Archive for Middle East
CNN Middle East News: 15 February 2009
February 16th, 2009 • CNN News, Middle East, World
- Iran welcomes Obama ‘open to talks’
Iran’s president said Tuesday his country welcomes talks with the United States “in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect.” - Rights group: Hamas killed ‘collaborators’
Amnesty International has accused Hamas militants in Gaza of kidnapping, killing and torturing fellow Palestinians who Hamas believes are spying for Israel, the organization announced Tuesday. - Yemen denies it released al Qaeda prisoners
Yemen has denied “exaggerated and false” media reports that it recently released 170 al Qaeda suspects from its prisons, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by its embassy in Washington. - Sectarian violence continues in Iraq cities
Bombings killed at least eight people and left dozens injured Thursday in Mosul and Karbala as sectarian violence continued in Iraq’s cities. - Menacing stray dogs killed in Baghdad
The shotgun blast rips into the stray dog’s midsection, sending it tumbling over and over. Agonizing yelps echo through the streets as it tries to reach and bite at the gaping wound. Minutes later, the dog is dead. - Hamas: Gaza truce agreement near
Israeli and Hamas negotiators have “almost reached agreement” on a long-term truce for Gaza, a spokesman for Hamas told CNN early Friday. - Israel denies reports of Hamas negotiations
Israel’s prime minister denied media reports that it is negotiating with the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, but said there will be Israeli “consultations” Sunday “regarding the situation in the south.” - Israel expects pope to visit in May
Pope Benedict XVI will visit Israel in May, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Sunday. - UAE denies visa to Israeli tennis player
The United Arab Emirates has refused to grant a visa to a female Israeli tennis player, preventing her from competing in the Sony Ericsson World Tennis Association Tour in Dubai, the WTA said in a statement Sunday. - Saudi activist: Female minister ‘first step’
The appointment of a woman to Saudi Arabia’s influential council of ministers is a “first step” for women’s rights in the country, but it’s unclear if she will have any real power, an outspoken advocate said Sunday.
NYTimes Middle East News: 15 February 2009
February 16th, 2009 • Middle East, NYTimes, World
- In Praise of Diplomacy
Jimmy Carter urges the new president to make peace in the Middle East. - The Saharan Conundrum
Terrorism experts feared that North Africa would be the next Afghanistan: a haven, and a launching pad, for Al Qaeda. Why hasn’t it turned out that way? - How Obama Plays, or Gets Played, Abroad
We’re about to find out what the Obama Factor is worth around the world. - Company Gets Pentagon Contract Despite Death Inquiries
A contractor has been awarded a $35 million contract involving electrical work even though it is under investigation in the electrocution deaths of American soldiers in Iraq. - Abbas Seeks Greater Gaza Role for His Palestinian Authority
On a tour of foreign capitals, the president of the Palestinian Authority is seeking support for a renewed presence for his faction in shaping Gaza. - Trial Date Set for Iraqi ‘Shoe-Thrower’
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at the former American president, George Bush, will go on trial on Feb. 19, charged with assaulting a foreign leader. - Iraqis Say U.S. Patrol Killed Girl, 8, in Crowd
The American military said that there had been an accidental discharge of a weapon and said it was starting an investigation of the incident. - Karbala Journal: A Secularist Finds Sway in a Hub of Shiite Islam
Yousef Majid al-Habboubi soundly defeated candidates from the religious parties that controlled Karbala Province in Iraq, gaining nearly twice as many votes as his two closest competitors. - Ex-Leader of Iran Announces Candidacy
Former President Mohammad Khatami said Sunday that he would run in presidential elections in June. - A Hard-Liner Gains Ground in Israel
Avigdor Lieberman is running for prime minister on a vow to require Arab citizens to sign an oath of loyalty. - Northern Iraq Suicide Blast Kills 4 American Soldiers
The incident marked the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in Iraq in nine months. - Palestinians Stop Paying Israeli Hospitals for Gaza and West Bank Patients
Scores of Palestinian patients being treated in Israeli hospitals are being sent home because the Palestinian Authority has stopped paying for their treatment. - Van Spirits Away Protester in Egypt, Signaling Crackdown on Criticism Over Gaza
Reflecting a heightened sensitivity to criticism of its Gaza policy, Egyptian authorities have detained a student protester for his participation in a protest walk. - After Iraqi Elections, Next Big Test Is Acceptance
Iraq’s elections passed with strikingly little mayhem, but the results have riled those vying for power. - U.N. Chief Says Israel Is Blocking Most Gaza Aid
