Clashes in Libyan oasis town kill seven, wound more than 20

Seven people were killed and more than 20 wounded as gunmen raided the oasis town of Ghadames on the border with Algeria on Wednesday, Libya’s government spokesman said. “There were clashes in the city of Ghadames,” Nasser al-Manaa said. … Read More

The heavyweights in France’s new government

French President Francois Hollande unveiled a government of mainly moderate Socialists and longtime allies Wednesday as his new prime minister vowed to work quickly to put the country back on its feet. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Hollande’s new … Read More

Norway massacre survivor ‘hid under friends’ dead bodies’

A young survivor of self-confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik’s massacre on a Norwegian island told his trial Wednesday how she stayed alive by hiding behind the dead bodies of her friends. Ingvild Leren Stensrud, who suffered bullet wounds in her thigh … Read More

Threats sent to embassies in Pakistan: Police

Several Western embassies in Islamabad on Wednesday received letters containing suspicious powder and threats to poison NATO soldiers in Afghanistan, Pakistan officials said. Islamabad police chief Bani Amin told AFP that embassies had received small … Read More

Military ruler urges Egyptians to vote, vows fair election

Egypt’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi urged citizens on Wednesday to vote in next week’s presidential election, vowing a fair poll that will serve as an example to the world. Tantawi, who took power when president Hosni Mubarak was ousted by … Read More

Syria’s television confessions fail to convince many

Syria’s state media is fighting hard to cast the country’s unrest as an Islamist terrorist conspiracy rather than a popular uprising against the dynastic rule of President Bashar al-Assad. State television airs interviews with men confessing to acts of violence, … Read More

Several wounded in renewed clashes in Lebanon

Several people were wounded as new clashes erupted on Wednesday between the army and rival neighborhoods in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli, a security official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said shooting erupted after soldiers … Read More

U.S.-backed Yemen army pushing Qaeda back: sources

Yemen’s army, with the backing of U.S. experts, is slowly gaining ground in its southern offensive against Al-Qaeda, diplomats and officials said on Wednesday, as the death toll in five days of fighting rose to 128. A military official said the army on … Read More

Syria tensions light fuse in North Lebanon

As armored vehicles rumble past bullet-scarred streets, Lebanese men heckle soldiers they have now added to their list of enemies: “There go the traitors!” In Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli, the army may have halted three days of bloody clashes kindled by unrest in … Read More

Death sentence upheld for Qaeda assassin in Mauritania

A Mauritanian court upheld a death sentence handed to an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) assassin found guilty of gunning down an American in 2009, a judicial source said Wednesday. Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Hmednah, sentenced to death in March 2011 for … Read More

Italy seizes more property owned by Qaddafi family

Italy on Wednesday seized a hotel complex and land belonging to the family of slain Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi in the latest such confiscation, the ANSA news agency reported. The property, seized by court order and worth some 20 million euros (25 … Read More

Jordanian center translates Babylonian Talmud into Arabic

A Jordanian research center said on Wednesday it has recently published the first Arabic translation of the Babylonian Talmud, described as the “most important” text in Judaism. “This is the first Arabic translation of the Babylonian Talmud, which … Read More

Apple readies iPhone with bigger screen

Apple Inc. plans to use a larger screen on the next-generation iPhone and has begun to place orders for the new displays from suppliers in South Korea and Japan, people familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. The new iPhone screens will measure 4 inches from … Read More

Iran to boost state aid to offset soaring inflation

Iran’s parliament has voted to raise cash handouts by 60 percent to compensate for scrapped subsidies on energy products and essential commodities, media reported on Wednesday. Some 65 million Iranians will each receive 730,000 rials ($44 on the free … Read More

Facebook boosts size of IPO by 25 percent

Facebook says 25 percent more shares will be sold as investors clamor for a piece of the year’s hottest stock offering. Facebook said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that about 421 million shares will be sold, up from 337 million under its earlier plans. … Read More

One billion international tourists in 2012: U.N. agency

More than one billion tourists will take a trip this year crossing an international boundary, a threshold never before reached, U.N. officials told a meeting tourism ministers gathering in Mexico this week. “We will have more than a billion tourists, that means … Read More

Mubarak’s last premier polarizes Egypt’s voters

The face of Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister beams down from huge billboards on major highways promising “Egypt for everyone”, but Ahmed Shafiq is polarizing voters ahead of next week’s presidential poll. For some, his government experience and background as a … Read More

Iran’s tough nuclear stance masks struggles at top

The negotiating stance from Iranian officials never varies: The Islamic Republic will not give up its capabilities to make nuclear fuel. But embedded in the messages are meanings that reach beyond Tehran’s talks with world powers. It points to the … Read More

Brotherhood faces new challenges in Egypt power quest

On the eve of the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power, the Muslim Brotherhood braced itself for a wave of mass detentions, convinced the president was planning to hand power to his son and would order a crackdown on opposition. In is a testament to how much has … Read More

In Yemen, eating is a luxury millions struggle to afford

For almost half of Yemen’s 22 million people, eating has become a luxury they can’t always afford. On a bad day, Umm Ahmad and her family of five, who live in the capital’s shanty-town district of Al-Sunaina, go without any food at all. On … Read More

Arab press blushes at new French PM’s name

The Arab-speaking media was in a quandary after the appointment of Jean-Marc Ayrault as France’s new prime minster on Tuesday − about how to mention the head of the French government without causing offense. Transcribed into Arabic from the French … Read More

Moroccan music festival to pay tribute to Amazigh culture

The southern Moroccan city of Agadir will host the ninth edition of the Timitar Music Festival which will pay tribute to Amazigh music and culture. The festival, which will take place on June 27-30, aims at acquainting the audience with Amazigh music, taking the culture … Read More

Maradona in contention for UAE manager’s job

Diego Maradona could be set for a return to the international arena with the Argentine being considered for the vacant United Arab Emirates head coaching job. The new president of the UAE Football Association Yousuf al-Serkal said on Wednesday that Maradona was among … Read More

Bayern trounce Chelsea in balancing books

Bayern Munich clearly outshines Champions League final opponents Chelsea when it comes to balancing the books, an issue that will increasingly shape European soccer in seasons to come. Bayern, who have won Europe’s elite club competition four times, pride themselves on … Read More

Eman El-Shenawi: Bailing out Greece has tipped it over the eurozone’s edge

Greece was bailed out under rules it wasn’t ready for. The attempt to save the country from defaulting has actually tipped it over the edge and foreshadows a eurozone exit. Why? Because the bailout never ensured the country’s fiscal stability. If anything, the rescue … Read More

Dina al-Shibeeb: On U.S. foreign policy failure in Iraq and conspiracy theories in Gulf

American foreign policy in the Middle East failed to achieve what it had hoped to do after the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial regime: it did not create a strong U.S.-Iraq alliance and it did not weaken Iran’s resolve in pursuing its “suspicious” nuclear program. … Read More