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September 04, 2009
Adam Gonn/The Media Line
Is swine flu behind the recent increase in private jet rentals in the gulf region?
One of the world's leading private jet operators, International Air Charter, based in the United Arab Emirates, is reporting a 50% increase in demand over Ramadan for flights ...
September 04, 2009
Adam Gonn / The Media Line
Dow Jones Indexes is set to launch four new indexes for the Middle East and North Africa region, giving investors access to both conventional and Shari´a compliant indexes.
Dow Jones Indexes, best known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, is launchi...
July 22, 2009
By Rachelle Kliger
The Islamist A-Shabab group in Somalia claims its forces retook control this week over strategic areas of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
A-Shabab, one of the primary factions in the Somali opposition fighting against government forces and troops from African Union, say...
July 22, 2009
The United Arab Emirates will continue to peg its currency to the United States Dollar.
Following a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is traveling in the Gulf region, the governor of the UAE Central Bank, Sultain Al Suwaidi, reaffirmed that the dirham will remain peg...
July 22, 2009
Benjamin Joffe-Walt
The smiling, well-groomed red face in the profile picture certainly looks like the Syrian leader, but could the ruler of an authoritarian regime which blocks Facebook really be using the social networking site?
Syrian blogger Mohammed Ali Al-Abdullah wondered exactly this w...
July 22, 2009
By Adam Gonn
Pakistan has issued a new cyber-crime law which lists sending indecent, provocative or ill-motivated messages on a cell phone as an offence.
Under the Cyber Crimes Act, sending an SMS message or email containing defamation of the country´s civilian leadership or of the ...
July 22, 2009
By Rose Foran
Bahrain´s Supreme Council for Women (SCW) announced the launch of a major campaign for equal nationality rights, along with several other Bahraini women´s advocacy organizations.
The SCW gathered representatives from Bahraini women´s groups across t...
July 22, 2009
By Rachelle Kliger
Internationally-renowned artist Leonard Cohen will not be performing in the West Bank city of Ramallah, as originally planned.
The 74-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter has had his concert in Ramallah cancelled in a development viewed as a small victory by group...
July 22, 2009
By Adam Gonn
The World Food Programme will need an additional $23 million for its program in Yemen.
The United Nations organization has asked international donors to provide the money - a sum that represents 42 percent of the annual budget for Yemen - so that it can continue to provide ...
July 22, 2009
By Benjamin Joffe-Walt
West Bank Palestinians' only artery to the outside world is set to immediately open 24 hours a day for the passage of goods in an Israeli effort to boost the Palestinian economy, it was decided on Wednesday.
A ministerial committee headed by Israeli Prime Minister Binyam...
July 15, 2009
Adam Gonn / The Media Line
A ´performance enchasing´ update for BlackBerrys release by the Gulf-based phone operator Etisalat to its 100,000 customers has turned out to be a spyware that allows the operator to read the messages and emails of their users.
Last week, the ...
July 15, 2009
By Rachelle Kliger - The Media Line
The Islamist A-Shabab group in Somalia claims its forces retook control this week over strategic areas of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
A-Shabab, one of the primary factions in the Somali opposition fighting against government forces and troops f...
July 15, 2009
Benjamin Joffe-Walt / The Media Line
The smiling, well-groomed red face in the profile picture certainly looks like the Syrian leader, but could the ruler of an authoritarian regime which blocks Facebook really be using the social networking site?
Syrian blogger Mohammed Ali Al-Abdullah wonder...
July 06, 2009
Foreign investment in Iran´s vital oil and gas sector may plummet in the aftermath of the recent presidential elections.
Sanctions against Iran mean foreign investment in the region is already low. Following the violent clampdown on demonstrations in the capital Tehran after President ...
July 06, 2009
Israel will establish a $40 million private equity fund aimed at maximizing the economic potential of the Israeli Arab sector.
Within the next two weeks the Israeli Prime Ministers will offer a tender worth 160 million shekels aimed at developing businesses within the Israeli-Arab sector, Th...
July 06, 2009
Abu Dhabi has won its bid to host the new headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the first time an international organization will have its headquarters in the Middle East.
On Monday, the 130 founding members of the organization voted on the location of IRENA&ac...
July 06, 2009
Lebanese parliamentarians are appealing to the Lebanese Ministry of Defense for a ´weapons free´ Beirut.
The MPs will ask defense minister Elias Murr on Tuesday to authorize the Lebanese army to take strict measures in order to re...
July 06, 2009
A consortium of Arab states have set up a joint anti-piracy naval force to prevent the spread of piracy from the Gulf of Aden into the Red Sea and Gulf.
11 countries met Monday to set up an all-Arab Navy Task Force to deflect the growing threat Somali-led piracy poses to Arab shipping routes, nam...
