Illegal settlers, settlements continue to fan flames of unrest
October 8th, 20110 JERUSALEM — Days after his half-hearted conciliatory UN appearance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already approved the construction of 1,100 flats in occupied East Jerusalem. Yet on Sunday, he threw his support behind the new Mideast Quartet's peace plan with the Palestinians. A Palestinian looks at Hebrew writing...
Bahraini doctor says she was tortured before being jailed
October 8th, 20110 LONDON — As one of 20 Bahraini doctors and nurses given up to 15 years in prison, Dr. Roula al-Saffar recalls with outrage the tortures inflicted as police tried to force her and other medical specialists to confess to "a doctors' plot" to overthrow the Bahraini government. Dr Roula al-Saffar, left, and Dr Nada al-Daif, right, have...Saudi police open fire on civilians as protests gain momentum
Pro-democracy protests which swept the Arab world earlier in the year have erupted in eastern Saudi Arabia over the past three days, with police opening fire with live rounds and many people injured, opposition activists say.Saudi Arabia last night confirmed there had been fighting in the region and that 11 security personnel and three...Bahrain medical staff sentenced for treating protesters
DOHA — Thirteen doctors and nurses who treated anti-government protesters during demonstrations in Bahrain earlier this year have been jailed for 15 years for crimes against the state. A protester standing on a garbage container shouts anti-government slogans as anti-government protesters try to get back to Manama's Farook Junction,...Sectarian tensions have Iraq on the brink
CAIRO — More than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that was proclaimed to help Iraqis build a multi-ethnic and democratic nation, sectarian sentiments are still simmering in Iraq, threatening to rekindle hostilities in the ethnically divided and war-battered nation.Tensions escalated last week after gunmen in the Sunni-dominated...Six months into the Syrian crisis, is civil war looming?
Thousands of people in Syria have been killed, injured, displaced or detained in a series of protests against the Syrian government since mid-March which have been ruthlessly quelled by the government. How is this uprising different and where are we now? Unlike Egypt and Tunisia, Syria is composed of a complicated mix of sects and...In Saudi Arabia, a new era for women
When King Abdullah's speech was released by the Saudi Press Service on Sunday, my first reaction was stunned amazement. The second was to think of Dr. Aisha, a physician I'd met in Riyadh eight years ago. "Women will be allowed to participate in the Shoura Council as members from the next session onwards," the aging king announced,...Emergency Financial Manager law opponents nearing signature goal
LANSING — The state's six-month-old emergency financial manager law has come under fire from numerous sources, and organizers of a petition drive have said they are close to having enough signatures to put a challenge to the law on the ballot. The total needed is 161,000 signatures. Those opposing the law believe it denies...Palestinians prepare for settler attacks over UN vote
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli settler violence in the West Bank is on the rise and is contributing to the risk of displacement of many Palestinian communities. JERUSALEM (IPS) — Amidst reports that the Israeli military is...Pressure piles up on Syria as EU announces new sanctions
BRUSSELS — The EU is to slap fresh sanctions against Syria on Saturday, including a ban on investments in the oil sector and on delivering bank notes and coins made in Europe, diplomats said Wednesday.The sanctions due to come into effect on Saturday will be the seventh round of European Union measures targeting President Bashar...
Al-Jazeera drops top executive
September 24th, 20110 DOHA — Al-Jazeera's top executive, Wadah Khanfar, resigned Tuesday after eight years as the head of the satellite news channel, the station announced on its website. Khanfar"For some time I have been discussing my desire to step down with the chairman of the board," Khanfar wrote. "He has kindly expressed understanding and has accepted...
Truce stumbles, then falls in Yemen capital
September 24th, 20110 SANAA (MEO) — Artillery fire and shelling rocked Yemen's capital Wednesday despite a truce aimed at ending fighting between rival military units and deadly attacks on anti-regime protesters, witnesses said. Anti-government protesters attend a mass funeral for protesters and defected army soldiers killed in recent clashes with security...
Libya rulers say Gaddafi running out of options
September 24th, 20110 SIRTE/NORTH OF BANI WALID, Libya — Libya's interim rulers said on Thursday they had further consolidated their control over Sahara desert towns that had been among Muammar Gaddafi's last strongholds, and said Gaddafi himself was running out of places to hide. "This resistance is hopeless... They know very well that at the end of the...