Ban Ki-moon repeated Tuesday his demand that Israel allow significantly more humanitarian aid into the beleaguered Gaza Strip. - Palestinians Press for War Crimes Inquiry on Gaza
Groups accuse Israel of violating the rules of war by singling out civilians and nonmilitary buildings, and by using weapons like white phosphorus illegally. - With Swipe at U.S., Iraq Builds Ties to French
In a press conference with France’s president, Iraq’s prime minister signaled a desire to lessen U.S. power in Iraq and to boost ties to other Western powers. - Iran Offers ‘Dialogue With Respect’ With U.S.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran made a conditional offer of dialogue to the Obama administration. - Freed Egyptian Protester Describes Ordeal, but Fate of Seized Blogger Is Unknown
A student who was detained Friday after taking part in a demonstration in support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip was released from custody. - Security Talks About Iraq Not Needed, Iran Signals
On a violent day in Baghdad, Iran’s foreign minister ruled out holding new security talks with the U.S. and Iraq, saying improved security made them unnecessary. - In Israeli Vote, With Two Parties Nearly Tied, the Winner Is Gridlock
The close race all but guaranteed that political jockeying to assemble a governing coalition would be intense. - Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down
As layoffs hit Dubai’s foreign workers, their departure is making parts of the city look like a ghost town. - Official Results Confirm Livni Win in Israel
Final results of Israel’s parliamentary election confirmed that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s Kadima party won the contest by a single seat. - Violence Across Iraq Kills 13, Including a Sunni Politician
39 Iraqis were also wounded in a spate of attacks that included the assassination of a Sunni Arab political leader in the violent northern city of Mosul. - Israel Opens the Gaza Border for 25,000 Carnations, Bound for Europe
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Israel allowed the export of a shipment of flowers from Hamas-run Gaza on Thursday for the first time in roughly a year. - Starting at Home, Iran’s Women Fight for Rights
Iranian women are showing growing determination to achieve equal status in this conservative Muslim country. - Iraqis Step Up Measures to Protect Pilgrims
An Iraqi police official said a mass grave had been found in a former Sunni insurgent stronghold. - U.S. Would Slow Missile Shield Plan for Russian Help With Iran
The U.S. indicated a willingness on Friday to slow plans for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe if Russia agreed to help stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. - Suicide Bomber Kills 35 in an Attack on Shiite Pilgrims in Iraq
A suicide bomber blew herself up in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims, many of them women and children. - Hamas Sees Cease-Fire Within Days; Israel Demurs
Hamas officials said Friday that an announcement of an 18-month cease-fire with Israel was days away. An Israeli official said nothing had been agreed yet. - A New Role for Iraqi Militants: Patrons of the Arts
A Baghdad exhibition organized by an aide of the cleric Moktada al-Sadr displays works of art by 39 Iraqi artists. - Iran’s Leader Criticizes U.S. Policies Around World
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that growing world problems like war and poverty are the result of American mismanagement of global affairs. - Deprogramming Jihadists
The Saudi government is trying to rehabilitate violent Islamists by addressing their psychological needs. Could therapy be the best sort of counterterrorism? - Palestinian Forces Dilute Hebron’s Volatile Brew
Hebron, the West Bank’s most explosive city, is undergoing a shake-up through the introduction of hundreds of Palestinian security officers. - Gaza Notebook: The Bullets in My In-Box
In this Middle East tragedy, reporters play the despised chorus, infuriating partisans on both sides. - Saudi King Dismisses 2 Officials in a Shuffle
The king of Saudi Arabia dismissed two powerful religious figures Saturday, in a move that appeared aimed at reforming the kingdom’s hard-line religious establishment. - Lebanese Rally Backs U.N. Tribunal Looking Into ’05 Killing of Ex-Leader
Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others were killed on Feb. 14, 2005, by a car bomb explosion in Beirut. The U.N. tribunal is due to open in The Hague on March 1. - Palestinian Campus Looks to East Bank (of Hudson)
Bard College and Al Quds University are joining forces to inject American educational values and expertise into Palestinian society. - Inquiry on Graft in Iraq Focuses on U.S. Officers
Authorities are investigating senior military officers over corruption allegations in the effort to rebuild Iraq. - Olmert Confirms Papal Visit to Israel
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Pope Benedict XVI would visit Israel this May. - Reopening of Museum in Baghdad Is Uncertain
Iraq’s Culture Ministry overruled a decision to reopen the country’s National Museum, saying that thousands of relics were not ready for exhibition.
