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Sunday, 19 May 2013

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Assad says he will ‘face the storm’ and not step down

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. (File photo: Reuters)

The Associated Press, Beirut - Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won’t step down and will instead “face the storm,” raising n ... More

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Saudi FM tells China violence by Assad must be stopped
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal expressed, on a visit to Beijing Friday, that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should not be allowed to continue committing crimes against civilians. The meeting between Saudi and Chinese counterparts comes ahead of the second Geneva ... Read more
EU military chief ‘confident’ about Mali troop training
The head of the EU military committee said on Saturday he was “confident” in the ability of the first Mali battalion being trained by Europe to battle the Islamist insurgency raging in the north. General Patrick de Rousiers told reporters in the capital Bamako he had encountered “ ... Read more

Damascus car bomb kills at least three
A car bomb exploded in a northern district of the Syrian capital on Saturday killing at least three people and wounding five others, state television reported. The state broadcaster said the bomb was placed in a car in the Rokn Eddin neighborhood and that a disposal team was sent in to defuse anoth ... Read more
Father of Syrian deputy FM abducted in Daraa
Gunmen kidnapped on Saturday the elderly father of Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in the province of Daraa, apparently in reprisal for the arrest of one of their relatives, according to a government source and a watchdog. The deputy foreign minister’s office said Mekdad's father ... Read more

Palestinians clash with Israeli police in Jerusalem
Dozens of Palestinians held a protest in the Old City of annexed east Jerusalem on Saturday, hurling rocks at Israeli police and setting ablaze garbage bins, a police spokeswoman said. “Dozens of Palestinians threw rocks at police forces near Nablus Gate. Two of them were arrested,” sai ... Read more
Nigeria imposes curfew in campaign against Islamists
Nigeria’s military on Saturday imposed a 24-hour curfew in parts of a northeastern city as soldiers pressed on with a campaign against Boko Haram Islamists that has sent people fleeing from their homes. Nigeria launched the sweeping operation against Boko Haram this week, deploying several th ... Read more

Algeria pilots’ strike grounds national carrier
Air Algerie planes were grounded for several hours on Saturday when the national carrier’s pilots staged a wildcat strike over pay, officials in the North African country said. Air Algerie said in a statement that the strike caused delays for the airline and other carriers that lasted a few h ... Read more
Tunisia’s Ennahda says Salafist congress postponed to avoid bloodshed
A leading member in Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda party said on Saturday that a congress called for by the Salafist movement, Ansar al-Sharia, has been postponed to an unspecified date. The news comes a day after the Tunisian government announced that it banned an annual meeting by the hardline Sal ... Read more

20 flights without bags after Egypt airport strike
Egyptian officials say baggage handlers in Cairo’s airport have gone on strike to protest a colleague’s death, leaving passengers on 20 international flights from Europe and Arab countries waiting several hours for luggage. Airport officials say senior officials from the country’s ... Read more
Bulgarian truckers lift Turkey trade route blockade
Bulgarian truckers have lifted their two-day blockade of the country’s border with Turkey - a key trade route between the Middle East and central Europe, the interior ministry said Saturday. The passage of trucks through the southeastern Kapitan Andreevo and Lesovo border checkpoints was reop ... Read more

Gold prices sink for seventh day
Gold prices fell for a seventh day in a row on Friday, drawn down by a stronger U.S. dollar and better economic news. Gold for June delivery dropped 1.6 percent, losing $22.20 to settle at $1,364.70 an ounce. The precious metal is nearing the recent low of $1,352 it reached April 15, after a two-day ... Read more
Morocco to harness the wind in energy hunt
Morocco is sloughing ahead with a program to boost wind energy production, particularly in the southern Tarfaya region, where Africa’s largest wind farm is set to open in 2014. The kingdom, which has no hydrocarbon reserves of its own, hopes to cover 42 percent of its energy needs with rene ... Read more

