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South Africa: Palestinian Solidarity - The Responsibility of South African Intellectuals
[Fahamu] The South African academic community should break out of its "silent and inert", albeit sympathetic, posture toward the Palestinians and fully reject cooperation with Israeli institutions.
AllAfrica | 18-May-2012 12:08

Africa: Saudi Arabia - Activist Detained for His Activities in Support of Religious Freedom
[HRInfo] ANHRI condemns the detention of Kamel Abbas al-Ahmed, engineer and brother of the Saudi dissident Ali Abbas al-Ahmed, head of the Gulf Institute in Washington. The Saudi security services escorted Kamel al-Ahmed to an unknown destination without giving any reasons for his detention and without a warrant.
AllAfrica | 17-May-2012 18:43

Africa: Kuwait - Blogger Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison
[HRInfo] ANHRI condemns the ruling upholding the 10 year imprisonment sentence and 1000 Kuwaiti Dinars fine of Lawrence al-Rashidi, Kuwaiti blogger, on charges of "insulting the Prince and his powers in poems uploaded on YouTube". ANHRI considers this ruling an evidence that freedom of expression in Kuwait has become at its lowest.
AllAfrica | 17-May-2012 18:43

PM Meets With Heads of Major Emirates, Saudi Firms
[Egypt Online] Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri held on Wednesday 16/5/2012 a meeting with heads of major firms of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for attracting more investments to Egypt.
AllAfrica | 17-May-2012 13:43

Africa: Syrian Christians Live in Uneasy Alliance With Bashar Assad
[ENI] Damascus - Hani Sarhan is a Christian who says none of his relatives works with Bashar Assad's regime or has anything to do with it.
AllAfrica | 16-May-2012 18:33

No Relations With Iran At the Expense of KSA, Shafiq Says
[Aswat Masriya] Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq stressed on the importance of strengthening strategic relations with all countries, beginning with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), but not with Iran if it would come at the expense of KSA.
AllAfrica | 16-May-2012 16:27

Turkey Turns to Region - Follows China
[New Vision] Turkey is now emulating China's push to boost trade with East Africa, on top of eroding the market share of Africa's traditional European and North American trading partners.
AllAfrica | 16-May-2012 15:30

Visiting Iranian Professor Calls for Priority in Educating Women
[The Herald] A visiting Iranian professor has urged the Government to prioritise education for women for them to make just decisions about their families and communities. Professor Sheida Nikooravin, whose visit falls within the Women's Day commemorations back in Iran, said educating a woman was like educating the whole nation.
AllAfrica | 16-May-2012 13:58

Africa: Oteh Re-Elected Africa/Middle East Regional Committee Chair
[Daily Trust] Ms Arunma Oteh, the Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was yesterday re-elected as the Chairperson of Africa/Middle East Regional Committee (AMERC) of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
AllAfrica | 16-May-2012 11:08

Rwanda/Uganda: Iraq, Uganda Friendlies Called Off
[New Times] Rwanda's Football Association (Ferwafa) has called off the scheduled Amavubi Stars' international friendly matches against Iraq and Uganda.
AllAfrica | 16-May-2012 05:36

Egypt: Authorities Raid Cairo Bureau of Iranian TV Station
[RSF] Reporters Without Borders condemns the raid carried out by the Egyptian police two days ago on the Iranian Arabic-language satellite TV station Al-Alam.
AllAfrica | 15-May-2012 21:17

Kenya: Emirates Announces Nairobi - Ho Chi Minh City Direct Flight
[Emirates] Nairobi - Emirates, one of the fastest growing international airlines in the world, continues its expansion into South East Asia with Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam becoming the airline's 124th destination.
AllAfrica | 15-May-2012 15:53

Egypt: Country Succeeds in Ending Palestinian Prisoner Crisis in Israeli Jails
[Egypt Online] Egypt's General Intelligence Services (GIS), under Major General Mourad Mouafi, have managed after long hours of negotiations to convince the Israeli side to meet the demands of Palestinian hunger-strikers.
AllAfrica | 15-May-2012 14:37

Cameroon: North West - Babanki Gets Ultramodern Social Complex
[Cameroon Tribune] The people of Kedjom Ketinguh popularly known as Small Babanki in Mezam Division of the North West Region on May 5, 2012 received a pleasant gift from the King of Saudi Arabia. It was on the occasion of the hand over to the community of a newly constructed social complex comprising a primary school, health centre, mosque, an administrative block and a residence for the Imam, constructed on the picturesque rolling mountains of the village.
AllAfrica | 15-May-2012 14:24

Nigeria: Imo Indigenes Form National Support Group in Dubai
[Daily Trust] Indigenes of Imo State came together on Saturday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the opening of their first organisation for expats, with a tribal ruler, a representative of the state government and many others joining the party.
AllAfrica | 15-May-2012 13:12