BBC Middle East News: 15 February 2009
February 16th, 2009 • BBC News, Middle East, World
- Israel’s mixed schools
Mixed Israeli school strives for understanding - Gaza aftermath
Jeremy Bowen reports on the effects of the war - Women’s rights under Iran’s revolution
Shirin Ebadi on the Iranian revolution and women’s rights - Iraqi remittances: Your stories
Five Iraqis living outside their country describe how they send - and receive - money to and from their families back home. - In pictures: My street in Gaza
A BBC website reader’s photographs of his neighbourhood in southern Gaza City, after the Israeli military withdrawal. The residential district of Tel al-Hawa came under intense bombardment on 15th and 16th January. - Iranian views on the revolution
Two Iranians give their view of the Islamic Revolution, thirty years on. - Arabic press praises Erdogan
There was criticism in some Turkish papers of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan after he stormed off stage during a Davos debate. - Arab press on Israeli vote
The Arabic press expresses widespread scepticism that the general election in Israel will offer any impetus for change. - Gulf states to see fall in growth
Gulf Arab states are set to see growth plummet this year as lower oil exports and falling oil prices take their toll, the IMF says.
- Economy woes push oil below $34
Oil prices fall to below $34 a barrel amid doubts that a US stimulus plan will boost the economy. - Bouteflika to run for third term
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announces he will seek a third term in office in elections in April. - Gaza to export Valentine’s blooms
Israel is to allow 25,000 flowers to be sent from Gaza to Europe for Valentine’s Day, the first exports in a year. - Lethal bombs in Mosul and Karbala
A bomb attack in Iraq has killed several Shia pilgrims, while in the northern city of Mosul, four police were killed by a car bomb.
- Results confirm Israeli deadlock
The final results of Israel’s election confirm that neither of the two main parties can form a government on its own. - Oil rises on stimulus plan hopes
Oil prices jump after a week of falling crude prices on hopes US President Obama’s stimulus plan will revive the economy. - Hamas ’set for truce with Israel’
A long-term truce between Hamas and Israel may be announced in days, Hamas officials say in Cairo. - Cyprus unloads ‘Gaza arms’ ship
Unloading begins in Cyprus of a detained ship allegedly carrying a weapons-related cargo that breaches UN sanctions. - Gaza diary
Final installment of Gaza aid worker’s diary - New life
An Iraqi journalist on settling in New York city
- In pictures
Travelling through Oman’s Empty Quarter - Divisive untruths
Rushdie’s Satanic Verses still spark controversy - Changing religion
Christian convert in Egypt struggles for recognition - Search for justice
Four years on, Rafik Hariri’s son seeks answers - Documents show how German trickery won Queen Nefertiti
Documents suggest a German archaeologist used trickery to smuggle home a famous sculpture of Queen Nefertiti. - Iraq suicide bomb kills pilgrims
At least 32 people are killed by a female suicide bomber who targeted Shia pilgims south of Baghdad, Iraqi police say. - Israel air strike hits Gaza Strip
Israel launches an air strike on a target close to Khan Younis in Gaza, killing one Palestinian and injuring at least one other. - Anniversary of Iran’s Rushdie fatwa
Opinions remain divided over book which earned UK author Salman Rushdie a fatwa from Iran’s supreme leader, 20 years on. - British MPs granted Gaza access
A group of British MPs has been allowed into Gaza to assess damage caused by the recent Israeli military offensive. - Lebanon remembers Hariri killing
Thousands of Lebanese mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. - Major reshuffle in Saudi Arabia
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia sacks two powerful religious figures in a wide ranging shake-up of his administration. - The issues: Where the candidates stand
The BBC News website outlines the positions on key issues of the leading candidates for prime minister in Israel’s 10 February elections. - Election day updates as they happened
Live coverage of the Israeli general election. - Jeremy Bowen on the post-election landscape
BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen is keeping a diary as Israel votes in a general election. - Israeli press bemoans political stalemate
Israeli papers agonise over the inconclusive results of Tuesday’s parliamentary elections. - Israeli tennis player refused Dubai visa
Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer is refused an entry visa to take part in the Dubai Tennis Championships. - Gaza population ‘rising rapidly’
A census taken in 2007 shows the population of Gaza has risen by almost 40% in the past 10 years. - Israel puts terms on Gaza truce
Israel rules out a truce in Gaza unless an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants is freed, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says.