Egyptians targeted with blasphemy in a flurry of charges
The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, “All except the Prophet Muhammad.” The case against Dimyana Abdel-Nour in southe ... Read more
Change looms for Ethiopia’s ancient salt trade
Abdu Ibrahim Mohammed was 15 years old when he began trekking with caravans of camels to collect salt in a sun-blasted desert basin of north Ethiopia that is one of the hottest places on earth. Now 51 and retired, he has passed his camels to his son to pursue this centuries-old trade in “whit ... Read more

Saudi Arabia more tolerant, says woman film maker
Saudi Arabia's first woman film maker, Haifaa Al-Mansour, said her country was becoming “more tolerant and more accepting” as she picked up an award in Cannes on Saturday for her acclaimed film “Wadjda”. The 2012 tale of an impish young Saudi girl who plots to own a bicycle ... Read more
Qatar likely to host exclusive Ferrari launch
It is likely that Qatar will be chosen to launch the exclusive new Ferrari Sergio designed by Pininfarina, the Dubai-based Arabian Business website reported on Saturday. “We are thinking of taking the new Sergio to Qatar. We will show the new Ferrari Sergio only in preselected countries and Qa ... Read more

Mideast praises Beckham’s legendary history
The British football legend, David Beckham’s, announcement to end his 20-year career has come as a major surprise to some of his former associates and competitors. John Burridge, a goalkeeper coach at the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) al-Wasl football club, told Al Arabiya English that he ... Read more
This was my worst season, beaten Mourinho says
A King’s Cup final defeat against Atletico Madrid capped the worst season of Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho’s career, the Portuguese said on Friday after the 2-1 loss left him without a major title this season. Widely expected to move on at the end of the campaign and linked with a r ... Read more

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013A Palestinian passenger sleeps at the Rafah crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip May 17, 2013. Egyptian policemen blocked the crossing into the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest against the kidnapping of Egyptian security forces in the Sinai. (Reuters)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013Palestinian Hanaa al-Zanen, 26-years-old, shows the result of her tests at a pregnancy center in Gaza City , on May 18, 2013. Zanen was induced with sperm from her husband Tamer, who has been incarcerated in an Israeli jail for the past seven years. (AFP)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013Riot police use water cannon against protestors on May 18, 2013, at Reyhanli in Hatay, during the funerals of the victims of a car bomb which went off on May 11 at Reyhanli in Hatay just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. (AFP)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013Egyptian police are seen climbing on the gates at the main Egyptian crossing point into the Gaza Strip which has been closed for the second day on May 18, 2013, by the Egyptian police who were protesting against the abduction of their colleagues in Sinai. (AFP)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013People of Reyhanli chant slogans as riot police block them on May 18, 2013, at Reyhanli in Hatay, during the funerals of the victims of a car bomb which went off on May 11 at Reyhanli in Hatay just a few kilometers from the main border crossing into Syria. (AFP)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013Afghan policemen stand guard at the gate of the main prison in Herat on May 18, 2013. Two kidnappers convicted in the murder of an 11-year old child from a wealthy Afghan family were executed at a prison in Afghanistan's western Herat province early on May 18. (AFP)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013Pakistani soldiers in an armored personnel carrier deploy near a voting station ahead of re-polling on National assembly seat NA250 in Karachi on May 18, 2013, where complaints of rigging and irregularities were reported in general election May 11. (AFP)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013An Iraqi security officer stands outside the Sunni Muslim 17 Ramadan Mosque in al-Firdos Square on May 18, 2013, in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. (AFP)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013Iraqi security forces stand guard near blindfolded suspected militants after a raid in Baquba, about 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Baghdad, May 18, 2013. Iraqi security forces arrested three men suspected to be militants behind yesterday's bloody blast near a Sunni mosque in Baquba. (Reuters)

Day in pictures- May 18, 2013Policemen and people check the scene of a collision on a highway leading to a border crossing between Yemen and Saudi Arabia May 18, 2013. At least 13 people were killed as two cars ran into each other and caught fire after the collision, burning some occupants to death, police officials at the scene said. (Reuters)