- NOW LEBANON: Israeli Intelligence: Mubarak to resign soon, to call for early elections
The Egyptian newspaper Al-Masri al-Yawm reported on Thursday that the Israeli daily Maariv said that senior Israeli Intelligence officials are expecting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation soon, adding that he will call for early elections...(Full Article).
- FT.COM: Death sentence for Saudi militant
Saudi Arabia yesterday sentenced a suspected militant to death and 329 others to life imprisonment or house arrest in the first trial of al-Qaeda-linked suspects in the kingdom...(Full Article).
- GUARDIAN: Dozens killed in Iraqi bombings
Suicide bomber kills at least 34 people in northern Iraq while six die in roadside blast in Baghdad...(Full Article).
- HAARETZ: EU official: No chance of settlements deal with Israel
A senior European Union official rules out any compromise with Israel over the issue of settlements, unless reached in the framework of a final-status agreement with the Palestinians...(Full Article).
- WSJ: Pakistani Attack Hits Swat Taliban Leader
...Maulana Fazlullah, leader of the Taliban insurgency in the Swat Valley, was injured when a missile fired by an air force jet destroyed his hideout, said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman. "The attack was carried out after credible information that Fazlullah was hiding there," Gen. Abbas said...(Full Article).
- PRESS TV: 'Iran to publish detailed report on elections'
Iran is to publish a report on its latest presidential election to clarify in full detail how the complaints about the election results were dealt with. The Guardian Council Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei told Fars news agency that the "detailed report" will be published for the first time in the coming days...(Full Article).
- GULF NEWS: Clinton threatens new sanctions on Iran
Iran's crackdown on dissent over the June 12 election suggests the leadership may be unwilling to consider curbing its nuclear ambitions, a position that would prompt the US to call for tougher international sanctions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said...(Full Article).
- ALJAZEERA: Tehran governor warns protesters
The governor of Tehran has warned that Iranian security forces will "trample" any protests to mark the 10th anniversary of a student uprising in the Islamic republic. Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated opposition presidential candidate, have called for demonstrations in the capital and other cities on Thursday...(Full Article).
- ASHARQ AL-AWASAT: Brown Stresses Need for Dialogue with Iran
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has asserted that his country is convinced that dialogue remains the best way for dealing with Iran, a stand that is similar to the one expressed by US President Barack Obama two days ago when he stressed that Washington was committed to the policy of dialogue with Tehran...(Full Article).
- PUKMEDIA: President Barzani meets with Ambassador Hill
Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani on Wednesday, July 8, in Saladin Resort met with the US Ambassador in Iraq Christopher Hill. KDP Secretary Fadhel Merani, US Government Coordinator in Kurdistan Region Lucy Tamlen and a number of officials attended the meeting...(Full Article).
- NOW LEBANON: Egyptian suspects in “Hezbollah cell” case request presidential amnesty
The Egyptian newspaper Al-Masri al-Yawm reported on Wednesday that Egyptian suspects detained for belonging to Hezbollah’s cell, which was discovered in the Sinai in April of this year, presented a memorandum requesting President Hosni Mubarak to grant them a presidential pardon...(Full Article).
- AP: Hamas: Mubarak doesn`t know about Shalit`s condition
A Hamas official on Wednesday said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak didn't know what he was talking about when he said abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is in good condition. Shalit, who was abducted in a cross-border raid, has been held captive by Palestinian militants in Gaza since June 2006...(Full Article).
- NOW LEBANON: Sarkozy: Assad kept promises on Lebanon
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has so far kept the promises he made to him regarding Lebanon. In an interview with the TV station France 5, Sarkozy said on Wednesday that, despite being criticized for launching a dialogue with Assad, he always believed that “solving Lebanon’s impasse while ignoring Syria means an ignorance of the history of both Lebanon and Syria.”...(Full Article).
- NOW LEBANON: As-Safir: Lebanon is no longer on French-Syrian agenda
“Lebanon is no longer on the French-Syrian agenda, since other issues have become more important than Damascus’s relationship with Beirut,” a French source told As-Safir newspaper, adding that Syria “is no longer interested in forging closer diplomatic ties with its smaller neighbor.”...(Full Article).