July 06, 2009
Iraq began selling its oil fields to foreign companies in a series of live televised auctions Tuesday as U.S. troops pulled out of Iraqi cities.
Six oil and two gas fiel...
May 19, 2009
The world´s largest airport, the Dubai World Central (DEC), will open as planned in 2010, and $6 billion has been raised to construct the world´s largest shopping mall in the Gulf kingdom of Dubai.
The projects will go ahead despite the fact that the government recently establish...
May 19, 2009
The U.S. State Department says it is consulting with Congress on whether to move forward with a proposed civilian nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family was caught on video apparently torturing an Afghan businessman.
The tape, which came...
May 09, 2009
Businesswomen in Saudi Arabia are now allowed to run their own businesses without a male agent, overturning a decree made in 2004 by the Ministry of Commerce and Trade prohibiting women from setting up a business without a male agent, The Media Line has learned.
Despite the law, more and mor...
May 09, 2009
The United Nations is set to probe Israeli officials in Geneva tuesday in hearings claiming to focus on the treatment of Palestinian detainees, the closure of crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the West Bank separation barrier and allegations that Israeli intelligence services operate a se...
May 09, 2009
Yemen is taking tough action against several newspapers in the country in order to curb coverage of clashes between military forces and opposition groups in the south.
Six weekly newspapers have been closed down by the Yemeni authorities over the past week after recently publishing articles...
January 13, 2009
Eighteen days into the Israeli offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hamas is showing the first signs of weakness.
In an exclusive interview with Hamas´s representative in Yemen, Jamal ´Issa, The Media Line (TML) has learned that although Hamas´ operatives were "willi...
January 13, 2009
The United States is imposing sanctions on 13 Pakistani individuals and three private Pakistani companies for their involvement in the nuclear proliferation network of Pakistani scientist Abd Al-Qadir Khan, the U.S. State Department said.
The announcement comes in the wake of a multi-year go...
January 13, 2009
Kuwait has formed a new government, with few differences from previous cabinets.
Prime Minister Sheikh Na´sir Muhammad Al-Ahmad A-´Sabah´s new line-up replaces the previous government, which resigned over a dispute with the parliament.
Most ministers retained thei...
January 13, 2009
Egyptian Member of Parliament Muhammad Khalil Kweita intends to take the British government to the International Court of Justice over repayment of a $4.4 million loan that the Egyptian government lent its British counterpart during World War I, the Egyptian newspaper Daily News Egypt reported.
...
January 13, 2009
The timetable for the upcoming presidential election of the Transitional Federal Government (TGF) of Somali has been thrown into question as two conflicting agendas have emerged, Garowe news agency reported on Monday.
According to the Somali constitution, a new president must be elected with...
January 13, 2009
A minister-level meeting of Arab and African officials to discuss the crisis in Darfur has been delayed for the second time.
It was postponed last week because of the situation in Gaza.
The conference is being organized by the African Union and the Arab League to help find a soluti...
January 13, 2009
A trial involving three Yemeni nationals arrested in October last year, and accused of spying on behalf of Israel, began in the Yemeni State Security Specialized
Court on Saturday, News Yemen reported
The three men named as Basim 'Abdallah Al-Heidari, 'Imad Ali A-Reimi and 'Ali 'Abd...
January 13, 2009
If its export contracts allow it then Algeria intends to increase gas exports to Western Europe, the Algerian daily newspaper Elkhabar reported.
Algeria currently provides an estimated 12 percent of all gas imports to Europe both through pipelines under the Mediterranean Sea to Spain and Ita...
January 13, 2009
Israel and Hamas have rejected an immediate cease-fire proposed by the United Nations Security Council last week.
Khalid Mash´al, the head of what is known as Hamas´ political bureau in Damascus, said Hamas would not agree to a permanent calm unless it included a cessation of Is...
October 29, 2008
Saudi Arabia has confirmed it hosted talks between Afghan officials and members of the Taliban last month in Mecca. Talks took place after an iftar, the meal which marks the end of a fast day during the month of Ramadan.
Talks took place at the request of Afghan President Hamid Karazai and a...
October 29, 2008
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the temporary closure of the border crossings to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, following the firing of a rocket into Israel. The rocket, fired from the northern Gaza Strip, fell in a field south of Ashqelon and caused no damage.
The newly forme...
October 29, 2008
Russians, Qataris and Iranians met in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss setting up a natural gas cartel, similar to the oil-based Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The notion of a gas cartel was brought up in January 2007 by Iran´s Supreme Leader ´Ali Khamanai, but it is n...
October 29, 2008
Israelīs ruling Qadima Party is expected to win in the upcoming elections, but only by a thin margin, according to new polls. Polls in several Israeli newspapers published on Monday morning indicate Qadima will win over its main rival, the Likud Party, by no more than three seats in the Knesset, the...
