Renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are set to start Thursday, September 2 in Washington.
US President Barack Obama will host the talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah, who have accepted Obama’s invitation to help out with the peace...
Mohammad Fawaz, a senior Hezbollah official who was killed in Beirut’s clashes last month, had been questioned, prior to his death, by the International Tribunal investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq el Hariri, sources have confirmed.
There is speculation that the murder of the official, who was responsible for Hezbollah’s Burj Abi Haidar...
In what is considered to be a threat for one of Egypt's most important national income sources, Russian gas tanker Baltica has made it through Murmansk, Russia, heading to Shanghai, China through the Arctic Ocean; experimenting with the use of this course as a substitute for the southern route, which goes through the Suez Canal.
If Baltica makes it safely to its final...
In an unexpected step, Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a prominent opposition leader, has signed a statement support to Gamal Mubarak's presidential candidature.
Ibrahim justified his move by saying that, in his opinion, there is nothing wrong with Gamal Mubarak becoming a president, as long as it happens through free and fair elections without him having any advantage over his peers.
US troops in Iraq have dwindled to 50,000 from the initial 300,000, as per US President Barack Obama’s promise of doing so by August 31st. The remaining troops will have advisory, counter-terrorism, and training roles in Iraq.
Today’s withdrawal was preceded with heightened security from the part of the Iraqi security forces, while military spokesman General Qasim...
The Vatican has dismissed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s remark that “Islam should become the religion of all Europe,” as “lacking seriousness.”
Qaddafi’s comment came at a lecture he made to a group of 500 young women paid to attend, at a ceremony marking the second anniversary of Italy and Libya’s friendship treaty.
...
A number of Israeli artists have signed a statement announcing their refusal to perform at a public theater in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.
The declaration described the Erbil settlement, home to 18,000 Israelis and one of the largest settlements in the West Bank, as “occupied territories”.
The statement is reported to have angered Israeli...
After a New York City taxi driver was stabbed after being asked “Are you Muslim?” and the alleged desecration of prayer rugs in a Queens' mosque by a drunken man shouting racial slurs, the debate over Islamophobia in the US has taken a new prominence in the media.
At the heart of the crisis lies the construction of the Park 51 Community City, formerly known as the...
A number of professors in Saudi Arabia have called for reform of labor laws in order to increase women’s chances of finding jobs.
Dr. Laila Bint Abdul Aziz al Hilaly, the General Supervisor of the Women's Union secretariat for the Riyadh region, said that 60% of enterprise owners require the consent of a woman's guardian before they will hire her, leaving the woman...
Grand Mufti Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz Haddad expressed his concern looking at the number of Emirati men marrying foreign women.
Haddad is keen that the government imposes restrictions on marrying foreign women, and to only do it when it is the last option. He says that men should only marry foreign women when they are too old to find an Emirati women or when they have more than two...
A fourteen year-old Tunisian street child called Hamma Hamma has rocketed to celebrity stardom after appearing in a Ramadan television series.
Hamma plays the role of a homeless child in the series entitled “Casting”. The series is directed by Sami al-Fihra and sheds light on the problem of street children; a serious issue that is not being addressed in Tunisia.
Five years after the initial release of the Prophet Mohammad cartoons in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, its cultural editor, Flemming Rose will be publishing a book entitled “The Tyranny of Silence,” which will include the 12 drawings that had sparked mass rioting.
Despite the possibility of renewed problems, Rose emphasized that in his book, to be released end...
Insurgents carried out attacks against at least 11 towns across the country killing more than 50 people and wounding many others.
This comes as political disagreements to form a government continue while people's frustration without electricity or other services, increases.
Iraqi politicians blame Al-Qaeda and remains of Saddam Hussein's regime for the attack...
Sri Lankan authorities have launched an investigation into the torture of a Sri Lankan domestic worker whose employer reportedly drove twenty-four iron nails and a needle into her forehead, legs, hands and stomach as a form of punishment.
According to reports, Ms. Ariyawathie, who is expected to undergo surgery on Friday, endured more than a month of abuse after travelling to...
Medical patients in Gaza are bearing the burden of political infighting, between the Hamas led government and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah, an ongoing economic siege resulting in the deaths of dozens on a regular basis.
According to reports, Gaza’s dwindling medical supplies is due to an Israeli approval process that takes weeks or even months but...
