Gaza student wins first prize in international math competition
GAZA — Gaza’s children affirmed their place at the forefront of creativity and innovation last week, as a 14-year-old girl from Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza, took first place in an international math competition featuring the best young brains from all around the world.In recent years in Gaza, creativity and achievement has...Morsi explains to U.S.: My comments on Israel taken out of context
CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said on Wednesday that comments on Israel attributed to him before he was elected, slammed as deeply offensive by the United States, were taken out of context."The president stressed they were taken from comments on the Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and stressed the...
Digging for water, but striking oil
January 18th, 20130 ABU DHABI (IPS) — The volatile politics of the Middle East have long been dominated by the fluctuating fortunes of a single commodity: oil.But when the oil-blessed region runs out of water, there could be a change in the political landscape, triggering potential conflicts. The world’s future wars, experts predict, will be over water,...Saudi clerics protest female Shura Council appointments
RIYADH — A group of hardline clerics protested outside the royal palace in Riyadh against the king's decision to appoint 30 women to the kingdom's top advisory body, a YouTube video posted on Wednesday showed.The footage of Tuesday's demonstration showed clerics protesting what they said were "dangerous changes in the country and these...Once strong Syria industry is crumbling
ALEPPO, Syria — Once cogs in a dynamic industrial engine that helped power Syria's economy, the factories in a sprawling zone in the heart of battle-ravaged Aleppo now stand largely silent, the workers mostly fled.In their place, thousands of people sheltering from the violence that has swept Syria's northern commercial capital since...Saudi clerics protest female Shura Council appointments
RIYADH — A group of hardline clerics protested outside the royal palace in Riyadh against the king's decision to appoint 30 women to the kingdom's top advisory body, a YouTube video posted on Wednesday showed.The footage of Tuesday's demonstration showed clerics protesting what they said were "dangerous changes in the country and these...State Department denies Syria’s use of chemical weapons despite media reports
A classified State Department cable relayed US officials’ beliefs that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against opposition rebels but an investigation on Monday concluded that Assad was in fact using riot-control gas.Foreign Policy’s “The Cable” reported Tuesday that a secret diplomatic cable provided...NGO: Israel sanctions illegal West Bank settlement
Israel has quietly "legalized" an unauthorized settlement in the West Bank, an Israeli watchdog said on Wednesday, in the sixth such move within a year.Peace Now's Hagit Ofran said the move to legalize the Nofei Nehemia outpost, south of the Palestinian city of Nablus, was taken "a few days ago" in contravention of Israel's commitments...
Assad peace plan draws disparate responses from West, Russia
January 11th, 20130 The U.N. peace envoy for Syria said on Wednesday that Bashar al-Assad could have no place in a transitional government to end civil war, the closest he has come to calling directly for the embattled president to quit.A peace plan agreed by major powers in Geneva last year envisages an interim administration. "Surely he would not be a...Syria is many conflicts rolled into one. It is also at the center of two regional struggles
"Shame on you! Shame on The Independent!" boomed the voice of a Syrian intellectual in my phone half an hour after I had returned from Damascus to Beirut. He was so incoherent in his rage that it was difficult to know his precise objections, but my sin seemed to be that I had been in Damascus, talked to members of the Syrian government...
