Middle East

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Mideast Markets Dive on US Downgrade

S&P credit rating reverberates overseas, as well

(Newser) - Stocks tumbled across the Middle East today as most regional markets reopened following the historic downgrade of the United States' credit rating. The region's markets mostly operate Sunday to Thursday, meaning they were the first to react to Standard & Poor's decision late Friday to cut the US...

Only 10% of Arab World Likes Obama

US more unpopular there now than it was under Bush

(Newser) - You know President Obama’s plan to reach out and win hearts and minds in the Middle East? It’s not going well. In a stunning new Pew Poll spotted by Glenn Greenwald of Salon , only 10% of residents in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates...

Egypt's Much-Ignored Curfew Will Officially End

'Imaginary' curfew was imposed to quell protests against Mubarak

(Newser) - Egypt’s practically non-existent curfew will become a literally non-existent curfew tomorrow when it is officially lifted. The move comes five months after President Hosni Mubarak imposed it in a futile attempt to keep his people from protesting. Mubarak mandated the curfew on Jan. 28 in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez...

Jordan's King Met With Bottle Attack ... or Warm Welcome?
King Met With Bottle Attack
... or Warm Welcome?
conflicting reports dept.
Jun 13, 2011 12:54 PM CDT

King Met With Bottle Attack ... or Warm Welcome?

Conflicting reports surround King Abdullah's visit

(Newser) - King Abdullah II was met by either tossed bottles and stones or a warm welcome on a visit to Jordan's south today, according to conflicting reports from government officials. A security official said a crowd of youths flung objects at the monarch's motorcade in two incidents in the...

Hillary Clinton: Gadhafi Broaching Possible Exit

Libyan leader's closest aides proposing a 'transition'

(Newser) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says she is aware of "numerous and continuing" overtures by people close to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to negotiate his departure from power. Proposals from "people close to Gadhafi" presented to unspecified countries include the "potential for a transition," Clinton...

Relief Flows as Egypt Opens Gaza Border

Four-year-old blockade ends

(Newser) - After a four-year blockade, Egypt today permanently opened the Gaza Strip's main gateway to the outside world, bringing long-awaited relief to the territory's Palestinian population and a significant achievement for the area's ruling Hamas militant group. The reopening of the Rafah border crossing eases an Egyptian blockade...

Syrian Protesters Cancel Only Vigil Government OKed

Candlelit vigil to honor fallen Syrians, canceled for unknown reasons

(Newser) - Activists in Syria canceled the first government-approved demonstration in the capital since a 48-year-old state of emergency was lifted last month, an official said today. The silent candlelight vigil in a Damascus public garden was to have honored some 900 people who have been killed since the uprising against President...

Millions in Europe, Asia Face 'Unmapped' Quake Risk

'Interior zone' earthquakes can be the deadliest

(Newser) - We’re well aware of longstanding earthquake risks in places like California and Japan. But Europe, the Middle East, and Asia face potentially deadlier threats—and it’s time for scientists to take action, researchers say. So-called “interior zone” earthquakes have killed 1.4 million in the past century,...

President Obama Mideast Speech: We Stand Behind Mideast Protesters
 Obama: 
 We Stand 
 Behind Arab 
 Protesters 
MIDEAST POLICY SPEECH
May 19, 2011 12:23 PM CDT

Obama: We Stand Behind Arab Protesters

Back Mideast peace deal based on 1967 borders

(Newser) - President Obama gave a wide-ranging speech on the Middle East today, speaking out forcefully in support of Arab protesters everywhere—even in US allies like Yemen and Bahrain. “After decades of accepting the world as it is in the region we have a chance to pursue the world as...

Obama's Mideast Speech: The 5 Topics That Matter

Josh Gerstein lays out the hot-button points

(Newser) - Barack Obama will give a major speech on the Mideast at 11:40am ET today, in which he'll share his vision of the role America should play in a region that's been battling unrest for four months now. Josh Gerstein provides a primer on Politico . Your ears should...

Obama's Pitch to Muslims: Forget al-Qaeda

Bin Laden's death ushers in new era, president will say in speech

(Newser) - President Obama is preparing to give a major speech aimed at the Middle East, arguing that Osama bin Laden’s death, coupled with the “Arab spring” uprisings, herald the end of al-Qaeda’s grip on the Muslim imagination. “It’s an interesting coincidence of timing—that he is...

Yemeni Security Forces Fire Rockets at Office Building

And open fire on protesters, killing 3 in Taiz

(Newser) - Yemeni security forces opened fire on protesters today in the flashpoint city of Taiz, chasing them into nearby buildings—one of which they then fired rocket-propelled grenades at, witnesses tell the AP . The explosion set the office building on fire, but there were no reports of casualties there. But medics...

US Takes Heat as Bahrain Protests Die

US did little to help movement against allied government

(Newser) - Thanks to a violent crackdown and an assist from Saudi troops, the government of Bahrain has just about silenced the protest movement—and that’s left the US facing some hard questions. Even as it fights to free Libya, the Obama administration has done next to nothing to help Bahrain’...

US Played Secret Role in Mideast Uprisings

Trained movement leaders in political organizing, prompting Arab governments' suspicions

(Newser) - While the US was spending billions to support Middle Eastern governments, it was also funding groups pushing democracy in the region—organizations that helped train some of the leaders of the recent uprisings, the New York Times reports. Groups funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, which promotes democracy in...

Secret Hand in Syria Crackdown: Iran

And it may soon help protesters in Bahrain, Yemen

(Newser) - Iran has a hand in the revolutions currently sweeping the rest of the Arab world. In Syria, Iran is secretly assisting President Bashar al-Assad to quell the pro-democracy demonstrations, US officials say. But in Bahrain and Yemen, Iran is looking to aid Shiite protesters, thus destabilizing the countries—both US...

Syria's Cabinet Resigns Amid Unrest

President Bashar Assad expected to lift emergency law

(Newser) - Syria's Cabinet has stepped down, and President Bashar Assad accepted the resignation following a meeting today, according to state-run television. It's the latest concession by the government aimed at appeasing more than a week of mass protests. Assad is expected to address the nation in the next 24 hours to...

Blast at Yemen Weapons Factory Kills 78

Devastating explosion signals deepening chaos

(Newser) - The seizure of a munitions factory yesterday by Yemen militants turned tragic today when looters set off an accidental explosion, killing at least 78. With President Ali Abdullah Saleh clinging to power and battling protesters, Islamist militants are getting increasingly aggressive, reports the AP, and today's explosion only served...

Mideast Regimes Use US Software to Censor Web

Firms cite lack of control over how products are used

(Newser) - Behind Middle Eastern governments' censorship of the Web, an uncomfortable reality—US products help do the dirty work. Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia use filtering programs by McAfee; other US and Canadian firms have sold Web-filtering technology to Yemen and Qatar, among other countries, the Wall Street Journal reports. The...

Yemeni Militants Seize Weapons Factory

Security degenerates as president battles protesters in capital

(Newser) - Islamic militants seized control of a weapons factory, a strategic mountain, and a nearby town in the southern Yemen province of Abyan today, as a political stalemate over the fate of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the capital causes security to unravel around the country. Saleh's fate is of deep...

Yemen President Again Vows to Leave After Election

Meaning in 2012; Leaves US with no good options in al-Qaeda stronghold

(Newser) - Pressured by the defection of some of his top military commanders, Ali Abdullah Saleh has once again promised to step down—eventually. The longtime Yemeni president said today he would leave office “constitutionally” following an election at the end of this year or the beginning of 2012, the Christian ...

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