ABU DHABI: The UAE's decision to pursue nuclear energy followed an extensive study that considered all possible alternatives, said Ambassador Hamad Al Kaabi, UAE Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA), speaking in reference to the current catastrophe that is going on Japan.
JUBA, Sudan: Six weeks after Southern Sudan voted for independence in a widely praised referendum, security agents stormed the region’s first printing press and arrested a top journalist, the latest assault on reporters fighting to create a free press here.
BEIRUT: Human rights group Amnesty International condemned a violent crackdown by Syrian security forces against a peaceful protest held in Damascus by people calling for the release of political prisoners.
KHARTOUM: South Sudan’s army said it fought heavy battles with militia in the oil-producing Unity state on Thursday, the latest clashes in an upsurge of violence in the region soon to become the world’s newest nation.
CAIRO: The brother of Al-Qaeda’s second in command Ayman Al-Zawahiri was released in Egypt on Thursday after a decade in jail on charges of conspiring against the government, a lawyer representing him said.
SANAA: Yemeni security forces used live fire and tear gas on Thursday on protesters demanding an end to the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounding at least 84, activists said.
DUBAI: More than 130 international artist and writers vowed Thursday to boycott a branch of the Guggenheim Museum that is being constructed in Abu Dhabi unless authorities do more to protect workers on the site.
KUWAIT: Kuwait will not send forces to Bahrain to help put down anti-government demonstrations but may try to mediate, an Arabic newspaper reported on Thursday.
NEAR AJDABIYAH, Libya: Libyan rebels have fought back against Muammar Qaddafi’s troops around the eastern town of Ajdabiyah, hampering their push toward the insurgent capital Benghazi.
NEW YORK: Four New York Times journalists covering the fighting in Libya were reported missing Wednesday, and the newspaper held out hope that they were alive and in the custody of the Libyan government.
GAZA STRIP: Eight years ago, on March 16, Rachel Corrie’s life was snuffed out in Gaza Strip by an Israeli armored military D-9 bulldozer. An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozer crushed her when she was kneeling in front of a Palestinian's home.
TEHRAN: Fourteen prisoners were killed and 33 injured in an incident at an Iranian jail on Wednesday, that state TV said was a brawl among inmates but which one news agency said was a foiled escape attempt.
MUSCAT: Private security guards in Oman blocked the main airport on Wednesday in a demonstration to demand higher pay, witnesses said.
TEHRAN: Iran has recalled its ambassador from Bahrain in protest against the killing of demonstrators in the island state, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.
AMMAN: A defense lawyer says Jordan's military prosecutor is questioning three suspected militants on suspicion of plotting to kill US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates set its elections for Sept. 24 and the results will be announced on the same day, the National Election Commission (NEC) announced on Wednesday.
CAIRO: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Wednesday, smiling, waving and shaking hands as she visited the heart of the revolt that toppled long-time US ally Hosni Mubarak from power.
RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday announced that he is ready to go to Gaza Strip to end the internal split and form an independent government.
DAMASCUS: Security forces wielding batons dispersed 150 demonstrators who had gathered in central of Damascus on Wednesday in the most serious protest against Syria’s ruling hierarchy since revolts spread in the Arab world.
CAIRO: Egypt on Tuesday dissolved an internal security and spying agency whose reputation for brutality helped ignite the uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power last month.
AMMAN: Jordan’s main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood movement, said Tuesday that it had decided not to take part in the national dialogue proposed by the government, insisting that King Abdallah be the “reference” for any discussion relating to political reforms.
JERUSALEM: The Israeli navy intercepted an Egyptian-bound ship carrying a large delivery of weapons off the country’s Mediterranean coast on Tuesday, saying the arms had been sent by Syria to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
SANAA: An activist of the main Islamist opposition was shot dead in a gunfight with pro-regime loyalists in northern Yemen on Tuesday.
BEIRUT: About 40 people joined a rare Syrian protest on Tuesday, briefly chanting political slogans in central Damascus before dispersing, a witness said.
ROME: Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said he felt betrayed by former European allies like Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi who have turned against him and said business links with Europe risked lasting damage.
WASHINGTON: The United States has dispatched a top diplomat to Bahrain to try to bring about talks between its government and opposition, a White House spokesman said on Tuesday.
TRIPOLI: Business has never been better for Abdul Basit Sawaan, who runs a shop selling military uniforms to supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
TOBRUK, Libya: Muammar Qaddafi’s warplanes, artillery and mortar shells can control huge swaths of territory by day, including oil ports, rebel supply routes and even hostile towns. Rebels say anti-government forces can still return in darkness to take advantage of Qaddafi’s own thin supply lines and overstretched ground troops.
RAMALLAH: A senior Palestinian official on Thursday said that the Palestinian leadership did not receive an official response from Hamas movement with regard to the visit of President Mahmoud Abbas to Gaza Strip.
TRIPOLI/UNITED NATIONS: Muammar Qaddafi warned the rebel stronghold of Benghazi he would storm the city in the night showing no mercy, while the United Nations edged toward a resolution allowing air strikes to stop him.
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI/TUNIS: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that a UN no-fly zone over Libya would require bombing targets inside the country to reduce the threat posed by Muammar Qaddafi’s forces.
An uneasy calm descended on Bahrain on Wednesday after security troops forcibly evicted demonstrators encamped at the Pearl Roundabout in a crackdown that has come under criticism from neighbors Iran and Iraq as well as the United States.
SANAA: Amid unabated demonstrations against Yemen's troubled President Ali Abdullah Saleh, hundreds of pro-Yemeni government loyalists Wednesday tried to storm a peaceful rally in the country, killing one person and injuring more than 200 protesters.
NEW YORK/TRIPOLI: France and Britain on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to take swift action to establish a no-fly zone over Libya, where forces loyal to leader Muammar Qaddafi continue to pummel rebels in the east. The 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference said it would hold an emergency meeting of OIC foreign ministers in Jeddah on Saturday to discuss Libya.
RIYADH: Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) Chairman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal attended the inauguration of the Abu Dhabi Media Summit on Tuesday.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip: Thousands of Palestinians thronged major squares in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on Tuesday to deliver an impassioned appeal to their leaders to end the long-running feud that has divided the Palestinian people between two rival governments.
MANAMA/ALKHOBAR: Sporadic clashes broke out in parts of Bahrain on Tuesday as the government declared a three-month state of emergency.
Sitra, a village about 12 km to the south of Manama, witnessed ugly scenes on Tuesday evening as anti-government protesters clashed with Bahraini policemen. The area is considered to be an opposition stronghold.
Bahrain ‘eerie’
SANAA: Anti-government tribesmen in northern Yemen stormed a security building and shot dead four soldiers in a revenge attack after government troops opened fire on opposition protesters calling for the president’s ouster, witnesses said.
JEDDAH: Saudi and Kuwaiti environmentalists have expressed serious concern about the safety of Iran’s nuclear reactor at Bushehr, some 250 km on the other side of the Gulf from the Saudi-Kuwait border. This follows the explosions at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor as a result of earthquake and tsunami damage last Friday.
TUNIS: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Tunisia on Thursday to carry out economic and political reform as it emerges from authoritarian rule and praised the country for aiding refugees from fighting in Libya.
