Abbas and Meshaal to meet in Qatar to address Palestinian reconciliation measures

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal will meet on Sunday in Qatar, Fatah party spokesman Azzam al-Ahmed told AFP on Friday. Abbas and Meshaal “will discuss forming a government and political questions after the failure of … Read More

Pentagon chief urges world unity on Iran sanctions

The world must join together in backing tough sanctions to pressure Iran into giving up its suspect nuclear program, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday. Describing the sanctions as “very tough” political and economic measures, Panetta said: … Read More

U.S. tourists, guide kidnapped by Bedouins in Egypt’s Sinai freed

Two American women and their Egyptian tour guide, who were captured by armed Bedouins in the Sinai peninsula on Friday, have been released unharmed after several hours, security officials said. Masked gunmen had held up the tourists’ bus at Wadi al-Soal in … Read More

Islamist-led opposition wins majority in Kuwait’s parliamentary vote

Kuwait’s Islamist-led opposition won the majority seats in a snap election for the wealthy Gulf state’s fourth parliament in less than six years, while women candidates did not win a single seat, according to official results released on … Read More

Iran’s Khamenei threatens retaliation against oil embargo, military attack

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday threatened to retaliate against a Western-imposed embargo on Tehran’s oil exports and against a possible military attack on its nuclear facilities. “In response to threats of oil embargo and war, we … Read More

Children as young as 13 tortured, electrocuted by Syrian forces: rights group

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have detained and tortured children as young as 13 with impunity, opened fire on them and used schools as detentions centers of military barracks, Human Rights Watch reported on … Read More

Draft resolution on Syria watered down, but Russian veto still looms

Arab and Western diplomats in the United Nations drafted a new resolution on Syria that dropped demands for arms embargo and sanctions against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, but there were yet no guarantees that the veto-wielding Russia and China will not vote … Read More

Moroccan government calls for clam after riots

Morocco’s Communications Minister Mustapha Khelfi called Friday for talks and a return to calm after violent clashes between youths and police in the northeastern town of Taza, where dozens were injured. “Calm prevails in Taza and we are getting on top of … Read More

Saleh’s face returns to Yemen state daily masthead

The face of veteran Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to the masthead of the leading state-owned daily on Friday after loyalist gunmen besieged the newspaper’s offices demanding its reinstatement. Saleh’s photograph appeared on the front page of … Read More

Former Libyan envoy to France dies in custody: rights group

Libya’s ex-ambassador to France, Omar Brebesh, has died in the custody of a militia from possible torture, less than 24 hours after he was detained by the armed group, Human Rights Watch said on Friday. HRW said a Tripoli-based militia from the town of … Read More

Egyptian police shoot two protesters dead amid anger over football carnage

At least two protesters were shot dead by Egyptian police using live ammunition to disperse a crowd trying to break into a police station in the city of Suez in a show of anger triggered by the deaths of 74 people in the country’s worst soccer disaster, a medical source and … Read More

Russians complain of pressure to attend pro-Putin rally

Personnel at a hospital just outside Moscow were convened this week and made an offer that would be hard to refuse. Turn up on Saturday for a rally supporting strongman Vladimir Putin that aims to rival an opposition protest on the same day, they were told, … Read More

Syria’s Assad set for long conflict

With the enemy at the gates, Bashar al-Assad was dining out. The sound of gunfire and explosions carried to central Damascus as his troops clashed in the suburbs last Saturday with rebels who had seized towns near the capital. Masked gunmen erected checkpoints on the … Read More

Why did Kuwaiti women fare so poorly in the elections?

The big buzz around Kuwait’s electoral results centers on women candidates not being able to secure one seat in snap elections held on Thursday. Kuwaiti women, who only won the right to vote in 2005 and saw four women in parliament in 2009, have expressed disappointment … Read More

Saudi King and IMF chief discuss ‘world economy’

King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and visiting International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde met on Friday in the Saudi capital and discussed the “world economy,” the official SPA news agency reported. The two reviewed “IMF action and developments in the … Read More

Global oil traders nervous as Sudan oil spat drags

Global oil traders are nervously watching a dragging dispute over compensation between Sudan and breakaway South Sudan, whose impact reaches beyond major buyer China, analysts say. The South announced last Sunday it had nearly completed a protest shutdown … Read More

Panasonic headed for record $10 billion annual loss

Japan’s Panasonic Corp forecast a record annual net loss of $10.2 billion on Friday, joining beleaguered rivals Sony and Sharp in a sea of red ink as they struggle to fix their broken TV businesses and overcome criticism that they have lost their way. Panasonic said it … Read More

A sobering look at Facebook

It’s the year’s hottest initial public offering, but some wealth managers find themselves having a hard time recommending Facebook to their clients. The world’s biggest social network is expected to seek a $75 billion to $100 billion valuation in its IPO, the most … Read More

Syria’s Hama: An uprising crushed 30 years ago

The bloody repression by the Syrian army of an armed uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood in the central city of Hama in February 1982 is one of the darkest pages in the history of the Syrian regime. The rebellion and ensuing crackdown by the Defense … Read More

Separated at birth, Indonesian-born twins reunited in Sweden

Twins born in Indonesia and put up separately for adoption, have been reunited after finding each other living just 40 kilometres (25 miles) apart, in southern Sweden, three decades later. Non-identical twins Emilie Falk and Lin Backman ─ strangers until … Read More

Storm over climate change among weather forecasters

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. But weather forecasters, many of whom see climate change as a natural, cyclical phenomenon, are split over whether they have a responsibility to educate their viewers on the link between human activity and … Read More

Iran considers partial ban on Samsung after Israeli ad shows bombing of nuke facilities

A commercial in Israel featuring Mossad agents disguised as Iranian veiled women who end up blowing up an Iranian nuclear plant using a Samsung tablet has earned the wrath of the Islamic republic. The commercial which angered Muslim internet users, now has Iran mulling … Read More

Gabon gives away tickets in attempt to fill stadium

Free tickets are being offered in an attempt to fill up Gabon’s stadiums at the African Nations Cup but even that measure is failing to bring in spectators. Organizers, concerned at a negative image caused by empty stands at matches not involving the home team, have … Read More

John Terry stripped of England captaincy: British media

John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy, British media reported on Friday. The Chelsea center back is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty on Wednesday to a charge of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League … Read More

Nadia Idriss Mayen: Business delights

Let’s get down to business: You have a client coming in from another country or maybe you are flying in to a new place with certain expectations. Your main goal is to seal the deal and celebrate. Some may think entertaining a business client is more or less the same … Read More

Matthew Osborn: How Egypt won the American Civil War

With the one-year anniversary of the Egyptian uprising having recently passed, fresh protests are in store as many Egyptians continue to protest the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces-run government. Violence marred the first round of elections and, as the results became … Read More