July 2012 Blog Posts (43)

GAZA CITY (Palestinian Territories) - Hamas's prime minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniya called on Egypt on

Haniaya: I discussed free-trade zone with Egypt

Haniya urges Egyptians to ‘open door of Rafah crossing wider by allowing it to work around clock, increasing number of travellers’.

Wednesday to keep the Rafah border crossing open around the clock.

At…

RIYADH - Saudi police and members of the feared religious police are responsible for the death of a man and the injury

Ghamidi refused to follow orders to turn down music

Saudi inquiry says religious police are responsible for death of a man, injury of his pregnant wife, two children in car chase.

of his pregnant wife and two children in a car chase, said an inquiry published…

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi travels to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in his first official visit abroad, signalling

Morsi: Gulf security is a red…

OUAGADOUGOU - West African presidents met Saturday with civil leaders from Mali in a bid to secure a national

Where’s interim president Traore? In Paris

Burkina Faso's President opens talks in Ouagadougou with five other regional heads of state but with Mali's transitional leaders notable by their absence.

unity government to tackle a crisis in the north where Islamists…

GENEVA - The UN Human Rights Council has set up a panel to probe Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian

Underneath Israel lies Palestine

UN rights body sets up panel to probe Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian territories in move that will further irk Israel.

territories in a move that will further irk Israel.

Israel severed contacts…

Eager voters cast ballots on Saturday in Libya's first free national elections for decades after the ouster of dictator

Democracy day

Protesters in east, unhappy over distribution of seats in new assembly, threaten to sabotage vote, staging string of disruptive acts of violence.

By Dominique Soguel – TRIPOLI

Moamer Gathafi, but protesters disrupted some…

The outcome of the Egyptian presidential election has stimulated renewed hand-wringing over the future Egyptian

The Muslim Brotherhood’s victory in Egypt has stoked fear in some circles that Cairo might renege on its peace treaty with Israel. But another part of that reality is that Israel never fulfilled its commitment to withdraw from Palestinian land on the West Bank, notes ex-CIA analyst Paul R.…

SAINT PETERSBURG - The UN cultural organisation UNESCO on Thursday listed the entire town of Timbuktu in the

UNESCO designated Timbuktu a heritage site in 1988

UN cultural organisation lists Malian town, nearby Tomb of Askia on its List of World Heritage in Danger due to armed conflict in region.

African nation of Mali as endangered world heritage because of ongoing…

There’s laughter and a happy mix of voices, chatting away in Hebrew and Arabic. It’s yom yam, Hebrew for beach day.

Sometimes, children are denied a permit because their parents are denied permits

Group of Israeli women organise beach trips every year for Palestinian kids from towns, villages across the West Bank

By Franziska Kabelitz – TEL AVIV, Israel

Every…

The decision by world footballing authorities to overturn a ban on women soccer players wearing the Islamic headscarf

New designs eliminate risk of serious injury

Sheikha Naima al-Sabah says FIFA's decision establishes new ‘respect for different religions, with veil ban being until now a barrier for Kuwaiti women’.

By Michel Haj – DUBAI

was welcomed by several Arab…

KARBALA, Iraq - Millions of Shiite pilgrims commemorated the birth of a central figure in Shiite Islam on Friday morning

Authorities estimated that six million Iraqi visitors came to Karbala for the ceremonies

Millions of Shiite pilgrims gather in Karbala as rituals climax under heavy security measures.

under heavy security measures after a series of recent attacks targeting…

Iraqi women face court-ordered virginity tests that often show they were virgins until marriage but shame them

Tests of shame

Several virginity tests are performed per day at Medical Legal Institute in Baghdad, in small windowless room.

By W.G. Dunlop – BAGHDAD

nonetheless, doctors at an institute that carries out the tests and a lawyer said.

Remaining a virgin…

NAIROBI - War-torn Somalia faces a fresh humanitarian crisis due to conflict, poor rains and a likely late harvest, aid

No comment

Aid group warns Somalis are at risk in resurgent hunger crisis due to conflict, poor rainfalls, late harvest

group Save the Children warned Thursday, nearly a year on since famine was declared.

Tens of thousands of people are…

BAMAKO - Mali's embattled interim government ramped up diplomatic efforts Tuesday to save the north from Islamist

Powerless in face of armed Qaeda-allied groups

West African leaders gear up to meet in Burkina Faso's capital as Islamists escalate efforts to exert their control in northern Mali.

fighters who have smashed World Heritage shrines in Timbuktu and rigged…