- TODAY'S ZAMAN: Turkish pressure mounting on China to stop killings in Xinjiang
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday said Turkey was preparing to bring up China's treatment of the Uighur Turks in Xinjiang territory in the United Nations Security Council, where Turkey is a non-permanent member until the year 2011...(Full Article).
- THE MEDIA LINE: Mullen’s Mixed Message On The Mullahs
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, thinks that diplomacy will – or won’t – convince Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions. He also believes that Iran should – or shouldn’t – be stopped from acquiring nuclear capability. He also expects that a military attack will – or won’t – be necessary to halt Iran. Confused?...(Full Article).
- NAHARNET: Jumblat: Syrian-Saudi Rapprochement Consolidates Taef
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Wednesday that Syrian-Saudi rapprochement consolidates the Taef accord...(Full Article).
- NAHARNET: Geagea Defends Jumblat: We Share Same Views, But have Different Approaches
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said the LF and Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party "share the same concerns and views, but have different approaches."
In remarks published by the daily An Nahar on Thursday, Geagea said Jumblat "neither committed a mistake nor did he abandon core principles."...(Full Article).
- NAHARNET: Jumblat to Mind his Own Business Regarding Syria
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat noted that the "Lebanon first" slogan and calls for neutralizing Lebanon would only lead to fragmentation of the region...(Full Article).
- NAHARNET: Soaid: U.S., Saudi Rapprochement with Syria Does Not Mean Return of Syrian Tutelage
A U.S. and Saudi policy of openness toward Syria does "not mean a return of Syrian influence to Lebanon," March 14's official Fares Soaid said Wednesday. "The Syrian-Saudi rapprochement is tied to a formula aimed at ending Syria's isolation in the Arab world in return for Damascus' severing of its relation with Tehran," the coordinator of March 14's general secretariat told AFP in an interview...(Full Article).
- NOW LEBANON: Israeli army detains Lebanese citizen who crosses its border
Israeli security forces arrested a Lebanese citizen on Wednesday who had infiltrated the heavily guarded border between the two countries, the army said...(Full Article).
- THE MEDIA LINE: Lebanese Spy Suspect ‘Flees to Israel’
A Lebanese army officer fled to Israel last week, fearing he would be arrested on grounds of spying for the Jewish state, Lebanese sources said on Tuesday. The colonel, identified as D.J., left his parents’ home in Qlei’a, in southern Lebanon on July 1 and never came back, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported...(Full Article).
- GUARDIAN: Is Europe really Islamophobic?
...The fact that the murder was committed by a reported neo-Nazi in Germany does little to temper a perception that Muslims are the targets of racial hatred. In an article for the Huffington Post, Firas Al Atraqchi expands on the "creeping threat" of Islamophobia in Europe and states that "given the racism many Muslims endure in Europe, the murder should not be dismissed as the act of a lone man who many are now calling insane"...
...When some moral/economic/social panic button is pushed, people are looking for someone to blame and, as the European Muslim Union noted, "Muslims are sometimes seen as a viable option".
However, it's a big step from that to the image of comprehensive, conspiratorial, institutional discrimination against Muslims in Europe that is gaining ground in Arab countries and spurring calls for the severance of diplomatic relations and boycotting of products...(Full Article).
- HAARETZ: Palestinians reject Netanyahu's 'economic peace' plan
Prior to the elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his program for "economic peace," which he said would improved the quality of life for Palestinians in the West Bank. However, 100 days after having formed his coalition government, there is no practical progress on economic projects...(Full Article).
- TREND: Pakistan: Operation in Swat over
Pakistani forces have wrapped up their operation in the Swat Valley and Buner, and the areas have been cleared of militants, the Pakistani Army claims, Press TV reported. Military Spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the operation in Swat and two other northwestern districts were almost over...(Full Article).
- THE MEDIA LINE: Iran Moves On
The brief flurry of popular protest following the disputed presidential election in Iran appears to have been crushed and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at least, is ready to move on...(Full Article).
- REUTERS: Blast outside school in Afghanistan kills 15
An explosion outside a school south of the Afghan capital on Thursday killed at least 15 people, including 12 students, an official said...(Full Article).
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