Syrian army closes in on Yabroud
March 7th, 20140 DAMASCUS - Government troops are tightening their grip on the last rebel stronghold near the border with Lebanon a day after taking control of a key village in the area, a Syrian field commander told reporters Tuesday, March 4.The Syrian army and Hizbullah fighters have seized a string of towns and villages in the rugged Qalamoun...Israeli bill separating Muslim and Christian Arabs draws criticism
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — A new Israeli law giving Muslim and Christian Arab citizens separate representation on a national employment commission drew fierce criticism from the Palestinians on Tuesday, Feb. 25."This law aims to create a new reality among our people based on religion and not national identity," Palestine Liberation...Twelve dead in Qatar restaurant gas explosion
DOHA - Twelve people, including two children, were killed on Thursday, Feb. 27, when a gas tank exploded at a Turkish restaurant in the Qatari capital Doha, authorities in the Gulf Arab state reported.About 30 others were injured in the blast at the Istanbul Restaurant that one security source said was accidental.Another security source...Seven Egyptian Christians found shot execution-style in eastern Libya
BENGHAZI — Seven Egyptian Christians were found shot dead on a beach in eastern Libya on Monday Feb. 24, after they were abducted from their apartments, security officials and local residents said.A police officer told Reuters the bodies were found with gunshots to the head outside Benghazi in the east, where assassinations,...Hollywood star Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugee children in Lebanon
BEIRUT - Hollywood star and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) envoy Angelina Jolie met orphaned Syrian refugee children in Lebanon and called for an end to the war across the border, on Monday, Feb. 24. Syria's nearly three-year war has forced millions to flee the country, most of them to neighboring countries like Lebanon,...Israeli airstrike tests Hizbullah readiness, group vows to respond
BEIRUT - Hizbullah on Wednesday, Feb. 26, confirmed an Israeli air raid two days earlier on one of its positions in Lebanon and vowed to respond "at the appropriate time" to the "blatant aggression"."On Monday night... the Israeli enemy's warplanes bombarded a Hizbullah position on the Lebanese-Syrian border, near the area of Janta in...At least 31 killed in Baghdad motorbike market bombing
BAGHDAD - At least 31 people were killed and 51 wounded when a motorcycle rigged with explosives detonated in Baghdad's Sadr City, on Thursday, Feb. 27, Iraqi medical and police sources said. The motorcycle was parked in a second-hand market in the Shi'a Muslim neighborhood that sells used bikes and was filled with people, mostly young...Iraqi leaders give conflicting answers on reported Iran arms deal
BAGHDAD - Iraqi officials gave contradictory accounts on Tuesday, Feb. 25, about whether or not Baghdad had agreed to buy $195 million worth of arms and ammunition from Iran as reported by Reuters, a deal that if confirmed could damage Iraqi-U.S. relations.The Defense Ministry denied any such deal had been made, while a senior Iraqi...Egypt’s bread ‘smart cards’ could solve subsidy-abuse problem
CAIRO — A device resembling a credit card swiper is revolutionizing some of Egypt's politically explosive bread lines and may help achieve the impossible -- cutting crippling food import bills.Authorities who hope to avoid protests over subsidized loaves sold for the equivalent of 1 U.S. cent have turned to smart cards to try to manage...Omar and the checkpoint: Palestinians’ daily nightmare
Omar is a 7-year-old boy from Gaza. His family managed to obtain the necessary permits that allowed him to cross the Erez checkpoint to Jerusalem, through the West Bank, in order to undergo surgery. He was accompanied by his father. On the way back, the boy and his father were stopped at the Qalanidya checkpoint, separating occupied East...
