BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri should use his contacts to prevent Hezbollah being accused by a UN-backed tribunal probing the murder of his father Rafiq, the Shiite group's number two said on Thursday.
"Lebanese parties, with Prime Minister Hariri at their head, can use their contacts to prevent an unjust accusation being levelled against Hezbollah," Sheikh Naim Qas [...]
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran summoned Swiss ambassador Livia Leu Agosti on Thursday to protest against US sanctions targeting eight senior Iranian officials, the state news agency IRNA news agency reported.
"Ms Livia Leu Agosti, the Swiss ambassador who manages US interests in Iran, was summoned to the foreign ministry over the illegal sanctions," IRNA said of the order issued by US President Barack Oba [...]
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said Thursday that energy giants Total of France, Anglo-Dutch Shell, Norway's Statoil and Italy's Eni have pledged to end their investments in Iran.
The pledges fall in line with tough new energy and financial measures the US Congress imposed on Iran in June, which came atop UN Security Council sanctions imposed earlier the same month to curb Iran's nuclear [...]
DUBAI (AFP) - Dubai's giant developer Emaar Properties, which built the world's tallest tower, is to issue up to 500 million dollars in convertible notes, an offer it said Thursday was "over-subscribed."
"The offering was heavily over-subscribed, with total demand generated in excess of three billion US dollars," Emaar said in a statement.
"The base size of the issue of 375 million US [...]
TOKYO (AFP) - The Japanese government and oil developer Inpex Corp. plan to completely withdraw from Iran's largest onshore oil field project to avoid possible US sanctions, reports said Thursday.
The move, which could be announced this week, is to prevent government-backed Inpex being included in a list of companies subject to US sanctions against Iran, the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Nikkei repor [...]
TEHRAN (AFP) - The US dollar rate surged in Iran on Thursday as local banks halted the sale of foreign currency to private individuals, with some dealers saying the rise was because of latest sanctions on Tehran.
The dollar was trading at 12,000 Iranian rials after hitting a high of 12,500 rials on Wednesday as buyers flocked to foreign exchange brokers when the banks stopped supplying hard cur [...]
AMMAN (AFP) - Jordan's government on Thursday denied that it was behind the jamming of Al-Jazeera satellite television's broadcast of this year's World Cup football finals in South Africa.
"The Jordanian government categorically denies allegations made by unnamed sources to the Guardian newspaper that it was behind the jamming of Al-Jazeera broadcast of the World Cup," a government official tol [...]
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran, Iraq, Syria, Qatar and Turkey have inked an accord in Tehran aimed at tackling the problem of sand storms within the next five years, local media reported on Thursday.
The agreement was reached at an environmental conference on Wednesday during which officials agreed to establish a network of meteorological stations, regenerate vegetation to stabilise soil and excha [...]
NEW YORK (AFP) - Bahrain is restricting the travel of rights activists to prevent them from publicising the arrest of opposition members, Human Rights Watch said, calling for the restrictions to be lifted.
"The authorities are trying to keep human rights defenders from spreading information about a recent spate of arrests of opposition members," Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East dir [...]
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran has sentenced a former aide to Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi to two years in jail, an opposition website reported on Thursday.
"Jinous Sobhani, a Bahai citizen and former secretary of the Human Rights Defenders Centre (Ebadi's group) was sentenced to two years in prison," Rahesabz.net reported.
The report did not specify the charges but said that Sobhani was out on ba [...]
Passengers jump out of plane in India after bad landing
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