South Africa: From Ramle Prison to the World
[SACSIS] On the first day of March in 1981 Bobby Sands, imprisoned in the Long Kesh for links to the armed resistance to the British occupation of Northern Ireland, began a hunger strike. For seventeen days he was able to keep a diary. The first entry begins with two lines that have become immortal: "I am standing on the threshold of another trembling world. May God have mercy on my soul."
AllAfrica | 15-May-2012 09:10

Egypt: 17 Locals Released From Syria, Return Home
[Egypt Online] Seventeen Egyptians returned home on Sunday from Syria after the Egyptian embassy in Damascus issued a temporary travel documents for them and finalized procedures to deport them.
AllAfrica | 14-May-2012 15:34

Egypt: Govt Signs Agreements With Saudi Arabia, S. Korea On Double Taxation
[Egypt Online] Chief of International Tax Treaties at the Tax Authority, Dr Mostafa Abdel-Qader, on 12/5/2012 said that Egypt will soon sign two agreements with Saudi Arabia and South Korea on the avoidance of double taxation.
AllAfrica | 14-May-2012 15:24

Egypt: FM- Palestinian Cause Has Been Always Country's Cause
[Egypt Online] Foreign minister Mohamed Kamel Amre has received a visiting delegation representing Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israeli jails.
AllAfrica | 14-May-2012 12:54

Nigeria: Internet - UAE Company Launches Broadband Service
[Daily Trust] An Abu Dhabi -based satellite company, Al-Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), has launched its new broadband satellite service in Nigeria, with a pledge to reduce the cost of internet by 10 per cent.
AllAfrica | 14-May-2012 12:07

China Not Out to Colonise Africa Economically - Officials
[Vanguard] Tianjin - China is not planning to colonise Africa economically and industrially through its investments, Chinese officials said.
AllAfrica | 14-May-2012 12:00

Egypt: Govt Condemns Blasts in Syria
[Egypt Online] Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr expressed Egypt's condemnation of the blasts that jolted Syria Wednesday targeting two convoys of the international observers.
AllAfrica | 14-May-2012 11:54

U.S. Official Remarks on Challenges Facing Region
[State Department] U.S. Department of State, Remarks by Jeffrey D. Feltman, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, Washington, DC:
AllAfrica | 11-May-2012 16:17

Zimbabwe: Envoy Pledges Closer Ties
[The Herald] TURKISH ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Kemal Demirciler yesterday called on Vice President Joice Mujuru at her Munhumutapa Offices and pledged to find ways to boost economic ties between the two countries. Ambassador Demirciler, who has been in
AllAfrica | 11-May-2012 13:34

South Sudan: Qatar to Loan Country U.S. $100 Million - Official
[Sudan Tribune] Khartoum - The government of South Sudan has managed to secure a total of $600 million in loans amid growing fears about how long the new nation's economy can survive following its decision to halt its entire oil production this year.
AllAfrica | 11-May-2012 11:57

FM Calls Israel for Immediate Release Palestinian Prisoners
[Egypt Online] Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr reiterated that Egypt find it necessary to practice international pressures, led by Non-Alignment Movement, on the Israeli Government to respect its commitments, according to Geneva Pact, as an occupational authority and stop oppressive practices against Palestinians, especially administrative detention and solitary confinement. He also stressed that Israel has to improve the standard of living for more than 4700 Palestinian prisoner in its jails.
AllAfrica | 10-May-2012 19:21

Namibia: Dubai Is the Place to Be
[New Era] Windhoek - Having given the world some of the engineering marvels in the form of the world's tallest skyscrapers, the United Arab Emirates's Dubai is now attempting to build an underwater building - at the bottom of the ocean with a floating structure above the sea of course.
AllAfrica | 10-May-2012 12:30

Opposition Calls for Release of Nationals From Yemeni Prison
[Sudan Tribune] Addis Ababa - Exiled Eritrean opposition group, the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) on Wednesday alleged that hundreds of Eritrean refugees who fled to Yemen due to political oppression by the regime in Asmara are being kept in Yemeni prisons, where they are being deprived of their rights.
AllAfrica | 10-May-2012 12:16

Africa: Is the Diamond Trade Fuelling the Machinery of War?
[Penguin Books] The following extract from Terry Crawford Browne's new book, Eye on the Diamonds examines "how diamonds link the colonial and apartheid histories of South Africa with the close histories of Israel and Palestine".
AllAfrica | 09-May-2012 16:17

Africa: Chasing the Dots ... the Black Holes of Democracy
[Namibian] The "Arab Spring" initially hyped up as a democratic miracle by western media but then crucified for not having a leadership structure and "policies" has now hit a wall of sand as the militaries, with their thugs, the super rich, almost invariably Sunni despots violently subdue their usually Shiia, populations.
AllAfrica | 09-May-2012 14:00