October 29, 2008
After two months of heavy fighting the Pakistani army claims it has captured a strategically important Taliban military position in the country´s Bajaur province, various news agencies report.
According to unconfirmed reports some 1,500 gunmen and 73 soldiers were killed in what is be...
October 29, 2008
Heavy rain and storms have caused some of the worst flooding the Middle East has seen in years.
In Yemen at least 49 people have been killed, according to official figures from the southern provinces of Hadramout and Mahra. However, the total toll is expected to be much higher with news ser...
October 29, 2008
Kuwait has sent its first ambassador to Iraq in 18 years, a sign of improving diplomatic ties between Iraq and its Arab neighbors.
Kuwait´s first ambassador to Iraq since 1990, ´Ali Al-Mumin, took office on Wednesday.
In a joint press conference with Iraqi Foreign Ministe...
October 29, 2008
Israeli President Shimon Peres met today (Thursday) with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Sharm A-Sheikh, Egypt.
This is the first meeting between presidents of the two neighbors since 1994, when then Israeli president Ezer Weitzman met with Mubarak in Cairo.
Peres and Mub...
October 29, 2008
Egyptian women's rights activists celebrated earlier this week when for the first time a sexual harassment case was taken to court and ended with a three-year jail sentence with hard labor for the attacker. The North Cairo courthouse handed down its sentence against Sharif Gum'a Gibril in the first ...
October 29, 2008
Hundreds of Israelis are rallying at the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing near the Gaza Strip, protesting against the Israeli government for failing to secure the release of Gilad Shalit, a soldier who was kidnapped 847 days ago.
For three hours, between 7:00 and 10:00 on Sunday morning, the pro...
October 29, 2008
Egyptian human rights organizations have filed a complaint to the state prosecutor against Interior Minister Habib Al-'Adli, following the death of a 30-year-old pregnant woman as a result of an alleged police act of torture, Arab media outlets reported.
Mervat 'Abd A-Sattar was killed when...
October 29, 2008
The Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology is looking into ways to help establish Islamic studies departments in universities around the world.
"The ministry is currently studying proposals by numerous world academic centers and universities, including several universities fro...
October 29, 2008
[Peshawar] Two earthquakes jolted the south-western district of Baluchistan in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Pakistani state-run television has so far confirmed the deaths of at least 150 people, but experts fear the numbers will climb considerably in the next few days as the full extent of ...
October 29, 2008
The secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council said during a two-day visit to Tehran that a committee was studying the possibility of setting up a joint security organization with Iran.
´Abd A-Rahman Bin Hamad Al-´Atiyya is meeting with senior Iranian officials in the visi...
October 29, 2008
Sudan is transferring the bodies of five murdered Chinese workers with two of their wounded colleagues to Khartoum on Tuesday before the bodies and the survivors continue on to China, a Sudanese official said.
Beijing condemned the killings of the Chinese hostages as an inhumane terrorist ac...
October 29, 2008
The Hamas government in Gaza declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and asked all the relevant ministries to support civilians who have been affected by the rains and floods that have hit the area in the past few days.
The heavy rains caused severe damage across the Gaza Strip. Hundreds o...
October 29, 2008
The Arab Peace and Security Council (APSC) on Monday discussed possible ways to fight Somali piracy, which threatens naval vessels crossing the Gulf of Aden at the Red Sea. The APSC maintained that securing the Red Sea was an Arab responsibility and therefore should not be internationalized.
...
October 29, 2008
A U.S. attack on Syrian soil on Sunday signifies increased tension between Washington and Damascus.
Eight people were killed in the attack by U.S. military helicopters in an area located around eight kilometers (five miles) into Syria from its border with Iraq. The Syrian government is condemnin...
October 10, 2008
At least 17 people were killed on Monday during an attack by Islamic insurgents on a market in Mogadishu, after the insurgents failed to capture the presidential palace in the city. The increasing violence in the Somali capital in recent weeks has displaced approximately 37,000 people, swelling an i...
October 10, 2008
Pakistan has ordered the deportation of 50,000 Afghani refugees located in one of the tribal regions amid efforts to eradicate Taliban and Al-Qa´ida fighters. Pakistan has announced it is expelling all Afghani refugees in the Bajaur region, alleging they have ties to terror groups.
Po...
October 10, 2008
U.S. Secretary of State of Condoleezza told reporters that the outgoing Bush administration was still interested in establishing a diplomatic outpost in Tehran after an absence of 30 years. She made the statement during a meeting with the press during the secretary of state´s trip to India an...
October 10, 2008
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday traveled to Moscow on a two-day trip, which will be one of his last as prime minister as he is poised to step down after facing multiple charges of corruption. The discussions will focus on Israeli concerns regarding Russian sales of advanced military equ...
