PM Israel has no ‘favorite’ in Syrian civil war

Jerusalem Post - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Israel is not taking sides in the Syrian civil war, but will act if necessary to prevent game-changing weapons from being transferred to Hezbollah, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.Speaking at the outset of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel was closely monitoring the developments and changes in Syria, and was "prepared for any ...

Tunisia PM links Ansar al-Sharia Islamists to terror

The Daily Star - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Ansar al-Sharia that fought street battles in the capital with security forces on Sunday of being "involved in terrorism". "Ansar al-Sharia is an illegal organisationit has ties to and is involved in terrorism," Larayedh told state television. The Islamists clashed earlier with security forces ...

Pertamina eyeing oil and gas acquisitions in Oman

AME Info - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Indonesia's PT Pertamina has said it is considering the acquisition of an oil and gas asset in Oman, as the energy firm seeks to boost production at home and overseas, Muscat Daily has reported. State-owned Pertamina is currently in talks with Omani officials for the takeover of an oil and gas asset, expecting to seal an agreement by year's end, said the firm's chief executive, ...

Stocks to Soccer Add Up for Qataris Needing $200 Billion at Home

Yahoo - Sunday 19th May, 2013

After paying for stakes in European companies, landmarks in London, uprisings in the Middle East and a soccer title in France, Qatar may be getting ready to go home. The $60 billion-a-year spree by the world's richest country, dominated by holdings in companies such as British ...

The Spreading Consequences of Syria’s Civil War

The New Yorker - Sunday 19th May, 2013

In March, 2012, I visited Hatay, a region in the south of Turkey that borders Syria, to report on Syrian refugees. The conflict in Syria had been in full force for a year then, and the border remained open. Syrians poured into Hatay’s camps and cities, moving their families into tents or—if they were lucky or connected or had a little bit of money—into apartments. Work had ...

Syrian army Hezbollah kill over 30 in border town

Jerusalem Post - Sunday 19th May, 2013

AMMAN - Syrian troops supported by Hezbollah operatives launched an offensive to retake a major town near Lebanon from rebels on Sunday, the heaviest fighting yet involving Lebanese armed group, opposition activists said.At least 32 people were killed when rebel fighters clashed with mechanized Syrian army units and Hezbollah guerrillas in nine points in and around the town of Qusair, 10 km (six ...

Bahrain slams claims about the non implementation of the BICI recommendations

Bahrain News Agency - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Manama, May 19 (BNA)--Bahrain's Attorney General slammed as untrue a newspaper report that claimed that recommendations by a fact-finding panel on freedom of expression had been ignored by the state's legal authorities. "The report by the local daily about the non-implementation of the recommendations by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) to drop the ...

Palestinian kids swept up in wave of Israeli arrests

MSNBC - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Ahmed Jawabreh, 14, was arrested in the middle of the night for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank refugee camp where he lives and wasn't released for another 18 days. His was only one of a recent wave of arrests of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities, human rights groups ...

Bahrains Rights Britains Failure

Human Rights Watch - Sunday 19th May, 2013

, claimed that "so-called human rights organisations" are "largely administered by ex-ideologists and even terrorists". It continued: "As much as beasts cannot be left to roam freely, so in human society the feral element’s freedom should be under control." In fact, it is well documented ...

Report Palestinian lost speech ability after PA torture

Jerusalem Post - Sunday 19th May, 2013

A Palestinian man who was detained by the Palestinian Authority security forces in Hebron has lost the ability to speak as a result of severe torture, according to a report released by the Independent Commission for Human Rights.Mohamed Abdel Karim Dar of Hebron was hospitalized after being tortured while in detention, the report, which documented 28 cases of torture in PA prisons in the ...

Egypts Morsi rules out talks as hostage video appears

Channel News Asia - Sunday 19th May, 2013

CAIRO: Egypt's President MohamedMorsion Sunday ruled out negotiating with the kidnappers of three policemen and four soldiers who appeared to plead for their release in an online video.The abductions on Thursday in the Sinai Peninsula prompted angry police to shut down border crossings with Gaza and Israel, piling the pressure onMorsito secure the hostages' release."There are no ...

Russia to Sell Air-Defense System to Syria

CBN News - Sunday 19th May, 2013

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Two days after American and Russian leaders met in Moscow to talk about restoring peace in war-torn Syria, Russia announced plans to sell advanced anti-missile defense systems to the Syrian government, ...

Israel’s ‘illegal’ military entry permit bars selected tourists from West Bank - report

RT - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Tourism Many tourists hoping to visit the West Bank are finding it impossible to do so - because Israel requires certain visitors to have an entry permit. Obtaining permission is anything but easy, because Tel Aviv doesn't explain the process, Haaretz reported. The requirement for military entry permits reportedly began at the beginning of 2013. However, not everyone is required to ...

Key Israeli leader calls for interim peace deal with Palestinians

Canada.com - Sunday 19th May, 2013

File - In this Jan.16, 2013 file photo, Yair Lapid, popular former TV anchorman and head of the new centrist party Yesh Atid, poses for a portrait at his house during an interview for the Associated Press, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Lapid, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior coalition partner, said in a published interview Sunday, May 19, 2013, that reaching a final peace agreement with ...

FM seeks enhanced bilateral cooperation with Qatar

Times of India - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Indian economy and its vast potential for the gulf country's firms. Chidambaram, who is on an official visit to Qatar, met with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and the country's Minister of Economy and Finance Yousef Hussain Kamal in Doha, ...

In Israel a modern wall is halted by ancient terraces

Christian Science Monitor - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Israel's high court has issued an injunction against extending the separation barrier through the Palestinian village of Batir, famed for its 2,500-year-old terraces and ...

Egypt hit with security abductions in Sinai

World Tribune - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Security sources identified the abductors as members of the Al Qaida-aligned Tawhid W’al Jihad, which also maintains a presence in the neighboring Hamas-ruled Gaza ...

Netanyahu warns of more Israeli strikes on Syria

The National - Sunday 19th May, 2013

JERUSALEM // Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect yesterday of further Israeli strikes inside Syria, pledging to act to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hizbollah and other militant groups. Although Israel has not publicly taken sides in the civil war between Syrian ...

Israel denies its forces killed Palestinian boy

The National - Sunday 19th May, 2013

JERUSALEM // Israel has completed an investigation into a decade-old French TV report that claimed Israeli forces killed a Palestinian boy in a gunbattle with Palestinian militants, saying the video was misleading and unfairly blamed Israel. France 2's images from September 2000, days after a Palestinian uprising erupted, allegedly showed the death of Mohammed Al Dura, cowering with his ...

Israel to return settlements land to Palestinian owners

New Kerala - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Jerusalem, May 19 : The state of Israel has said it would return the lands of a settlement evacuated in 2005 back to its original Palestinian owners, an Israeli daily said ...

Hezbollah takes fight to rebels as Syria’s war spills into Lebanon

The Independent - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Hezbollah launched a major offensive in support of the Assad regime today, with fighters from the Lebanese militant group playing their most significant role yet in Syria's two-year-old civil ...

Analysis West learns to jaw not war on Syria as the countrys civil war destabilises the region

The Independent - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Sunday's reports that the Syrian conflict was spilling over into Lebanon can be taken as further evidence that the sectarian civil war is destabilising the region. There are also signs that the unending strife is pushing the two players who really matter, America and Russia, towards trying for negotiations and a ceasefire based on the Geneva Accord signed last ...