Africa: Amid Civil War Concerns in Syria, Envoy Describes Ongoing Violence As 'Unacceptable'
[UN News] Amid concerns from the international community over the prospects of a "full civil war" in Syria, the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan, said today that the ongoing levels of violence and human rights abuses in the Middle Eastern country are unacceptable and the UN observer mission is possibly the only remaining chance to stabilize it.
AllAfrica | 09-May-2012 11:53

Ethiopia: Govt Expels Two Foreign Nationals in 24 Hours
[ENA] Addis Ababa - Ethiopia has kicked out two foreign nationals coming from Middle East after the arrest on Saturday of instigating and disseminating papers illegally at the Grand Anwar Mosque here in the capital.
AllAfrica | 09-May-2012 11:28

Egypt: Israel Gas Issue Becoming Explosive
[IPS] Cairo - The two weeks since Egypt's abrupt cancellation of a Mubarak-era gas-export deal with Israel have seen an exchange of indirect threats and warnings between the two countries, culminating in an apparent Israeli military build-up on the border of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
AllAfrica | 09-May-2012 11:27

Israel to Help Zanzibar Improve Agriculture
[Daily News] Zanzibar - ZANZIBAR and Israel have agreed to constitute working groups to further promote agricultural cooperation.
AllAfrica | 09-May-2012 05:12

Egypt: Tantawi Hails Local-Saudi Relations
[Egypt Online] Head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi met on Monday 7/5/2012 with Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed Abdel Aziz Qattan.
AllAfrica | 08-May-2012 14:05

Egypt: Zend - Country, Saudi Have Historic Relations
[Egypt Online] The Judges Club chairman Counselor Ahmed el-Zend hailed on Monday 7/5/2012 the historic relations binding Egypt and Saudi Arabia
AllAfrica | 08-May-2012 14:05

Namibia: Country Well Represented in Dubai
[New Era] Dubai - A Namibian delegation of nearly 60 individuals took part in the second three-day Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) held in Dubai last week.
AllAfrica | 08-May-2012 12:24

Africa: Detained, Tortured, and Disappeared - Citizens Describe Illegal Detentions, Abuse By Security Forces
[HRW] Yemeni security forces have arbitrarily detained dozens of demonstrators and other perceived opponents of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since anti-government protests began in February 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch documented 37 cases in which security forces have held people for days, weeks, or months without charge, including 20 who were picked up or remained behind bars after the November 2011 power transfer.
AllAfrica | 08-May-2012 12:06

South Africa: Why Was MTN's Social and Ethics Committee Only Established Two Years After the Crackdown On Political Opposition in Iran?
[DA] The response by Mr Sifiso Dabengwa, Chief Executive Officer of the MTN Group (Ltd), to my request for information concerning alleged human rights violations raises more questions than it answers on the company's business practices in Iran.
AllAfrica | 08-May-2012 07:31

Mowafi, Al-Faisal Discuss Country - Saudi Relations
[Egypt Online] Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal met on Sunday 6/5/2012 with Egypt's Intelligence Chief Major General Murad Mowafi who paid a brief visit to the kingdom.
AllAfrica | 07-May-2012 14:06

Nigeria: Lebanese, Two Accomplices Held Over Murder
[This Day] The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a Lebanese, one Dilale Bilal and two Nigerians, Segun Awonike and Benjamin Oluwole over the murder of a Bureau De Change operator, Alli Sani. The trio had allegedly lured the deceased to a hotel on the pretext of changing $50, 000 into naira. Chiemelie Ezeobi writes
AllAfrica | 07-May-2012 12:44

Nigeria: NEXIM Eyes U.S.$30 Billion Indian Trade Prospects
[This Day] In the face of growing uncertainties in the global oil prospects and the need for diversification of the country's economy from oil, the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM), the federal government's trade finance institution, has been pursuing its Manufacturing, Agriculture, Solid Minerals and Services (MASS) agenda to attract funding to these areas.
AllAfrica | 07-May-2012 12:27

Chapter 2 - Presidential Candidates On Camp David Accord
[Aswat Masriya] This chapter provides the stance of 11 presidential candidates on the Camp David Accord between Egypt and Israel.
AllAfrica | 07-May-2012 12:01

Abul-Naga - Saudi Arabia Aid Package to Country
[Egypt Online] "Saudi Arabia intends to implement its financial commitments to Egypt", said Fayza Abul-Naga, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation.
AllAfrica | 07-May-2012 11:17

Egypt: Country Resorts to International Arbitration Over Israel-Bound Gas Exports
[Egypt Online] Chairman of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Mohamed Shoaib announced launching measures by the company in cooperation with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to put the issue of Israel-bound gas exports before international arbitration.
AllAfrica | 07-May-2012 11:16

Ifta House Calls for Exercising Self Restraint
[Egypt Online] Al Ifta house has called on the sons of the Egyptian people to exercise maximum self restraint and to put the interests of the homeland above any consideration.
AllAfrica | 07-May-2012 11:16