TheRepublic.com - Middle East News

Reports: Iran bars 2 top figures from June ballot

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:07:30 -0400

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian news websites have boosted speculation that election overseers have barred two prominent but divisive figures from next month's presidential ballot.

Tunisia announces 3 cases of coronavirus, 1 death

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:09:52 -0400

RABAT, Morocco - A 66-year-old Tunisian man has died from the new coronavirus following a visit to Saudi Arabia and two of his adult children were infected with it, the Tunisian Health Ministry reported.

3 Hezbollah fighters die of wounds from Syria

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:02:17 -0400

BEIRUT - Three members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group died of wounds sustained while fighting for control of a strategic Syrian town near the Lebanese border, activists said Tuesday, as the battle in the area raged for its third straight day.

Israeli peace negotiator: Stalemate bad for Israel

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:04:13 -0400

JERUSALEM - Israel's chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians says the current stalemate is harmful for Israel.

More attacks across Iraq kill 7 people

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:20:10 -0400

BAGHDAD - New attacks in Iraq killed seven people and wounded dozens on Tuesday, officials said, after a bloody day that claimed more than 100 lives across the country.

Syria, Israel exchange fire over border

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:17:43 -0400

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria said Tuesday it destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights overnight, while the Israeli military said gunfire from Syria had hit an Israeli patrol, damaging a vehicle and prompting its troops to fire back.

Attacks kill 95 in Iraq, hint of Syrian spillover

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:30:49 -0400

BAGHDAD - Iraq's wave of bloodshed sharply escalated Monday with more than a dozen car bombings across the country, part of attacks that killed at least 95 people and brought echoes of past sectarian carnage and fears of a dangerous spillover from Syria's civil war next door.

Tunisian feminist arrested for alleged provocation

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:21:55 -0400

TUNIS, Tunisia - A Tunisian feminist who scandalized her country by posting topless photos of herself online has been arrested after allegedly sneaking into Tunisia's holiest city disguised in a veil, then trying to get undressed during a protest.

Egypt: Security beefed up in Sinai after abduction

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:33:11 -0400

CAIRO - Dozens of Egyptian troops and armored vehicles moved into Sinai Monday as the government beefed up security in the volatile peninsula after the abduction of six policemen and a border guard by suspected Islamic militants.

Israel, Palestinians still arguing over epic image

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:06:20 -0400

JERUSALEM - A new Israeli report into the death of a Palestinian boy during a fierce gunbattle in the Gaza Strip more than a dozen years ago has reignited an emotional debate over who killed him - and how the incident has shaped perspectives of the Mideast conflict.

Israel gunman shoots 4 dead at bank, kills self

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:35:12 -0400

JERUSALEM - A gunman stormed into a bank in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba Monday, killing four people in a gunfight and taking a hostage before killing himself, police said.

Saudi Arabia reports latest death from new virus

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:05:32 -0400

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia says it has recorded another death from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 16.

Algerian Islamist demands ill president appear

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:55:17 -0400

ALGIERS, Algeria - The head of Algeria's main Islamist political party has called for the country's ailing president to appear on television to dispel rumors over his health after a three week absence.

Barbra Streisand to receive honorary PhD in Israel

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:38:17 -0400

JERUSALEM - A leading Israeli university says it will present singer Barbra Streisand with an honorary Ph.D. when she visits Israel next month.

Jordan: Arab Spring clears way for press freedoms

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:52:18 -0400

AMMAN, Jordan - The Arab Spring uprisings that toppled four Arab leaders have forced Mideast governments to allow more freedom of expression and of the press, Jordan's prime minister said Monday, but critics charged that Jordan itself is not doing enough.

Militiamen attack gas complex in western Libya

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:59:11 -0400

TRIPOLI, Libya - A Libyan gas company official says militiamen have attacked a natural gas complex in the country's west, injuring two guards and stealing weapons and military vehicles.

Iran election overseers may bar former president

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:47:26 -0400

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's election overseers said Monday they will bar candidates who are physically weak from running in next month's presidential election, a reference to a former leader seen as a threat to hard-liners.

UAE construction giant faces rare labor strike

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:37:06 -0400

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - United Arab Emirates-based construction company Arabtec says it's working to resolve a rare strike by laborers seeking higher wages.

Correction: Tunisia-Salafi Crackdown story

Mon, 20 May 2013 06:56:33 -0400

TUNIS, Tunisia - In a May 15 story about the Tunisian government taking a harder line on preaching by ultraconservative Muslim groups ahead of this past weekend's conference by the group known as Ansar al-Shariah, The Associated Press reported erroneously that about 40,000 people attended the group's conference last year. About 4,000 people attended the conference in Kairouan in 2012.

Vandals target Israeli women's prayer group

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:42:56 -0400

JERUSALEM - Israeli police say vandals have spray-panted slogans on the home of one of the leaders of a liberal Jewish women's group that has angered ultra-Orthodox communities over its demands for equality of worship.