Qatar and Egypt discuss reconciliation
CAIRO — Egyptian and Qatari intelligence officials have met in Cairo to discuss reconciliation as part of Saudi-brokered efforts to end an 18-month standoff over Doha's support of the Muslim Brotherhood, security and diplomatic sources said. The sources said Qatar's intelligence chief — Ahmed Nasser Bin Jassim al-Thani — was...Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef fined $6.5 million
CAIRO — A prominent Egyptian satirist has been fined millions of dollars over a dispute with a television channel which suspended his show after it lampooned military leaders, officials said Tuesday. Bassem Youssef, often compared to U.S. satirist Jon Stewart, moved al-Bernameg (The Program) to Saudi-owned channel MBC last year after...Veteran secularist Essebsi wins Tunisia’s first free presidential vote
TUNIS — Veteran Tunisian politician Beji Caid Essebsi won the country's first free presidential election in the final step of a transition to democracy after an uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011. Essebsi, a former Ben Ali official, beat rival Moncef Marzouki with 55.68 percent of the vote against 44.32...Lebanese PM calls rivals to elect president
BEIRUT — Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam called Wednesday on rivals Hezbollah and the Future Movement to facilitate the election of a new president. Speaking following a meeting with Patriarch Beshara Rai at the seat of the Maronite Church in Bkirki, Salam said he hoped that the Hezbollah-Future dialogue, which kicked off Tuesday...Suicide bomber kills 33 anti-“Islamic State” fighters
BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber attacked fighters opposed to the "Islamic State" as they gathered Wednesday to receive salaries south of Baghdad, killing at least 33 people and wounding 55 others, Iraqi police and medical officials said. "The attacker was wearing an Iraqi army uniform, and an explosive vest packed with ball bearings," a...Of $5.4 billion pledged for Gaza, only a fraction delivered
GAZA — Two months after donors pledged $5.4 billion to help rebuild Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian, U.N. and other officials say barely 2 percent of the money has been transferred. The conference in Cairo had been hailed as a success, with Qatar promising $1 billion, Saudi Arabia $500 million and the United...Saudi Arabia will not reduce oil output despite plunging prices
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the OPEC oil cartel, cannot reduce its output, the kingdom's oil minister said on Thursday despite plunging prices. Ali al-Nuaimi added that commodity price fluctuations are to be expected, and he expressed optimism for the future despite crude's price drop of about 50 percent since...“Islamic State”-linked group claims 2013 murders of Tunisian politicians
Slain Tunisian politician Chokri Belaid.TUNIS — Jihadists who have since joined the "Islamic State" group claimed the 2013 murders of two secular politicians that plunged Tunisia into crisis, warning of more killings just days before a presidential runoff election. "Yes, tyrants, we're the ones who killed Chokri Belaid and Mohammed...
Draft UN resolution sets deadline to end Israeli occupation
December 19th, 20140 RAMALLAH — Jordan submitted a draft resolution on ending Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands captured in 1967 to the UN Security Council for a possible vote. The resolution wants Israeli security forces withdrawn from the illegally occupied West Bank no later than the end of 2017. Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said...U.N. appeals for $8.4 billion for humanitarian relief to Syrians
A Syrian refugee girl cries at a tent at the Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, Dec. 7.NEW YORK — The United Nations launched its biggest ever humanitarian appeal for Syria on Thursday, seeking $8.4 billion after only securing about half the funding it asked for in 2014. The aid is...The U.S. carried out 97 percent of December coalition airstrikes in Syria
Moke rises after an U.S.-led air strike in the Syrian town of Kobani Oct. 10.WASHINGTON — As U.S. fighter jets pound "Islamic State" targets in Syria, Washington's coalition allies appear increasingly absent from the air war. Although President Obama's administration announced the Syrian air strikes three months ago as a joint...Iraq seeks one-year deferral on Gulf War reparations
A U.S. soldier stands night guard as oil wells burn in the distance in Kuwait, just south of the Iraqi border Feb. 26, 1991.BAGHDAD — Iraq requested a one-year deferral of a $4.6 billion reparations payment for destroying Kuwait's oil facilities during its 1990-91 occupation, a U.N. official said on Wednesday. The request comes as...Iraqi Kurds break “Islamic State” siege on Sinjar mountain
Displaced Iraqis from the northern town of Sinjar head towards the autonomous Kurdistan region on August 4.BAGHDAD — Kurdish peshmerga fighters have fought their way to Iraq's Sinjar mountain and freed hundreds of people trapped there by "Islamic State" fighters, a Kurdish leader said on Thursday. "The peshmerga have managed to reach...Four die in plane crash during UAE, Egyptian military exercise
CAIRO — An aircraft crash killed two Egyptian and two Emirati servicemen Wednesday during a joint military drill, Egypt's army said. The crash occurred in Egypt, the UAE's official news agency WAM reported. The downing was caused by a technical malfunction, the Egyptian military said in a statement, without elaborating. Authorities...Kuwaiti ship, Egyptian fishing boat collision kill 18
CAIRO — Egypt ordered an investigation into an accident, on Dec. 15, in which a Kuwaiti container ship and a fishing vessel collided in the Red Sea in an incident that killed 18 Egyptians. A statement from the prosecutor's office said initial enquiries showed the fishing boat capsized after it and the Kuwaiti ship hit each other after......
