Young Yemen multiplies without economic growth
SANAA - Yemen’s population is increasing at a rapid rate, straining the country’s dwindling natural resources and setting up its youth for a grim future, with few jobs and scant means to get by.Visiting a family planning clinic in downtown Sanaa, Layla waits for a routine birth control checkup. She believes she was 14 when she got...Saudi activist jailed eight years after calling for elections
A Saudi court has sentenced a human rights activist to eight years in prison for "sedition" after his group campaigned for a constitutional monarchy and elections in the US-backed Gulf Arab kingdom.Abdulkarim al-Khader co-founded the Saudi Political and Civil Rights Association (ACPRA) and served as its head after the imprisonment of two...Russia, U.S. fail to set up Syria peace talks, delay Geneva talk
Talks between the United States and Russia to set up a Syrian peace conference produced no deal on Tuesday, June 24, with the powers on either side of the two-year civil war failing to agree when it should be held or who would be invited.Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal accused the Syrian government of "genocide" and...
The Arab Spring’s new Emir
June 27th, 20130 Doha – The "Arab Spring" will now have a young Emir as its leader. In recent months, 33-year-old Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, crown prince and son of the Emir of Qatar, gained increasing influence in the country’s affairs, having been entrusted with major decisions while his father was abroad.Tamim initiated contacts with Taliban...Syria war forces music festival from Lebanon’s Roman ruins
BEIRUT - Lebanon's annual Baalbek music festival has been forced to move from its usual venue among Roman ruins in the Bekaa Valley because of rocket fire and a spillover of fighting from Syria, organizers said on Thursday, June 20.Baalbek is a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hizbullah, which is fighting across the border...
Syria dominates G8 Summit discussions: Agree on Geneva II, disagree on Assad’s fate and arming rivals
June 21st, 20130 Moscow has insisted successfully that no demands for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad be made in the G8 Summit’s communiqué on the issue. The eight world powers have called for a political solution to the ongoing Syrian crisis, on Tuesday, June 18.“We remain committed to achieving a political solution to the crisis...Washington mulls surprise Rouhani victory in Iran vote
WASHINGTON — The surprise victory of Hassan Rouhani in Iran’s Jun. 14 election has provoked a range of reactions here, ranging from cautious optimism about possible détente between Tehran and Washington, to outright rejection of the notion that his presidency will produce any substantive change in policy, foreign or domestic.While...Duggan ends his bid for Detroit Mayor after losing appeal
DETROIT — On Wednesday, Mike Duggan announced that he had officially pulled himself out of the race for Detroit Mayor. His decision comes one week after the Third Circuit Court declared that he was not eligible to run, based on a technicality in the City's charter.The issue, as presented to the circuit court by one of Duggan's...U.S. says chemical weapons used in Syria, contemplates action as battle for Aleppo nears
U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces used chemical weapons on a small scale against rebel fighters in Syria's civil war, the White House said on Thursday, June 13.The assessment, which followed President Barack Obama's demand for conclusive proof after U.S. intelligence analysts determined...World’s tallest skyscraper with twist: Dubai inaugurates Cayan Tower
DUBAI — Dubai has inaugurated the world's tallest twisted tower built at a cost of $272 million, setting a yet another record for skyscrapers and other engineering marvels.The 310-metre (1,017-foot), 75-storey residential Cayan Tower is twisted at 90 degrees from top to bottom and was inaugurated earlier this month in Dubai Marina -- a...Qatari leaders expected to step down
Qatar's powerful prime minister is preparing to step down as part of a wider power transition that may also see the country's ruler ceding power to his son, Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim, Arab and Western diplomats said on Monday. Such a change could inject an element of uncertainty into the foreign policies of the U.S. allied gas...Court removes Duggan from Detroit Mayor race, campaign files appeal
DETROIT — Mike Duggan has been removed from the ballot as a candidate for Detroit Mayor, in accordance to a ruling by the Third District Court this week. Mayoral Candidate Tom Barrow had filed a claim in late May that Duggan was never qualified for the position to begin with.According to the Detroit City Charter, which was ratified and...Saudi Grand Mufti attacks ‘sectarian Hizbullah’, urges substantial actions against its backers
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's top cleric urged governments and fellow clerics across the Muslim world to punish Lebanese group Hizbullah for its intervention in the Syrian civil war against the mainly Sunni rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Shaikh said Hizbullah's actions vindicated the...Syrian army pushes to wrest control over last rebel stronghold in central Syria
BEIRUT, DAMASCUS — Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad reclaimed control of the central village of Dabaa on Thursday, Syrian state television said, a day after the army and Lebanon's Hizbullah captured a rebel bastion.On Wednesday June 5, The Syrian army and Hizbullah forces seized control of the strategic border town of...46 years on, Arab-Israeli war still leaving its mark
OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM — Majda el-Batsch was 8 years old in June 1967 when she heard about the war that year. “I didn’t know what war meant,” she recalled. More than four decades later, the Palestinian reporter is still grappling with the meaning of what is known as the Six-Day War.Yaki Chetz is 68 now, but in a way he......
