Middle East

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Iraqi Tempers Ablaze Over Smoking Ban

(Newser) - Smoking is rampant across the Middle East, and in Iraq nicotine fuels everything from high-level government meetings to weddings and funerals. That's why a new anti-tobacco law making its way through parliament is causing huge public outcry, reports the Washington Post. "We all have to deal with anger issues...

Bolton: Israel May Strike Iran by December
Bolton: Israel May Strike Iran by December
OPINION
Jul 29, 2009 5:57 AM CDT

Bolton: Israel May Strike Iran by December

Jerusalem gets what Obama doesn't, writes ex-UN ambassador

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in Jerusalem recently to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran, but according to John Bolton, "relations between the US and Israel are more strained now than at any time since the 1956 Suez Canal crisis." Israel understands what the Obama administration does not—...

Israel Willing to Freeze Settlements

(Newser) - The Israeli government approved the construction of 50 new West Bank homes today, seemingly defying President Obama’s call for a freeze on new settlements. But Defense Minister Ehud Barak plans to offer a temporarily halt on some construction, officials tell the New York Times, if Palestinians agree to negotiate...

Obama Should Get Tough with Iran: McCain
Obama Should Get Tough with Iran: McCain
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Jun 21, 2009 10:13 AM CDT

Obama Should Get Tough with Iran: McCain

Netanyahu: nuclear Iran could create Mideast 'tinderbox'

(Newser) - John McCain today called on President Obama to take a harder line against the Iranian regime, Politico reports. “This is a human rights issue—whether people can voice disagreement without being killed in the streets,” McCain told Face the Nation. “America’s position in the world is...

Israel Open to Demilitarized Palestinian State: Netanyahu

(Newser) - Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu today called for the creation of a limited Palestinian state for the first time, saying it would have to be disarmed. Netanyahu spoke during a major policy speech about his Mideast peacemaking intentions, in which he called on Palestinian leaders to restart peace negotiations. "In...

Obama Effect Drove Lebanon Allies to Victory
Obama Effect Drove Lebanon Allies to Victory
ANALYSIS
Jun 9, 2009 7:18 AM CDT

Obama Effect Drove Lebanon Allies to Victory

Hezbollah defeat bodes well for Iranian election this Friday

(Newser) - Voters in Lebanon had many reasons for backing American allies over a Hezbollah-led coalition in Sunday's bellwether elections, but political analysts say that Barack Obama's efforts to reach out to the Muslim world played a significant role in the outcome. For the first time in years, being linked to Washington...

Obama's Mideast Success Jacks Expectations

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East has established even higher standards for his presidency, Politico reports. Obama is using his global celebrity to restart Israel-Palestine talks and improve relations between the West and the Muslim world, proving he’s “not a president who has ever shied away...

Young Jews Spew Racist Anti-Obama Rants

Americans in Jerusalem call president 'terrorist,' use racial slur

(Newser) - The night before Barack Obama's landmark Cairo speech, a documentary filmmaker headed out to the streets of Jerusalem to ask young Israelis and "droves" of American Jews what they thought of the president's Middle East overtures, notes Gawker. The result is "the most shocking footage I have ever...

Merkel Backs Obama on Mideast

(Newser) - Angela Merkel got behind Barack Obama’s Middle East peace push today, calling his Cairo speech the “ideal basis” for renewed efforts. Obama called for “difficult compromises,” adding, “The United States cannot force peace upon the parties.” The two leaders met and spoke at a...

Obama Deftly Makes Pitch for Muslim Women's Rights

(Newser) - President Obama skillfully made the case for women's rights in the Muslim world during his Cairo speech today with the help of the hijab, or head scarf, writes Tracy Clark-Flory in Salon. "I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her...

Obama Echoes Bush— But Does It Better

Why? 'He is decidedly not' his predecessor

(Newser) - President Obama’s speech in Cairo sounded a lot like President Bush’s 2006 speech to Muslims—yet Obama’s manages to carry far more weight, writes Michael Crowley in the New Republic. Both spoke of respect for “the history and traditions of the Muslim world”; both suggested governmental...

Obama 'Shrewd' in Cairo Speech
 Obama 'Shrewd' 
 in Cairo Speech 
OPINION Roundup
Jun 4, 2009 11:24 AM CDT

Obama 'Shrewd' in Cairo Speech

(Newser) - Most of America wasn’t even awake when it happened, but Barack Obama’s Cairo speech got people talking anyway, the Washington Post reports. The New York Times says Obama delivered a "sweeping and forceful—at times scolding and combative" message, which included what the Wall Street Journal called...

Obama Seeks 'New Beginning' for US, Muslims

Calls for end to 'cycle of suspicion and discord'

(Newser) - Speaking in Cairo, President Obama called for a “new beginning” for the US and the Muslim world, the BBC reports. The “cycle of suspicion and discord must end,” he said at Cairo University, urging a “sustained effort...to respect one another and seek common ground.”...

Obama Lands in Middle East, Ready to Make Tough Sell

(Newser) - Open arms and a full red carpet rollout greeted President Obama on his arrival in Saudi Arabia this morning, but the pleasantries will likely end when the policy talk starts, the New York Times reports. Obama wants the Arab nations to offer a peaceful gesture toward Israel, but Saudi officials...

After Family Axes Wedding Plan, Man Cuts Off Penis

(Newser) - A 25-year-old Egyptian man cut off his own penis to spite his family after he was refused permission to marry a girl from a lower class family, police reported today. After unsuccessfully petitioning his father for 2 years to marry the girl, the man heated up a knife and sliced...

Mogul Who Paid for Ex's Murder Faces Execution

Hit on Lebanese pop star cost Egyptian billionaire $2M

(Newser) - An Egyptian tycoon and the ex-cop he hired to kill his Lebanese pop singer ex-girlfriend have been sentenced to death by hanging, the BBC reports. The trial of billionaire Hisham Talaat Moustafa, an associate of president Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal, has gripped the Arab world. Although Suzanne Tamim was murdered...

Obama More Popular Than US in Mideast

Jordan is Obama's biggest fan in new survey of Arab world

(Newser) - A new survey has found President Obama to be more popular in the Middle East than the country he leads, and analysts say he may be able to use that goodwill to help restore America’s relations with the region. The president has an average approval rating of 48% across...

Obama to Address Muslim World From Egypt

President to tackle US-Muslim relations on first Middle Eastern trip

(Newser) - President Obama will travel to Egypt next month to deliver a speech aimed at mending America's relationship with the Muslim world, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Egypt is a politically risky choice due to President Hosni Mubarak's heavy-handed autocratic rule, but a White House spokesman said the country "in many ways...

Pope Arrives in Uneasy Mideast
 Pope Arrives in Uneasy Mideast 
May 8, 2009 9:41 AM CDT

Pope Arrives in Uneasy Mideast

(Newser) - Pope Benedict landed in Jordan today to begin what could be a tense Middle East tour, the New York Times reports. Next week the pope will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, delivering 32 speeches at some of the world’s holiest sites for Christians, Jews, and Muslims. But with...

Seeking Sales Bump, GM Targets Middle East

New models will be introduced soon

(Newser) - General Motors hopes to rebound from a 19% first-quarter drop in Middle East sales by introducing new models and helping buyers with down payments, Reuters reports. "There are a lot of people who walk into showrooms who aren't able to buy because they can't get financing," says the...

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