Maliki launches post-election bid to keep power, praises high turnout
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki votes during parliamentary election in Baghdad April 30, 2014. Iraqis head to the polls on Wednesday in their first national election since U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 as Prime Minister Nuri Maliki seeks a third term amid rising violence. ...2 new MERS deaths announced in Saudi
RIYADH — Saudi health authorities announced Wednesday, April 30, two new deaths from the MERS coronavirus in the kingdom, where 16 more infections were also detected.A 41-year-old man in the northwestern city of Tabuk and an 88-year-old in Riyadh died of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, bringing to 107 the total deaths since the...Jordan opens desert camp for Syrian refugees
AMMAN — Across the desert horizon of eastern Jordan rows of iron skeleton structures rise from the sand, marking what the United Nations says could become the biggest camp for Syrian refugees in the Middle East.Azraq refugee camp, 100 km (62 miles) east of the capital Amman, was formally opened on Wednesday, April 30, after 10 months...Lebanese presidential vote delayed as MPs boycott vote
BEIRUT — Lebanese politicians abandoned their second attempt to elect a new president on Wednesday, April 30, after dozens of deputies boycotted a parliamentary vote to choose a successor to President Michel Suleiman.The country's two main political blocs, the pro-Hezbollah March 8 alliance and its March 14 rivals, have yet to agree on...Lebanese presidential vote delayed as MPs boycott vote
BEIRUT — Lebanese politicians abandoned their second attempt to elect a new president on Wednesday, April 30, after dozens of deputies boycotted a parliamentary vote to choose a successor to President Michel Suleiman.The country's two main political blocs, the pro-Hezbollah March 8 alliance and its March 14 rivals, have yet to agree on...Bahrain expels representative of Sayyed Sistani
MANAMA — Bahrain expelled a prominent Shi'a religious figure on Wednesday, accusing him of acting as a representative of influential Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani without permission.A statement by the interior ministry said it had received information from top Iraqi government officials that Sheikh Hussein al-Najati was...Jordan amends anti-terror law to curb Jihadist threat
AMMAN - Controversial amendments to Jordan's anti-terrorism law have been implemented to curb the influence of homegrown al-Qaeda affiliated jihadists fighting the regime of the kingdom's northern neighbour Syria, analysts said.New articles added to the law approved by parliament on Tuesday, April 22, deem "joining or attempting to...
Lebanese Parliament fails to elect president in first round
April 25th, 20140 Beirut — Lebanon's parliament has failed to elect a new president in the first session of presidential elections on Wednesday, April 22. No candidate succeeded in getting the minimum 86 votes, or a two-thirds majority, needed to win the presidency in the first round of voting. All the member of parliament left the floor out...Syria sets date for presidential election
DAMASCUS — Syria has called a presidential election for June 3, preparing the ground for Bashar al-Assad to defy widespread opposition and extend his grip on power days after he said the war was turning in his favor.A leading Syrian opposition group said the election showed the president was divorced from reality.Western and Gulf...
Ficano kicks off reelection campaign, vows to lead and strengthen county in the next four years
April 25th, 20140 DETROIT — Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano kicked off his reelection campaign Monday at the IBEW Local 58 in Detroit. Mike Richard, head of IBEW Local 58, introduced Ficano, calling him “a great friend of labor.” Ficano is seeking his fourth four-year term after filing for reelection on April 21.“We are energized,...Dearborn Board of Education President Hussein Berry to run for State Representative in 9th House District
DEARBORN—Hussein Berry, a longtime community activist and president of the Dearborn Board of Education, announced this week that he is running for State Representative in Michigan’s 9th House District. Berry is also chair of the Henry Ford College Board of Trustees. “I am ready and willing to serve my community at the next...