U.S. demands Hizbullah withdraw from Syria
May 31st, 20130 The United States, on Wednesday, demanded the immediate withdrawal of Hizbullah fighters from Syria, saying their active role in combat there was an "extremely dangerous escalation.""This is an unacceptable and extremely dangerous escalation. We demand that Hizbullah withdraw its fighters from Syria immediately," State Department...Isolation devastates East Jerusalem economy
OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM — Thick locks hug the front gates of shuttered shops, now covered in graffiti and dust from lack of use. Only a handful of customers pass along the dimly lit road, sometimes stopping to check the ripeness of fruits and vegetables, or ordering meat in near-empty butcher shops.“All the shops are closed. I’m......
Report: Over 500 killed throughout Iraq in May
Violence in Iraq has killed more than 500 people in May, AFP figures showed on Tuesday, as authorities struggled to contain a wave of sectarian unrest.Meanwhile the UN envoy to Iraq urged the country's leaders to meet to resolve long-running political crises that have paralyzed the government and been linked to its inability to reduce...Al-Jazeera in uphill battle for viewers: Reality dismisses surveys
DOHA — Al-Jazeera announced on Wednesday that it is still the Middle East and North Africa's most-watched Arabic-language television channel, in a time when a number of studies are showing that the Qatar-based broadcaster is losing audience shares in Arab countries.In a press release, Al-Jazeera said that an audience survey carried out...
No primary election for Dearborn Heights municipalities
May 24th, 20130 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The City of Dearborn Heights' official list of municipality candidates has been released, and there are not enough people in the running to warrant a primary election in any of the categories. This means all candidates will immediately advance to the November 5 General Election. In March, The Arab American...
Rogers, Land maintain leads in potential2014 GOP U.S. Senate race
May 24th, 20130 LANSING — U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-08) and former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land continue to lead among potential candidates for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, according to a Murray Communications-Portable Insights-Combat Data poll released this week. Rogers.U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-03) was third, with......
Detroit, Metro communities prepare for primary elections
DETROIT — While May 14 marked the petition deadline for candidates seeking mayoral, City Council, City Clerk and other elected city posts, candidates still had a three-day window to pull out of the race by Friday, May 17 at 4 p.m.The results now show that several cities will be holding a primary election on August 6 to narrow down the...
Organ eating, execution videos raise concern over support for Syria’s rebels
May 17th, 20130 A chilling video, showing a Syrian rebel commander cutting open a dead man’s chest, ripping out his heart and biting into it drew widespread condemnation and is evidence that the country’s civil war has rapidly descended into sectarian violence and revenge killings, Human Right Watch (HRW) saidon Monday.Khalid al Hamad, who......
‘Assad must go’: Western-Gulf intransigence bulwarks peace in Syria
For anyone who has been critical of the Western narrative on Syria, the ongoing diplomatic circus begs a very basic question: How can the countries that have bankrolled and armed the insurgency honestly broker a meaningful peace deal? Well, they can’t.The joint effort recently announced by Moscow and Washington to bring the government...International Court examines Israeli raid on Gaza flotilla
THE HAGUE — The International Criminal Court's prosecutor said on Tuesday that she would open a preliminary examination into events surrounding the 2010 Israeli raid on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for the Gaza strip, in which nine Turkish activists were killed.The prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said in a statement that she was......