CANCUN, Mexico (AFP) - The plan to expand oil drilling off US coasts unveiled Wednesday by President Barack Obama was part of "good moves" aimed at meeting world energy demand, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi said here.
Obama's approval of new exploration areas was part of "good moves to increase supply of energy, which the world needs," Nuaimi told reporters at a press conference on the f [...]
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BEIRUT (AFP) - From her rank cell in a notorious women's prison in Lebanon, Najwa never dreamed she would one day embroider a bag fit for a queen. And then she saw her handiwork in Vogue magazine.
Today, she is an essential part of Sarah's Bag, a Lebanese designer label that blends style with social activism.
The brainchild and namesake of Lebanese entrepreneur Sarah Beydoun, Sarah's Bag [...]
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BAGHDAD (AFP) - Charges of Iranian meddling, constitutional conflicts and bad blood between bitter rivals: obstacles blocking the formation of a new government have piled up in the aftermath of Iraq's general election.
Little progress has been made in forming a government coalition in the more than three weeks since the March 7 poll, while negotiations between its main blocs have revealed k [...]
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BEITUNIYA, West Bank (AFP) - Israeli security forces on Wednesday fired tear gas at dozens of rock-throwing Palestinians protesting outside a West Bank prison against the detention of 10 people, including a senior Fatah official.
Around 300 protesters had gathered outside the Beituniya checkpoint near the Ofer military prison where the detainees, including Fatah leader Abbas Zaki, have been [...]
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BEIRUT (AFP) - A UN team investigating the 2005 murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri has interrogated members of Shiite militant party Hezbollah, the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday.
"In the past few weeks the prosecutor's office in Beirut contacted a number of our brothers, some of them members of Hezbollah and others close to the party, and requested they come in f [...]
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BEIRUT (AFP) - Democratic US Senator John Kerry on Wednesday began a visit to the Middle East for talks with top Lebanese and Syrian officials on the stalled Arab-Israeli peace process.
"We remain extremely hopeful that in the weeks ahead we can find a path to progress on the single most important regional stability issue which is the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians," Kerr [...]
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ABU DHABI (AFP) - Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, manager of a sovereign wealth fund worth hundreds of billions of dollars and a brother of the Emirati president, was buried on Wednesday in his native Abu Dhabi, five days after his ultralight plane crashed in Morocco.
Muslim prayers were first said over the sheikh's national flag-draped body at Sheikh Zayed Mosque where his father, Unite [...]
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BEIRUT (AFP) - A Lebanese man sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia on charges of witchcraft is due to be beheaded this week, his lawyer said on Wednesday, urging officials and rights groups to intervene on his behalf.
"Last night we got news through unofficial channels that Ali Sabat would be beheaded within 48 hours," May el-Khansa, Sabat's attorney in Beirut told AFP.
"I have since been [...]
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KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Stock markets in the energy-rich Gulf region on Wednesday ended the first quarter higher on the back of strong oil prices and signs of global economic recovery.
Capitalisation of the seven bourses rose to around 750 billion dollars on March 31 compared to 680 billion dollars at the end of last year, but far below their end-2007 value of 1.116 trillion dollars.
All sev [...]
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MANAMA (AFP) - A US Navy radar aircraft with four crew members on board crashed into the Arabian Sea on its way back from operations in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the American Fifth Fleet said.
"The aircraft experienced mechanical malfunctions and the crew performed a controlled bailout," the statement said.
"Three of the four crew members have been recovered and search and rescue efforts [...]
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Passengers jump out of plane in India after bad landing
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