Palestinian rivals sign agreement for unity government, Israel suspends peace talks
April 25th, 20140 GAZA CITY — A meeting of Palestinian leaders in Gaza has reached a milestone reconciliation pact that will see rival Palestinian groups form a national consensus government in five weeks, after seven years of operating under separate administrations.Under the agreement announced on Wednesday, April 23, rival groups Fatah, Hamas and...Turkey’s Erdogan offers condolences for 1915 Armenia killings
ANKARA — Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan offered what the government said were unprecedented condolences on Wednesday, April 22, to the grandchildren of Armenians killed in World War I by Ottoman soldiers.In a statement issued on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the deeply contested deaths, Erdogan unexpectedly described the...Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano to announce re-election campaign
Ficano.DETROIT—On Monday, April 21 Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano will announce plans to run for reelection at the IBEW Local 58 located at 1358 Abbott in Detroit. The event kicks off at 5 p.m. In an email, Ficano told supporters he was inviting them to join him in continuing the momentum of moving the county...Iraq shuts down infamous Abu Ghraib prison
BAGHDAD — Iraq has closed Abu Ghraib prison, which was made infamous by Saddam Hussein's regime and U.S. occupation forces, due to security concerns following a mass breakout last year, the justice ministry said Tuesday, April 14.The country is suffering a protracted surge in violence that has claimed more than 2,550 lives so far......
Rebel videos, photos show U.S.-made rockets in Syria
DAMASCUS — Recently emerged videos and photos show Syrian rebels armed with what experts say are U.S. anti-tank rockets. These are the first significant American-built armaments to be seen in the country since the outbreak of the civil war three years ago.Although it was not possible to independently verify the footage – most...Israeli army abducts five Lebanese shepherds
BEIRUT — Israeli forces crossed into Lebanon on Thursday, April 17, and abducted five people from the Bastra farms of the southern town of Shebaa, the Lebanese state news agency reported. Lebanon's National News Agency identified the kidnapped as Hassan and Ismail Qassem Zahra, Nouhad Awad, Wafa Moussa, Woroud Moussa.Television......
Israel appropriates more land in West Bank
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel has carried out a new land appropriation in the occupied West Bank, Israeli newspaper Haaretz said on Sunday, April 13.The newspaper said the Defense Ministry declared nearly 250 acres of territory in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc just south of Jerusalem "state land."Asked by Reuters about the report, the...Algeria’s Bouteflika expected to win presidential re-election
ALGIERS —Algerians voted on Thursday, April 17, in an election President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is expected to win after 15 years in power, despite speaking only rarely in public since suffering a stroke in 2013.With the dominant National Liberation Front (FLN) party, allied movements and unions behind him, many Algerians believe...Yemen’s al-Qaeda leader vows to attack America
SANAA — The leader of al Qaeda's wing in Yemen has vowed to attack the United States, in a video apparently showing a gathering of the group celebrating a mass jailbreak of fighters.In February, attackers mounted a bomb, grenade and gun assault on the main prison in Sanaa in which 29 inmates, including 19 jailed for terrorism-related...Saudi spy chief and architect of Syria policy relieved of his duties
RIYADH — Saudi Arabian intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the architect of Riyadh's attempts to bring down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been removed from his post, state media reported on Tuesday, April 15.His departure, months after he was quoted warning of a "major shift" from the United States over its Middle......
Syrian troops retake Maaloula, three Lebanese reporters killed
DAMASCUS — Syrian soldiers backed by Hizbullah fighters recaptured the town of Maaloula, north of Damascus, on Monday, April, 14, further squeezing rebels' supply routes through the Qalamoun mountains into Lebanon.Islamist fighters, some from the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, had taken over part of the ancient Christian town in December...Palestinian American activist Yusif Barakat seeks U.S. Senate seat
DETROIT—Despite his limited political experience and lack of campaign funds, Palestinian American activist Yusif Barakat is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. And he thinks he can win. Barakat, 78, describes himself as an "idealist and a dreamer." He was elected in 1970 as Oakland County Commissioner and ran unsuccessfully for......
Egypt court upholds jailing of leading pro-democracy activists
CAIRO — An Egyptian appeals court on Monday, April 7, upheld the jailing of three leading figures of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising, tightening a crackdown on secular activists opposed to the army-backed government.Critics see their case as an attempt to stifle the kind of political street activism common since the uprising that...Thirteen car bombs rip through Iraq
BAGHDAD — Attacks across Iraq, including 13 car bombs, killed at least 18 people Wednesday, April 9, highlighting the persistent danger from militants 11 years after American forces captured Baghdad.The latest violence is part of a protracted surge in nationwide bloodshed that has killed more than 2,400 people so far this year.Eight......