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Saturday, February 28 2015
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February Guest Writer
News from the Middle East
Iranian security services close Khomeni website
The Iranian security services have closed a news website operated by the family of the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Aytollah Khomeni, Anadolu has reported.
Palestinian tanneries at risk of closure
EXCLUSIVE IMAGES
In the years before the establishment of the State of Israel, caravans and traders from neighbouring Arab states crossed open borders bringing hides from Damascus, Beirut and Cairo that fed the work of Palestine's tanneries alongside local materials. Today, the fe...
Gulf states move embassies to Aden
The UAE and Kuwait said on Friday that their embassies in Yemen have moved to the southern city of Aden, one day after Saudi Arabia took the same step. The relocation of the embassies from the capital Sana'a to Yemen's economic hub underlines their support for President Abd-Rabbu...
Assyrian Chaldean Syriac population is under threat, warn Lebanese Christians
Lebanese Christian parties warned on Friday that the existence of the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac population is being threatened by ethnic cleansing, religious persecution and systematic displacement, Anadolu has reported. The Christian groups also criticised the "silence" of the in...
UAE signs military deals for $5 billion during IDEX 2015
The UAE Armed Forces signed military deals worth 18.328 billion dirhams ($5 billion) during the five-day International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) held in the capital Abu Dhabi this week, said the exhibition's spokesperson.
OIC: Washington is an unreliable mediator in the Middle East settlement process
The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Madani, has said that the United States has so far failed to be an effective mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian settlement process.
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News from Africa
Arab revolutions faced by 'stagnant global capitalism'
Arab thinker Samir Amin said on Friday that the Arab revolutions are faced by a "stagnant global capitalism" that opposes the emergence of new democracies and the peaceful transfer of authority in nation states. "This capitalism deviated the track of the revolutions in a number o...
Egypt sentences four Brotherhood members to death for HQ violence
An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced four Muslim Brotherhood members to death - two in absentia - over charges of killing demonstrators outside the group's headquarters in 2013, a judicial source has said.
Hamas slams Egyptian court for 'terrorist' label
The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, denounced as "shocking" on Saturday an Egyptian court decision to designate the group as a "terrorist organisation". This, spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Anadolu, is a "dangerous" decision which represents a "shift" in Egypt-Pale...
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News from Europe and Russia
Belgium to send 35 soldiers to Iraq
Belgium is to send 35 soldiers to Iraq to help train the Iraqi army in the fight against ISIS, AFP reported on Friday. The troops are expected to leave today on a six-month tour of duty in a "secure location", a government statement revealed.
Italy votes to support a Palestinian state and resumption of talks
Italian MPs have backed a non-binding resolution to encourage the government to recognise Palestine as a state, Anadolu reported today. In a separate resolution, the parliamentarians called for the resumption of peace talks with Israel.
EU missions denounce Jewish settler attacks on mosque and church
The European Union's diplomatic missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah have denounced recent attacks by extremist Jewish settlers on Muslim and Christian religious sites in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, it has been reported by Anadolu.
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News from Asia, the Americas, & International Organisations
PLO, PA to appeal against US court that sued Palestinians
A senior member of Fatah's Central Committee, Nabil Shaath, said on Wednesday that the PLO and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are going to appeal against the US jury that ordered them to pay $218.5m for Israeli-Americans hurt or killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel between 200...
UNSC backs Hadi as Yemeni president
The UN Security Council has given unanimous backing to Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi as "the legitimate president of Yemen" and reaffirmed its strong commitment to the country's unity, AP reported yesterday.
Kerry, Abbas discuss Israeli withholding of Palestinian tax revenues
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas discussed on Wednesday in a telephone conversation Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax revenues, a senior Palestinian official said.
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Latest In-Depth Articles
Egyptian panorama
Al-Sisi's government is living in a chaotic state closer to insanity after the recent leaks which revealed his hatred and exploitation of the Gulf states and its strike on the city of Darnah in Libya in response to the killing of 21 Copts in the city of Sirte.
Sinan Antoon: The haunting poetry of death
"What does it mean when a society disintegrates? What do people do? How do they make sense of a world in which the human dimension is missing completely?"
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MEMO Commentary & Analysis
A perfect gift for Egypt's failing regime
The callous murder of 21 Copts in Libya over the weekend was a welcome gift to the military-led regime in Egypt. Like the senseless killings in Paris, it offered an opportunity for the government in Cairo to present itself as a deserving and credible partner in the great "war on ...
DEBATE by Ben White
NGOs slam 'disarmament for development' as Gaza lies in ruins
Leading NGOs have heavily criticised attempts to link the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip with its demilitarisation, ahead of a debate about the issue in Westminster today.
INQUIRY by Asa Winstanley
Spy Cables show America's hypocrisy on Hamas
The publication by Al Jazeera and The Guardian this week of a cache of cables leaked from the files of the South African intelligence services has been enlightening.