Westland Mayor Bill Wild discusses Wayne County CEO candidacy, pledges to implement business experience if elected
February 28th, 20140 DEARBORN — Westland Mayor William "Bill" Wild enjoys the business aspect of politics. He says he balanced Westland's 2-year budget and created a $5-million surplus, without raising taxes or cutting essential services, by using the experience of managing his own small business. Now he is running for Wayne County executive to...Two attempted attacks on chemical weapon convoys
New York - There were two attempted attacks on Syrian convoys transporting chemical weapons late last month, Syrian authorities told the international mission overseeing the removal and destruction of its toxic arsenal, according to a U.N. report on Thursday, Feb. 27.The monthly report to the U.N. Security Council of the joint mission of...Saudis warned against arming rebels
Meanwhile, Russia warned last week Saudi Arabia against supplying Syrian rebels with shoulder-launched missile launchers, saying such a move would endanger security across the Middle East and beyond.The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it was "deeply concerned" by news reports that Saudi Arabia was planning to buy...175 rebels killed in ambush
Earlier, the Syrian army killed at least 175 militants, most of them foreigners, in an ambush in insurgent-held eastern outskirts of Damascus, state media said on Wednesday, Feb. 26.However, the Syrian National Coalition disputed the government report, saying the people killed were civilians trying to escape the siege imposed by...Community activist to run for State House
DEARBORN HEIGHTS-Community activist Rashid Baydoun announced this week that he will be seeking the position of State Representative in the 11th Michigan House District, which includes the communities of Dearborn Heights and Inkster, as well as portions of Westland, Garden City and Livonia. Baydoun was previously the Executive......
UNSC resolution backs Yemen political transition
NEW YORK - The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, Feb. 26, authorized sanctions against anyone in Yemen who obstructs the country's political transition or commits human rights violations but stopped short of blacklisting any specific individuals.The British-drafted resolution was adopted unanimously. It leaves the imposition of asset...Suspected terror financer arrested by the Lebanese Army
BEIRUT - The Syrian national detained by Army Intelligence for allegedly financing terrorist groups in Lebanon has been identified as Omar Juenieh, an Army source told Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star Thursday.The source said that Juenieh, better known as Omar al-Homsi, was arrested Wednesday, Feb. 26, outside General Security......
Al-Qaeda-linked group applies special tax on Christians in Raqqa
DAMASCUS - The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has demanded that Christians in the city of Raqqa pay a levy in gold and curb displays of their faith in return for protection, according to a statement posted online Wednesday, Feb. 26.ISIS said it would ensure Christians’ safety in exchange for the levy and their adherence to...
Syrian Army prepares ground assault on Yabroud: 175 rebels killed in ambush
February 28th, 20140 DAMASCUS - Syria's army is preparing to assault a key rebel bastion near Damascus, a pro-regime newspaper said Thursday, Feb. 27, as activists reported heavy shelling and fighting the area."The Syrian army is preparing to launch a new phase" on the town of Yabroud near the border with Lebanon in its offensive in the Qalamoun mountains,...Jordan Paliament votes to expel Israeli ambassador
AMMAN — A majority of the Jordanian Parliament voted on Wednesday, Feb. 26, to seek the expulsion of Israel's ambassador to the kingdom after the Jewish state's Knesset debated Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.Prominent lower house deputy Khalil Attieh told AFP that 86 out of 150 members of parliament voted...Police station comes under heavy gunfire in eastern Saudi Arabia
RIYADH - Unknown gunmen opened fire at a police station in a Shi'a village in eastern Saudi Arabia, wounding three policemen, the interior ministry said Tuesday, Feb. 25.The attack took place late Sunday in the flashpoint of Awamiya village, part of the predominantly Shiite eastern Province district of Qatif where protests erupted in......
Yemen stops printing leading southern opposition newspaper
ADEN - Yemeni authorities have prevented a local newspaper linked to southern separatists from being printed at a government-owned press in Aden, editors said on Sunday, in a move that led to a protest in the port city.The Aden al-Ghad newspaper said officials at the 14 October Printing and Publishing house refused to print its Sunday...Beirut for the rich only: Average apartment costs $1 million
BEIRUT — A recent study on property prices produced by the real estate advisory agency, RAMCO, shows the average price of apartments in Beirut has risen to $1.091 million."Trade in property and real estate speculation raised the prices artificially until it became almost impossible for people working in this country to live in it,"......
Official in pro-Syrian government party assassinated in north Lebanon
BEIRUT — A senior official in a Lebanese party supportive of the Syrian regime was shot dead Thursday, Feb. 20, in the northern city of Tripoli, sparking clashes in which two people were killed."Masked gunmen opened fire at 7:00 a.m. on Abdelrahman Diab," a senior official in the Arab Democratic Party, as he drove through...Four die during Saudi police raid on house in eastern town
RIYADH- Two Saudi security officers and two people they were trying to detain were killed in a gunfight on Thursday, Feb. 20, in the eastern town of al-Awamiya, the government said, an area where minority Shi'a have staged regular anti-government protests. Shi'a in the region complain of discrimination, a charge denied by the kingdom,......