October 10, 2008
Egypt´s foreign minister paid a rare and unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital on Sunday, the first such visit in 18 years. Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit landed in Baghdad on Sunday accompanied by the Egyptian Oil Minister, Samih Fahmi.
Fahmi met with his Iraqi counterpart and the two discussed ...
October 10, 2008
Clashes between Muslims and Christians in Egypt renewed on Sunday after a Copt was killed a day earlier. The fighting began on Friday in A-Tayiba, located 220 kilometers (130 miles) south of the capital Cairo. It was reportedly sparked by an insulting comment by a Christian to a Muslim woman, compou...
October 10, 2008
Six members of Algeria´s security forces were killed in an ambush last week, the latest attack by Islamists in the country. The six were part of the communal guards, armed citizens who patrol rural areas. They were killed near Tisamsilt, west of the capital Algiers.
The Algerian Al-Kha...
October 10, 2008
The United Nations is appealing for aid to help Syria deal with the country´s worst drought in four decades. The U.N. is asking for $20.2 million to be allocated, mainly for herders and farmers whose livelihood has been damaged because of inconsistent of insufficient rainfalls.
The Syr...
October 10, 2008
Amal Suleiman 'Afifi, a 33-year-old woman from Egypt, was appointed a marriage officer, a first in the history of the Muslim world. 'Afifi, a mother of three who holds a master's degree in General Law and Criminal Sciences, won the position after long months of legal and religious debates.
T...
October 10, 2008
The United States government has approved selling Israel 25 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes in a deal worth up to $22 billion. The deal could include an option for 50 more aircraft in coming years. Each aircraft costs around $50 million.
If the deal is finalized it will be the first sale o...
October 10, 2008
The Muslim holiday ´Id Al-Fitr is heightening political and ethnic tensions in Egypt and Iran over the allocation of prayer areas and festival customs. This week Muslims worldwide began celebrating ´Id Al-Fitr, a feast that commemorates the end of the month-long Ramadan observance and is...
October 10, 2008
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) provided explosives and possibly training to the Taliban, in clear contradiction of its declared war on terror, a Spanish military intelligence report revealed, according to the Spanish Cadena Ser radio station.
The report, which was issued three...
October 10, 2008
A series of bombings in northern Lebanon and Damascus, followed by mutual accusations, are a matter of concern to world powers, including the United States and France. Both the U.S. and France warned Syria against any intervention in Lebanon in the wake of the deteriorating security situation on bot...
October 10, 2008
The newly established United States African Command's (AFRICOM) main base will not be established in Morocco, despite weekend reports in Moroccan news outlets, The Media Line has revealed. Recent reports from Morocco indicated that work had already begun on the establishment of a military base in so...
October 10, 2008
A new Palestinian terror group calling itself the Hizbullah Brigades in Palestine (HBP) issued a proclamation over the weekend saying it would soon begin operating in the Palestinian areas against the Israeli occupation.
Issued in Gaza, the proclamation stated that its fighters come from se...
September 28, 2008
By: Rachelle Kliger
While the United States is concerned about the spread of piracy in the Horn of Africa, Yemen aims to spearhead international efforts to eradicate the phenomenon. Yemen is particularly concerned about the piracy around its coast and the damage it causes to the fishing ind...
September 28, 2008
Gunmen shot dead Capt. Malalai Kakar, the first female to attend and graduate from the Qandahar Police Academy. Kakar was killed as she was leaving her home Sunday morning, a government official told reporters.
The policewoman, who headed the Qandahar Police unit on crimes against women, wa...
September 28, 2008
A new American-developed and -staffed radar installation has been deployed in the Negev desert in southern Israel, marking the first permanent deployment of U.S. military personnel in Israel, the Defense News newsite reported
The new radar, produced by American military manufacturer Raytheo...
September 28, 2008
A mysterious explosion near Damascus on Saturday claimed the lives of at least 17 people, including a brigadier-general, further destabilizing the Syrian regime. A car bomb carrying 200 kilograms of explosives exploded near the Palestine branch of Syrian Military Intelligence, the London-based daily...
September 28, 2008
By: Yaniv Berman & Adam Gonn
Ahead of Friday's meeting of the Middle East Quartet, a coalition of 21 aid agencies has warned that so far the international body has failed to improve the lives of the Palestinians and to advance the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. ...
September 28, 2008
The suicide attack at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last Saturday may bring about a change in the Pakistani administration's handling of the terror crisis. The bombing, which killed dozens of people and wounded over 250, has rattled the country's top security brass and has emboldened the Islamist ...
September 28, 2008
By: Rachelle Kliger
The Iraqi government is launching a campaign to help protect journalists working in the war-torn country. The Iraqi Observer for Journalistic Freedom and the Interior Ministry have launched a plan to protect journalists and help them safely reach areas where events are un...