Palestinians protest against Obama’s UN speech
September 23rd, 20110 RAMALLAH — Around 1,000 Palestinians gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday to protest against U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations. Palestinians hold placards during a rally against U.S. President Barack Obama's address at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, in the West Bank city of...Poll: Jobs speech improves Obama approval ratings
UTICA, NY — Last week's address to Congress by President Barack Obama on job creation seems to have helped his job approval, which rose three points to 42%, and the percentage of voters saying he deserves re-election up six points to 39%, a new IBOPE Zogby poll found. The percentage of voters who say the nation is on the wrong......
Anti-Israel tsunami ‘one door away’
JERUSALEM (IPS) — "Only one door" separated the vengeful throng of demonstrators from the six Israeli embassy guards. Chief security officer "Yonatan" was on the phone from the besieged representation. On the other end of the line was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.The prime minister pledged, "Israel will do everything in...
Millions of Israeli cluster bombs in Lebanon could kill for years
September 17th, 20110 KFAR JOZ, South Lebanon (IPS) — Even in the summer heat, the hills of South Lebanon are an impressive sight — a patchwork of green, brown and red fields interrupted only by sleepy villages, rock formations and dirt tracks. Twelve-year-old Mohamed Samer Elhaz Mouss, photographed in October 2006, was injured by Israeli cluster......
PLO to seek full U.N. recognition, factions disagree
September 17th, 20110 The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will go to the United Nations Security Council and seek full membership in the world body next week, despite the looming threat of a U.S. veto, a Palestinian official said. A Palestinian boy pushes a trolley past Israeli soldiers standing near a temporary road block during a protest against the...
Lebanon’s Maronite Christian head sparks debate over Syria
September 17th, 20110 BEIRUT — A heated debate has erupted in Lebanon over controversial remarks by the head of the nation's Maronite Christians, who has warned an end to Syria's regime threatens Christians across the Middle East. Patriarch Beshara Butros Rai: “Regimes described as dictatorial... could lead to civil war, in which Christians would be the...Conyers planning to run in 13th Congressional District
DETROIT — U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Detroit) hasn't officially announced it yet but many people close to him seem sure that he will run in the newly redrawn 13th Congressional District.Conyers currently represents the 14th District but will likely run in the 13th in the 2012 election. The district mostly represents the city of Detroit...Peters seeks reelection against Clarke, Lawrence in newly-drawn 14th Congressional District
TROY — U.S. Congressman Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.) announced on Thursday his intention to run for reelection in the newly-drawn 14th Congressional District in Michigan in 2012. Peters told his supporters in an email blast that he believes the creation of this new Congressional District bridges diverse communities and comes at......
Lebanon: Israel’s proposed sea border threatens peace
September 12th, 20110 BEIRUT — Lebanon warned the United Nations on Monday that Israel's proposed sea border threatens peace and security, as tensions rise between the neighbors over offshore oil and gas reserves."Foreign Minister Adnan Mansur has sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon rejecting geographic coordinates Israel submitted to the...Saudi star-gazers accused of bungling dates of Ramadan
RIYADH — When is a moon not a moon? That is the question vexing Muslim astronomers after accusations that Saudi Arabia jumped the gun in declaring the festival of Eid ul-Fitr because they mistook Saturn for the Moon.The festival is the most joyous moment in the Islamic calendar and celebrates the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.......
Libya now set to be a scene of multiple battles
September 11th, 20110 After six months of defiant resistance, fiery speeches, chilling threats and blood-curdling brutality, Gaddafi has finally fallen on his sword. His collapse, however, is far from the end of the story. Instead, it heralds the start of a more complicated chapter in his country's history. As tanks surround Gaddafi's last outposts in Sirte,...Poll: Romney leads among Michigan Republican voters
LANSING — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leads among those likely to vote in Michigan's 2012 Republican Presidential Primary. Romney got 32 percent according to the EPIC-MRA poll with Texas Governor Rick Perry receiving 17 percent. Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia received just one percent of the vote.......