In light of the US’s suspension of military assistance to Lebanon, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has turned to Iran for replacement military aid, and Iran has in turn expressed readiness to help Lebanon out and conduct weapon transactions with it.
President Suleiman has emphasized the need for the army’s modernization, which will require external aid and...
The Egyptian government is facing one of the biggest media and popular campaigns since years as a result of the repeated power outages.
The crisis started with the beginning of summer and the extremely high temperatures that led to an increased electric load causing generators to collapse. President Mubarak summoned both Electricity and Energy and Oil Ministers to reprimand them...
Clashes erupted Tuesday night after a personal dispute between supporters of Hezbollah and a Sunni Sufi group, known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects or al-Ahbash, in the Beirut suburb of Burj Abi Haidar turned violent leaving at least three dead.
According to reports, Hezbollah official Mohammad Fawaz and Ahmad Jamal Omairat, an official from al-Ahbash, were...
Israeli authorities are to introduce mandatory Arabic lessons for students starting from the fifth grade, both based upon students’ demands, as well as in an attempt to bridge cultures and promote tolerance.
The initiative will be adapted in 170 public and religious-public schools in northern Israel, and will gradually be applied throughout the country.
Prior...
This year, Beirut’s Ninth Edition of the five day Lebanese Film Festival (LFF) collaborated with human rights NGO Human Rights Watch, and featured Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi’s “No One Knows about Persian Cats,” which focuses on the daily political and cultural challenges that the typical Iranian youth faces. The screening was followed by a debate on how art can...
South African journalists have begun fighting a new media law that, if passed, would impose restrictions on the media in a country that has always been known as the freest in Africa.
Journalists are fighting the new media law through campaigns they carry out in their writing and through notices they publish along with articles to raise readers' awareness.
Deputy Minister of Culture Mohsen Shaalan and four security officials have been placed under arrest for “"negligence and failing to carry out their employment duties,” while Egypt conducts investigations over the theft of “Poppy Flowers,” a Van Gogh painting, from Cairo’s Mahmoud Khalil Museum.
The museum’s director was released on bail,...
As Iran celebrates the unveiling of a long-distance bomber drone and the fuelling of the Russian-built Bushehr power plant analysts continue debating the implications and possibility of an Israeli attack to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
According to reports, Israel has condoned the plants opening while US and UK officials say that the plant, which will be under the...
Algeria’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has launched an online web portal with the aim of providing qualified spiritual opinions and curbing misinterpretations of Sharia law during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
According to reports, initiatives like the Bank of Fatwas is of great importance due to the increase of religious edicts being issued by unqualified scholars in the...
In a study in the United States, the number of teenagers who have hearing lose have increased up to 30% since the last 15 years. This can affect their learning, speech as well as social skills, and self-image.
Despite attempts from the Journal of the American Medical Association to eliminate ear infections and exposure to loud noises as natural causes for the hearing...
In light of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s unprecedented visit to Greece, Greek deputy foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas has reassured Greece’s Arab allies that improved Greek-Israeli ties were for the good of Greece and the entire Middle East region, and that they do not affect “cooperation with the Arab world, and especially not [their] Palestinian friends.”
...
Numerous campaigns have been launched in Tunisia throughout the last few days to call upon President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to run for a new presidential term. Many public figures, businessmen, artists, media professionals and lawyers have taken part in these campaigns.
A statement calling upon Ben Ali to "accept running for the presidential term 2014 – 2019, in order...
Price inflation by food suppliers during holy month of Ramadan has forced many local vendors in the Middle East hike up prices sparking an outcry by many of the region’s poor who say they are ending up in debt while struggling to feed their families.
According reports, the price increase of several staple items like fruits, vegetables and meats have prompted many...
Recently, a Facebook “dislike” button application surfaced and spread virally amongst many who use Facebook religiously, spreading with it the rise of malware and spam.
The dislike button “application” (among many similar others) asks users for permission to access their private information, and proceeds to post seemingly legitimate spam and malware videos...
Amin Al-Hindi, a former Palestinian Authority intelligence chief suspected of taking part in organizing the deadly attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972, has passed away aged 70 in Amman. Al-Hindi was an associate of the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat.
The Palestinian Ambassador to Amman said that al-Hindi had been diagnosed and treated for cancer.
...
Partners
Follow @meedan on Twitter
Fan Meedan on Facebook
Share Links via Delicious
Edit our new MediaBase
Subscribe on YouTube
Join the Mailing List