BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union on Thursday agreed to sanction more than 100 Iranian companies, sharply expanding the number of firms hit by an assets freeze over Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
Diplomats said the "significant expansion" in EU sanctions was expected to be approved and announced Monday by the bloc's 27 foreign ministers.
Among the firms blacklisted are the Eu [...]
PARIS (AFP) - Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi and six major human rights organisations called Wednesday on the United Nations and the international community to denounce a wave of executions in Iran.
At least 86 people have been executed since the start of 2011, according to information received by the six organisations, which include Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
"Th [...]
© AFP Mustafa Ozer - Muslim pilgrims pray at Mount Arafat
MUZDALIFAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Some two million Muslim pilgrims descended on Monday from Mount Arafat, concluding the highlight of the hajj and beginning a slow trip back to Mecca to finish the annual pilgrimage.
White-robed pilgrims began arriving in Muzdalifah, their first stop after leaving Mount Arafat and its plain, site of [...]
TEL AVIV (AFP) - Former Playboy playmate and "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson says she wants Israel's Ultra-Orthodox men to go topless -- by not wearing their traditional fur hats.
The Canadian sex symbol, in Israel as a guest judge in the local version of television's "Dancing with the Stars," told reporters on Sunday she had written to Ultra-Orthodox leaders asking them to stop blocking anti-f [...]
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Less than two weeks before the world's largest annual gathering, 1.5 million Muslims from around the world have flooded into the holy cities of Mecca and Medina for the hajj pilgrimage.
Coming by sea from east Africa, by land from the Gulf but mainly by air, a total of two million Muslims are expected to perform the hajj ritual this year, one of the five pilla [...]
BUSAN, South Korea (AFP) - Kurdish film programmer Mustafa Gundogdu rests his head on his hand for a moment as he considers the fate of his culture and of his cinema.
"The first word that comes to mind when you think of Kurds is existence," he says. "In the places that Kurds live their very existence is constantly questioned. And it is the same with Kurdish cinema."
A delegation repres [...]
ROME (AFP) - Celebrated Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, who was freed on bail in May after three months in jail, is to attend the world premiere of his latest work "The Accordion", the Venice Film festival said Friday.
"Jafar Panahi is expected in Venice for the Giornate degli Autori - Venice Days section of the 67th Venice Mostra (September1-11)", a statement said.
"The Accordion", a short f [...]
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) - Arabs and Israelis boogeyed ecstatically together in the occupied West Bank late into the night as 70s band Boney M belted out their nostalgic disco tunes at an open-air concert.
Tuesday's event in Ramallah, headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, was part of a six-day music and dance festival taking part across the West Bank to highlight water [...]
JERUSALEM (AFP) - US R&B star Missy Elliott arrived in Israel on Wednesday as the Jewish state wrestled with another standoff with an aid ship trying to run its blockade on Gaza.
Over the past six weeks, a raft of international artists have cancelled visits since Israel launched a commando raid on a Gaza-bound foreign aid flotilla which left nine Turkish activists dead and provoked a diplom [...]
CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian academic Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, who was forced into exile and ordered to divorce his wife after being judged to be an apostate, died on Monday in Cairo, his wife said.
Abu Zeid, 67, died at Sheikh Zayed hospital where he was being treated for a month after falling ill following a trip to Indonesia, said his wife, literature professor Ibtihal Yunes.
A Cairo court had [...]
Passengers jump out of plane in India after bad landing
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