run Korea National Oil Corp ...
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Defying the odds in Yemen Syria and Turkey involves foresight
SANLIURFA, Turkey - I’ve been traveling to Yemen, Syria and Turkey to film a documentary on how environmental stresses contributed to the Arab awakening. As I looked back on the trip, it occurred to me that three of our main characters - the leaders of the two Yemeni villages that have been fighting over a single water well and the leader of the Free Syrian Army in Raqqa province, whose ...
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Sex harassment raps readied vs ex-ambassador to Kuwait
MANILA, Philippines--Charges of sexual harassment have been filed against recalled Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Shulan Primavera for allegedly abusing a household helper several times in 2012, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Wednesday. Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesman, said on Wednesday that Primavera would soon face a formal hearing after the charges were ...
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World Bank proposes $150 million loan to help Jordan with refugees
civil war in Syria , Jordanian and World Bank board sources said on Wednesday. "The (World Bank) board should act on it in June," one source told Reuters. "Pressure on Jordan is increasing and the loan should help ease the economic burden." Close to 500,000 Syrian refugees, out of a total of 1.5 million, have sought shelter in Jordan from an escalating civil war between ...
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The war that today shakes Syria started in the media long before economic sanctions and mercenary gangs were financed to overthrow the government said Elias Murad president of the Union of Journalists of Syria. Many reporters entered the country before
Prensa Latina The war that today shakes Syria started in the media, long before economic sanctions and mercenary gangs were financed to overthrow the government, said Elias Murad, president of the Union of Journalists of Syria. Many reporters entered the country before the crisis, filming as tourists, violating the ethical code, and then made their reports distorting the facts, as provided by ...
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Filipino Workers to Get More Rights in Saudi Arabia
story on domestic workers in the U.S. , as part of our Global Nation coverage. Well, there are more than half a million Filipinos working in Saudi Arabia and until this week they had very few protections. The governments of Saudi Arabia and the Philippines have now signed an agreement giving Filipino workers more rights – specifically Filipino household service workers. Anchor Marco ...
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Iran urged to withdraw fighters from Syria
The Friends of Syria alliance called on Iran and its Lebanese Hezbollah ally tonight to withdraw fighters immediately from Syrian territory. It described their armed presence in the country as a threat to regional ...
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Jordanian FM hopeful Kerry will relaunch talks
Nasser Judeh in Amman says US Secretary of State's round-the-clock-efforts may create "inducing environment" to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian negotiations; Kerry scheduled to meet Netanyahu, Peres, Livni in ...
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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