Hizbullah chief calls for ‘humanitarian’ approach to Syria displaced
January 5th, 20130 Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah urged the government to take a strictly humanitarian approach to Syria's displaced in Lebanon Thursday, days after Energy Minister Jibran Bassil recommended sealing the borders between the two countries.Nasrallah's remarks came during a speech to mark the 40th day since Imam Hussein's...The ‘flattening’ of Gaza
GAZA CITY (IPS) — On Nov. 17, four days into Israel’s eight-day assault on the Gaza Strip, deputy Israeli Prime Minister Eli Yishai publicly called for the Israeli army to “blow Gaza back to the Middle Ages, destroying all the infrastructure including roads and water”.The following day, Gilad Sharon, son of former Israeli Prime...Cash-strapped Palestinians urge Arabs to pay pledged funds
RAMALLAH — The Palestinian government in the West Bank on Wednesday urged Arab nations to deliver on pledges to supply the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority (PA) with $100 million a month.Already mired in a financial crisis, the PA has suffered further with Israel's decision to withhold the transfer of tax and tariff funds it...The unmaking of Syria: Beneath the fog
Everything about Syria is steeped in miasma: Is this conflict politically and sociologically definable as a civil war? Has it become a sectarian war? How strong and widespread is the Salafist (and global Jihadi) presence? Was militarization wise or did the opposition have no choice in this regard? Are the armed groups able to defeat the...Human Rights Watch: Israel violated laws of war by targeting media, civilians in Gaza
Israeli army attacks on journalists and media centers in Gaza during last month’s military operation violated the laws of war, Human Rights Watch has said.Two Palestinian cameramen were killed and at least 10 media personnel were wounded during the conflict. Four media facilities and four private companies were also damaged, and a......
Brahimi heads to Damascus with questions, plan for compromise
Moscow has admitted the possibility that the Syrian opposition may emerge victorious as government forces continue to lose more territory as the conflict rages on, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.“We must face the facts: the current tendency shows that the government is progressively losing control over an...Constitutional poll polarizes Egypt
CAIRO— This Saturday, Egyptians will head to the polls to vote on a controversial draft constitution. The referendum has divided this nation – still pulsing with the revolutionary fervor that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak in early 2011 – with most Islamist parties and groups supporting the proposed national charter, while......
Opposition rejects Morsi’s call for dialogue amid unrest
CAIRO - In televised address, Egyptian president calls for dialogue, but refuses to delay December 15 constitutional referendum.Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi addressed the nation on Thursday night amidst ongoing unrest, and while he called for dialogue and offered sympathy for the deaths of protesters, he offered few concessions and...Islamist vigilantes begin to police Egypt
CAIRO - As Egyptians debate how deeply Sharia should influence the new constitution, and in the face of clashes that left five dead on Wednesday, some extremists have taken to the streets to enforce their own interpretation of “God’s law”. In recent months, these self-appointed guardians of public probity have accosted Muslims and...Despite growing violence, Syrian political equation unchanged
WASHINGTON — As Syria descends further into civil war, the Barack Obama administration has struggled to balance its support for anti-Assad groups with its concerns that the opposition leadership – including the newly-formed umbrella coalition – is controlled by hardline Islamist groups.Washington’s support for the rebels has...As Israel pursues settlement plan, international objections grow louder
Berlin - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Thursday that the Jewish state will move forward with plans to build 3,000 settlement homes in the West Bank, despite growing international condemnations."Most governments who have looked at these proposals over the years including the Palestinians themselves...understand that......
Israel rains fire when U.N. votes against it
December 8th, 20120 UNITED NATIONS - Whenever the Security Council (sporadically) or the General Assembly (more frequently) lambastes Israel, the reaction from the Jewish state is highly predictable: either launch a military strike on Palestinians or announce new settlements in the occupied territories.Since the Israelis last month exercised the first...Jordan King visits Ramallah in show of support for Palestine
RAMALLAH (Palestinian Territories) - Jordan's King Abdullah II flew in to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday for the first visit by a top foreign leader since the Palestinians gained upgraded United Nations status.The monarch arrived by military helicopter from Jordan, landing at the presidential headquarters known as the......
Michigan Matters: Middle East Seg 3
From CBS Detroit: The Middle East is thousands of miles away but issues simmering there are resonating all the way to the Motor City. This week on Michigan Matters, host Carol Cain talks with Roey Gilad, Consul General of Israel to the Midwest, and Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News, about what's ahead in the Middle...UN vote a decisive victory for Palestine
The United Nations has voted overwhelmingly to recognize a Palestinian state.The vote, which was taken at a meeting of the body in New York on Thursday, represents a long-sought victory for the Palestinians but a diplomatic defeat for the U.S., with 138 countries voting in favor of the upgrade.Nine countries voted against it and 41......