Saudi cleric sparks uproar for appearing with wife on TV
Ahmed al-Ghamedi and his wife Jawaher bint Ali.DUBAI — A Saudi cleric has sparked uproar by appearing on television along with his wife -- whose face was uncovered in an open challenge to strict tradition in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom. Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghamedi, who has said covering the face is not a must for women under...Palestinian minister dies after confrontation with Israeli soldier
RAMALLAH — A Palestinian minister died on Wednesday shortly after an Israeli border policeman shoved and grabbed him by the throat during a protest in the West Bank, an incident Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described as barbaric. Ziad Abu Ein, 55, a minister without portfolio, was among scores of Palestinian and foreign......
Bombs kill three in Bahrain
MANAMA — A bomb explosion killed a Bahraini citizen and wounded an expatriate man on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said, the second fatal attack in the Gulf Arab state in as many days. Political tensions have been running high in the kingdom since the opposition boycotted elections last month. The ministry called Tuesday's attack...U.S. hostage in Yemen killed during rescue mission
SANAA — Al-Qaeda in Yemen blamed the United States for the death of U.S. and South African hostages killed in a failed rescue attempt by U.S. forces, an official of the militant group said, arguing Washington had "foolishly" chosen armed force over negotiation. President Obama "and his government knew the fairness of our demands and...Al-Qaeda in Yemen criticizes “Islamic State” for beheadings
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Nasr bin Ali al-Ansi.SANAA — A senior leader of al-Qaeda in Yemen criticized beheadings by "Islamic State" (IS) fighters as un-Islamic, and said his own group had banned such acts. IS, an offshoot of the al-Qaeda network, has carved out territory in Syria and Iraq with military...Beirut and Doha selected as a ‘New7Wonders’ city
BEIRUT — Beirut was among seven cities selected as a "New7Wonders" city, beating out more than 1,000 competitors, the organization’s chief announced Sunday. "I would like to thank everyone who has helped promote the New7Wonders Cities campaign since its inception in 2011," Bernard Weber, founder and president of New7Wonders......
U.N. says rich nations pledge to take 100,000 Syrian refugees
GENEVA — The U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday that Western governments had heeded a call to take in more Syrian refugees from neighboring countries and estimated that, in all, more than 100,000 places would be offered in the coming months. UNHCR, which wants to resettle 130,000 Syrians outside the region by the end of 2016, said...UAE court convicts 11 on terror charges
ABU DHABI — A United Arab Emirates court convicted 11 men including UAE, Syrian and Comoros nationals of helping to form an al-Qaeda affiliate and sending fighters to join Syrian rebel groups, newspapers reported on Wednesday. Four Emiratis among the 11 were sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia by the state security division of......
Saudi Arabia links “Islamic State” to shooting of Danish man
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has arrested three suspects in connection with the shooting of a Danish man in Riyadh last month, and investigations show it was carried out on behalf of "Islamic State", an interior ministry spokesman said on Thursday. The spokesman, Major General Mansour Turki, said security forces recovered the handgun and a...Egyptian pro-democracy activist sentenced to three years
CAIRO — Egyptian pro-democracy activist Ahmed Douma was sentenced to three years in jail on Tuesday after he accused the judge of bias and denounced his trial on charges of violence against the state as political. Douma was a leading youth figure in the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak at the height of the "Arab Spring." He is......