Egypt’s constituent assembly early Friday adopted a draft constitution that will be put to a referendum, replacing the one abrogated after the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year, chairman Hossam el-Ghiriani announced. The Islamist-dominated assembly, boycotted by liberals and Christians, approved the 234 articles in a marathon meeting that started shortly after noon on
Former Arab league Secretary-General Amr Moussa spoke out in a recent interview about Qatar “paying” to have U.S. military presence on its lands in return for protection, said a London-based Arab newspaper. Moussa said that Qatar’s Prince Hamad Bin Khalifa told the United States he was going to fulfill all their military expenses in
Two weeks ago, the Shin Bet, Israel's internal intelligence service, located the car of Ahmed Jaabari, the military leader of Hamas in Gaza. The Shin Bet officials warned the Chief of Staff, Benny Gantz, and the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There was an opportunity of a few seconds to assassinate Jaabari. The head of aviation,
Tayyip Erdogan has described his third term as Turkish prime minister as that of a “master”, borrowing from the celebrated Ottoman architect Sinan and the last stage of his storied career after apprenticeship and graduation. It’s a lofty allusion. Sinan’s 16th-century creations came to define the Ottoman Empire at its apogee, the Suleymaniye
Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he is not afraid of Israel's “threats,” and the he plans to go full-force forward with his attempt to get the UN General Assembly to give a PA state non-voting observer status at the UN. Abbas, speaking in New York, said that the PA had been subject
Danny Dayan, who heads of the unofficial federation of communities in Judea and Samaria known as the Yesha Council, sent a letter to the Prime Minister Wednesday demanding an immediate response to the Palestinian Authority's bid for UN recognition. He asked Binyamin Netanyahu to decide upon retaliatory steps to the unilateral Palestinian Authority (PA)
President Mohammed Mursi vowed in an interview published Wednesday to surrender his new special powers when a new constitution is in place, and pleaded for patience as Egypt learns to be free. Mursi dismissed criticism of his power grab and said protests on the streets of Cairo were a positive sign that Egypt was
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi will address his nation on Thursday, it was reported on Wednesday evening. Morsi’s address, which will air on Egyptian state television, will discuss his decree from last week which expands his powers and places him beyond judicial oversight. He is expected to speak about the constitutional decree and why it
Following the ceasefire it brokered between Israel and the region's ruling Hamas terrorists, Cairo has blocked two arms shipments to Gaza in less than a week. Egyptian media report that security forces arrested three smugglers Tuesday while intercepting a large weapons shipment headed for Sinai from Libya. But the vast Peninsula was not
Syrian rebels downed an army helicopter for the first time on Tuesday with a newly-acquired ground-to-air missile, in what a watchdog said could be a turning point in the 20-month-old conflict, AFP reported. Another bad sign for Syrian President Bashar Assad is Russia’s sudden change of heart, indicating that Moscow realizes it is supporting
